Israeli press review: Polling stations in Palestinian areas disqualified

Six polling stations in Palestinian majority areas of Israel were disqualified for alleged irregularities during last week's elections, Israeli newspaper Maariv reported.

No voting centres in Jewish communities were disqualified, despite irregularities being reported in some of them.

With final results being announced by the Central Election Committee, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party gained an additional seat in the Knesset at the cost of the Ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism (UTJ), it was announced.

However, as noted by Haaretz, the UTJ is part of the "right bloc" which Netanyahu has vowed not to break, so the new count makes little difference in coalition negotiations.

Is Rivlin meddling post election?

In the wake of yet another legislative election where no clear winner has emerged, Haaretz published an editorial critical of President Reuven Rivlin for directly intervening in coalition negotiations.

The president’s role after the election is to choose the candidate with the best chances to form a government and give that candidate a chance to do so, and choosing someone else if the first candidate fails.

Rivlin has said since the election results are so close, he believes that he may apply his own judgment “more than ever before”.

Rivlin is openly calling on Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gantz to form a unity government. He is pressuring Gantz’s Blue and White party to break its campaign promise not to join a coalition headed by Netanyahu because of the corruption charges facing the current premier.

Late on Wednesday, the Israeli president's confirmed that Netanyahu will be given the first chance to form the government, a task he failed to achieve a few months ago.

SodaStream 'insider trading'

The founder and former CEO of the Israeli company SodaStream, which produces machines to carbonate water, is under investigation for insider trading.

Daniel Birnbaum is accused of providing insider information to a former company employee close to him who allegedly made profits amounting to 156,000 shekels ($44,557) by buying SodaStream stock just before it was announced that the company would be bought by PepsiCo.

SodaStream was a target of a widespread boycott campaign in Europe and North America because it had factories in illegal industrial zones in the occupied West Bank.

Even after the company transferred its production into areas inside Israel, the company's public image was damaged and PepsiCo was able to buy the company for $3.2bn in 2018.

Birnbaum called the sale of SodaStream to PepsiCo a “victory against BDS”. 

Netanyahu's one-page plea

Benjamin Netanyahu has presented a single-page response to the state attorney's charge sheet against him in three corruption cases, ahead of hearings on 2 and 3 October, Haaretz reported on Monday.

The prime minister is scheduled to appear before Avichai Mandelblit, who has said he intends to press charges on the three cases pending against Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's response contained no defence arguments, only a repudiation of the allegations.

In response, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an NGO dedicated to fighting corruption, argued that by not presenting the state attorney with any arguments, Netanyahu had foregone his right to a hearing and that the state attorney should press charges immediately.

* Israeli press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye.