Israeli opposition leader accuses Netanyahu of coup attempt after election loss

Accusations against the sitting prime minister

Israeli opposition leader Yair Golan, who heads the Democrats party, on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of attempting a coup after the latter's bloc lost the parliamentary elections held on October 27. According to Golan, events over the past day amounted to what he called a serious warning sign for Israeli democracy. 'Netanyahu lost. He refuses to recognize the results and is trying to carry out a coup and seize power by force,' he wrote on the X platform, as reported by Anadolu.

The opposition's specific grievances

Golan said that police had arrested political activists without warrants and that the internal security service Shin Bet had attempted to interrogate senior elected officials without presenting evidence. He also accused the outgoing government of refusing to recognize the election results and described these events as interconnected. 'Every additional minute that the outgoing government holds on to the centers of power is a danger to Israeli democracy,' the politician warned, calling on the heads of the police, Shin Bet and the Mossad intelligence agency to be loyal to the law and the state, not to the prime minister or a party. He characterized the situation as a state of security and democratic emergency and urged the opposition to form a new government as quickly as possible.

Opposition agreements and the Knesset lineup

Golan's statements came a day after opposition leaders, at a meeting in Herzliya, agreed to recommend to President Isaac Herzog the head of the Yashar party, Gadi Eisenkot, as candidate to form a government. The meeting was attended by Eisenkot, former prime minister Naftali Bennett, Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman, Golan and opposition leader Yair Lapid. The participants pledged to replace Netanyahu's cabinet with a 'national emergency government,' accused Netanyahu and Likud of a campaign to undermine the legitimacy of the election results and the Central Elections Committee, and also agreed to coordinate parliamentary steps to prevent repeat elections.

Coalition arithmetic and open questions

As a result of the October 27 elections, Netanyahu's bloc won 53 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, the opposition parties 48, and the Arab parties 19, with neither side reaching the required 61 seats. If all opposition and Arab lawmakers recommend Eisenkot, he could secure the support of 67 legislators in consultations with the president. However, the opposition has not yet agreed on the composition of the governing coalition: Lieberman has ruled out participation in a minority government dependent on the Arab parties. Under Israeli procedure, the president consults with the parties, then the designated lawmaker is given 28 days to form a cabinet, with a possible extension of up to 14 days; the new Knesset convenes for its first session on November 10, and the opposition also seeks to replace Likud's Amir Ohana as speaker. For now, Golan's accusations remain his own claims: the publication provides no independent confirmation of the arrests or the Shin Bet's actions, and the outcome of the battle to form a government remains uncertain.