Israeli officials say results stand as Netanyahu claims election ‘stolen’
Election body says deadlocked result won’t be undermined even if foreign interference claims are found to be true.
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A protester holds a placard during a demonstration near the Israeli prime minister’s residence in West Jerusalem on October 31, 2026, calling for the formation of a Jewish-Arab coalition government following a deadlock in Israel's general elections [AFP]
The head of Israel’s elections commission has said the results of the country’s general election would still stand even if claims of foreign interference were substantiated.
“Our position is that even if the suspicions are substantiated, this would not undermine the integrity of the electoral process or the election results as a whole,” Central Elections Committee head Noam Sohlberg said in a video on Sunday, in which he appeared with the head of the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, and the attorney general.
Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party had questioned the results after saying, without providing evidence, that Arab-led parties, which made significant gains in Tuesday’s elections, “stole” the vote and accepted funding from Qatar to do it.
Also on Sunday, Israeli police released two out of three political activists arrested before Tuesday’s polls opened. They were carrying envelopes of cash, allegedly to bribe voters, police said.
One was released on unspecified conditions, while another was ordered to remain on house arrest.
Police said the suspects were connected to the Arab-led Ra’am party, which won eight seats.
Its leader, Mansour Abbas, denounced the arrests as undemocratic and “an attempt to influence the election results”.
‘Orchestrated and organised campaign’
Main opposition leader Eisenkot on Sunday accused Netanyahu of launching an “orchestrated and organised campaign to delegitimise the results”.
Eisenkot has previously ruled out forming a coalition with Arab parties, but a deadlock in Tuesday’s elections means siding with the parties could help him form a government.
Netanyahu’s bloc won 53 seats in Tuesday’s elections, while the opposition bloc, led by Gadi Eisenkot, won 48, meaning neither side can form a government in Israel’s 120-seat parliament alone.
Israel’s three Arab-led parties, including the Ra’am party, won a record 19 seats.
A coalition of Arab parties with Eisenkot would provide a comfortable majority of 67 in parliament. However, for many in Israel, the idea of siding with Arab parties is politically unpalatable.
The results are due to be officially certified this week, after which President Isaac Herzog must nominate a candidate to form a new government.
Nine die in ‘cataclysmic’ Florida business jet crash
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tells reporters there appeared to be no casualties on the ground.
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Flames rise following an aircraft incident in Palm Beach County, Florida, US, on November 1, 2026, in this still image taken from video [Eduin Cruz/Reuters]
Federal Aviation Administration staff were on their way to the crash site to support a National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the incident, Duffy said.
Disturbing recordings in the plane’s cockpit shortly before the crash, retained by LiveATC.net, captured the pilot talking about “manageable” ice issues, before later saying the plane was rapidly losing altitude.
Shortly after, the panicked crew said, “We’re going to crash into the ground”.
The plane was a Learjet 60 – a popular business jet – heading from Austin, Texas, to the Bahamas. Austin-Bergstrom International airport confirmed that the plane was a private jet, but not who was on board.
Videos of the incident circulating online appear to show the jet striking the ground at high speed and on a sharp angle, followed by a huge explosion.
Footage of the aftermath appears to show flames flickering around debris and chunks of pavement, with people milling around the area.
The plane looked to have fallen just metres from homes and cars, but Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters that there appeared to be no casualties on the ground.
Speaking from the scene, DeSantis described the crash as “cataclysmic” and said the plane “looked like a missile going down, and left a big crater on the side of the road”.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to reporters from the scene of the crash [Saul Martinez/Getty Images/AFP]
[1] British politicians seem perfectly comfortable acknowledging that slavery was an abomination. What they find considerably more difficult is accepting that Britain bears any responsibility for the consequences of an institution from which it profited enormously. The hypocrisy is difficult to miss.
[2] When Parliament abolished slavery in 1833, it paid £20 million in compensation to slave owners for the loss of their “property.” That was some 40 per cent of the government’s annual expenditure at the time, roughly £17 billion today. Not a penny went to the 800,000 enslaved men, women and children whose labour had enriched others. Worse, most were forced to keep working unpaid for their former masters for several more years under a so-called apprenticeship scheme.
[3] The loan raised to finance this compensation was not finally paid off until 2015. The British state honoured its debt to slave owners for 182 years. Living Britons, including descendants of the enslaved, helped pay it off through their taxes. Yet when Caribbean nations ask Britain to acknowledge slavery’s enduring consequences, Prime Minister Andy Burnham tells them that today’s Britons “played no personal part” and cannot be held liable.
[4] Apparently, historical obligations can be inherited when they concern money owed to slave owners, but not when they concern the moral consequences of slavery. Burnham says he is open to a formal apology and speaks of “sorrow and regret.” Fine words. But he insists this must not be read as accepting reparations. In other words: we regret what happened, but we will not repair it.
[5] Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch goes further. Earlier this year she said Britain should have voted against a UN resolution recognising the slave trade as the gravest crime against humanity. She now dismisses an apology as a distraction that would merely invite demands for compensation.
[6] She argues that slavery was practised everywhere and that African rulers also took part. It is a convenient but disingenuous argument. That others participated in an evil does not absolve those who organised, expanded, institutionalised and profited from it. No one excuses a crime because accomplices existed.
[7] Britain’s role was central. By the eighteenth century it was the world’s foremost slave-trading nation, and British ships carried more than three million Africans across the Atlantic. Bristol, Liverpool and London grew rich on the trade. British banks, insurers and manufacturers accumulated immense wealth, and Lloyd’s of London and the Bank of England have since apologised for their links. The proceeds helped finance Britain’s commercial and industrial rise.
[8] Nor did exploitation end with abolition. The wealth drained from India, Africa and Malaya, and the subordination of colonial economies to British interests, continued well into the twentieth century. Few nations owe as much of their present prosperity to the exploitation of others.
[9] The abolitionists were courageous, and the Royal Navy’s campaign against the trade deserves recognition. But one cannot claim moral credit for ending an evil while treating the profits accumulated from it as a separate matter. The arsonist does not earn a medal for calling the fire brigade.
[10] Nobody is suggesting that a schoolteacher in Manchester should personally compensate anyone. The issue is not individual guilt but the responsibility of a state that continues to exist, inherits the assets and enjoys the accumulated advantages of its history. Britain celebrates its imperial achievements though no living Briton built them. It cannot inherit the glory while disowning the consequences.
[11] Nor is compensation unthinkable. In 2013 Britain paid nearly £20 million to Kenyans tortured during the Mau Mau uprising. Germany has committed €1.1 billion to Namibia for colonial-era genocide. The Netherlands has formally apologised for slavery. Britain, which did more than most to build the transatlantic trade, is the laggard.
[12] The Caribbean nations are not asking Britain to wallow in shame. They seek reparative justice in education, healthcare, development and debt relief, not simply cheques. Burnham’s new Commonwealth debt initiative is welcome, but help offered while disclaiming responsibility is charity, not repair. An apology drafted by lawyers to avoid liability is not an apology at all; it is damage control.
[13] A country confident in its history should have no difficulty acknowledging its darkest chapters. The real test of Britain’s moral leadership is not whether it can remind the world that it eventually abolished slavery. It is whether it can acknowledge, without evasion, the suffering and wealth its participation produced. Britain spent 182 years honouring a debt to slave owners. Surely it can find the moral courage to acknowledge the debt it never paid to the enslaved.
Debating the 2027 Supply Bill and Development Estimates in the Penang State Legislative Assembly today, Lim Guan Eng said he supported the RM1.074 billion state budget, noting that the Consolidated Revenue Account balance had increased from RM522.87 million at the end of 2025 to RM651.28 million as at October 30 this year, while Penang’s gross domestic product grew 7.3 per cent to RM130.3 billion in 2025, compared with national growth of 5.2 per cent. — Bernama pic
First Published: Monday, 02 Nov 2026 2:05 PM MYT
GEORGE TOWN, Nov 2 — DAP’s Air Putih assemblyman Lim Guan Eng has urged the Penang government to defer increases in land tax, water tariffs and other fees until the end of its term, saying the state’s improved financial position should allow it to avoid placing further pressure on residents and businesses.
Debating the 2027 Supply Bill and Development Estimates in the Penang State Legislative Assembly today, Lim said he supported the RM1.074 billion state budget, noting that the Consolidated Revenue Account balance had increased from RM522.87 million at the end of 2025 to RM651.28 million as at October 30 this year, while Penang’s gross domestic product grew 7.3 per cent to RM130.3 billion in 2025, compared with national growth of 5.2 per cent.
He said the budget’s theme, “Bringing the Vision Closer to the People and Forging a Legacy”, should translate into tangible benefits that would make life easier for the public, adding that the state should not risk losing public support by prioritising its legacy over people’s needs.
Lim also welcomed the appointment of new state secretary Datuk Dr Jafri Abdul Jalil, effective August 3, 2026, and thanked his predecessor Datuk Seri Zulkifli Long for his service.
Lim said ordinary people and micro, small and medium enterprises were facing challenging economic conditions and should not have to contend with higher taxes and compliance costs, pointing to land tax collections rising from RM116 million in both 2024 and 2025 to RM165 million as at September this year, an increase of RM49 million in nine months despite the payment deadline being extended to the end of 2026; he also cited national GDP growth of six per cent in the second quarter of 2026 and a 13.5 per cent increase in the banking sector’s pre-tax profits, from RM48.3 billion in 2024 to RM54.8 billion in 2025.
He also called on the state government to provide the remaining RM500,000 for road widening and safety improvements at Pintas Berani 5 near SJK(C) Kwang Hwa in Bagan Jermal, saying the RM1 million approved by Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming would widen the road from one lane to two and that the additional allocation was needed to improve safety for the school’s 1,118 pupils, teachers and other road users; he said the state only needed to contribute half the project’s remaining cost and that the funds had already been channelled to the Seberang Perai City Council.
On water supply, Lim urged the state government to table its bulk water supply agreement with Perak’s Prasarana Air dan Irigasi Perak Sdn Bhd in the state assembly for debate and approval, saying the 40-year arrangement from 2032 carried an estimated cost of RM24.6 billion up to 2072, comprising RM8.4 billion in infrastructure capacity charges and RM16.2 billion in water supply charges; he said the agreement should be made public and that the state should seek Perak’s consent to disclose its terms even if a non-disclosure agreement was in place, as Penang residents would ultimately bear the cost.
Lim also proposed an independent state commission of inquiry into the October 25 slope collapse at Taman Seri Rambai, Paya Terubong, which killed 73-year-old doctor Wong Kar Lin and led to the immediate evacuation of six nearby homes, saying those responsible should be held accountable; he disputed claims that the project had been approved during his tenure as chief minister from 2008 to 2018, stating that planning permission was granted in 2023 and earthworks and building plans in 2024, when he was no longer chief minister or finance minister, and said the allegations had been circulated on eight websites and referred to his lawyer for legal action.
Turning to the proposed 70-acre reclamation project off Persiaran Karpal Singh, estimated to cost RM1 billion, and the agreement to rehabilitate the 84-acre Jelutong landfill, Lim questioned why the agreement had not been cancelled after the contractor’s applications were rejected five times by the Department of Environment, despite an October 18 deadline set by the chief minister; he also asked why extensions had been granted for more than six years since the agreement was signed on February 21, 2020, how much the contractor still owed the Penang Development Corporation and state government, and why the reclamation project was proceeding without a signed agreement.
Citing the Auditor-General’s Report 2026, Lim criticised the Penang Development Corporation’s handling of the Jalan Perusahaan-Jalan Tok Kangar road and bridge upgrading project, saying the combined cost of RM63.4 million for its two phases — RM10.6 million for Phase 1 and RM52.8 million for Phase 2 — was RM20.4 million, or 47 per cent, above the original RM43 million estimate; he said the audit found that Phase 2 had taken more than seven years after its open tender was awarded on July 12, 2019, that delays reached 2,278 days and that RM3.12 million in progress payments had been made to a replacement contractor before a formal contract was signed, while PDC had still received a six-month bonus for 2024, paid in February 2025.
He also questioned PDC’s ability to undertake the proposed 1,142-acre Batu Kawan Industrial Park 2 development, of which 872 acres would be available for investors, asking whether the project should instead be opened to private-sector participation; Lim cited the sale of 559 acres of PDC land at Byram, Batu Kawan, for RM646 million through a direct deal without an open tender, compared with a subsequent open request for proposal offering RM818 million, or RM172 million more, and argued that a private-sector partnership could bring in funds sooner and accelerate development.
On economic prospects, Lim said Penang and Malaysia had benefited from geopolitical and economic tensions between the United States and China, as well as the impact of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, with foreign investment and exports reaching record levels, particularly in electronics; he welcomed the federal government’s RM100 million allocation approved by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the Penang Technology Financial Centre, which he said could build on the state’s technological strengths in digital development, artificial intelligence and new forms of trade.
However, Lim said economic growth was uneven and some sectors continued to face difficulties, calling for a separate Special Financial Zone to attract foreign funds and activities involving cryptocurrency, fintech and digital finance, which he said fell outside the Penang Technology Financial Centre’s focus on technology, start-ups and AI; he proposed a 40-hectare site at Ampang Jajar between the Bagan and Permatang Pauh parliamentary constituencies, near public transport links including the planned LRT station at Penang Sentral, expected to be completed in 2032, saying this would help balance development between Penang island and Seberang Perai.
