Knesset Speaker rejects High Court proposal for repeat State Comptroller vote

Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana has refused a High Court of Justice proposal to hold a repeat election for state comptroller, effectively returning the decision on intervention to the justices. The court had suggested a rerun after concerns were raised about the secrecy of the ballot during the initial vote.

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The Knesset has already had its say.

Ohana stated that the Knesset had already made its decision, citing arguments presented in the preliminary response and during the hearing. The case now rests with a High Court panel that previously indicated it might issue a conditional order concerning whether the secrecy of the ballot was compromised. Such an order would require an explanation for why the election should not be canceled and could lead to further hearings, though it would not automatically invalidate the appointment.

The petitions challenge the June 3 vote where Michael Rabello, a lawyer for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was chosen to succeed State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman. The initial ballot saw retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron receive 60 votes and Rabello 57, both falling short of the 61 votes needed. A subsequent ballot was halted and restarted amid allegations that several Likud members of Knesset photographed their ballots behind the voting curtain.

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undesirable cloud

Rabello ultimately won the final vote 61-57. Petitioners argue these actions breached the legally mandated secrecy of the ballot, turning the election into a test of political loyalty and preventing free voting. The Knesset and Likud deny that MKs were instructed to film their ballots, with Knesset counsel Yitzhak Bart asserting that any such instruction would be unlawful but that petitioners had not proven it occurred. At the end of the hearing, Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg noted an "undesirable cloud" over the vote, with some ballots appearing "problematic on their face," prompting the proposal for a "clean and proper procedure."

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problematic on their face