The fundamental Israeli opposition chief Gadi Eisenkot and Arab-led get together leaders have denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleging overseas interference following the election which saw his coalition lose its majority.

Netanyahu’s Likud accused Israel’s Arab-led events of “stealing” the election. Home safety company Shin Bet is investigating whether they acquired unlawful funding from Qatar and Turkey.

Qatar’s overseas ministry denied the “ridiculous and dangerous” allegations and accused Israeli politicians of conducting a disinformation marketing campaign against Doha.

Final outcomes confirmed that neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the Jewish opposition had won a majority in parliament.

The two Arab get together lists – The Joint List and the Ra’am – defied expectations to win a file 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset following a surge in turnout among Arab voters.

That positions them as potential kingmakers, with Netanyahu’s bloc successful 53 seats and his rival Gadi Eisenkot’s bloc securing 48.

On Thursday Likud alleged that voters had been “bribed” to vote for Arab events, after the head of the Central Elections Committee (CEC) requested the Shin Bet safety service to examine “serious suspicions” of overseas interference.

Both Arab events strongly rejected the claim, with the Arab-majority Joint List alliance saying it was baseless.

The row is being seen by Netanyahu’s critics as an try to delegitimise the Arab events, thereby making it politically inconceivable for Eisenkot to be part of forces with them – which is presently his bloc’s only route to energy.