Opinion

Was the Israeli election manipulated from Kerala?

Kerala Muslim League leader K M Shaji claims his party played a role in preventing Benjamin Netanyahu's return to power

November 11, 2026

Kerala Muslim League claims credit for Netanyahu’s electoral setback

There is no need for the Likud Party of Benjamin Netanyahu to burn the midnight oil to find out the reason for its failure to cross the halfway mark in the election held for the Knesset recently. Netanyahu and his alliance partners could win only 53 seats in the 120-member Knesset, while the Opposition Front led by Gadi Eisenkot won 48 seats. But the Islamist parties (Ra’am and Joint List) registered an impressive win by walking away with 19 seats. Eisenkot’s hope of becoming Israeli Prime Minister depends on the decision of the Islamist parties.

The 19 seats won by the Islamist parties are an all-time high in the history of Israel’s elections. There were strong reports that Qatar and Turkey pumped in money and materials to mobilise the Arab population to the polling booths. The Likud Party as well as the Department of Internal Security (Shin Bet) have raised doubts about the role of these two hardcore Islamist countries and a probe is on to find out the truth.

But in a surprising development, a minister in Kerala has claimed that it was the Muslim League workers from the state who tilted the balance in favour of the Islamist parties in Israel. K M Shaji, Muslim League leader and Minister for Panchayat Raj, Local Administration and Rural Development, declared from a public platform in Kochi that the credit for preventing Netanyahu from becoming Prime Minister should go to the Muslim League. The audience, more than 50,000 strong, went berserk after hearing the minister make such a great announcement. It is celebration time in Kerala’s Malabar Province (the region that includes Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts).

If only the Government of India’s External Affairs Ministry comes out with the number of Muslim League leaders who campaigned in the Israeli election, the claim by Shaji stands authenticated. Muslims do not like the name Israel, and they are vitriolic in their opposition to Zionism. Shashi Tharoor, the Congress leader, who was once projected by the Muslim League as the future chief minister of the state, became a persona non grata among the Muslims in the state because he was bold enough to call Hamas terrorists. How Shaji and his sidekicks made the Arab parties win 19 seats in the Israeli election would be known in the months to come. Or is Shaji the Malayalam version of Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, who is termed a loudmouth by his own party leaders?

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2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

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