Knesset legal adviser upholds comptroller vote, says opposition hadn’t opposed ballot-filming

Petition has urged High Court to strike down election of PM’s lawyer Rabello to independent watchdog post, because Likud MKs were reportedly told to document themselves voting for him; Sagit Afik is unconvinced

The Knesset’s legal adviser Sagit Afik issued a legal opinion Thursday night rejecting a call for lawmakers to be required to hold a new election for the post of state comptroller, after issues arose over Likud members taking pictures and videos of ballots they cast for Wednesday’s eventual winner, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer, Michael Rabello.

The election, conducted by secret ballot as required by law, descended into chaos after Rabello’s competitor, retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron, came out ahead in the first round, falling just one vote short of the 61 votes needed for victory in the 120-member parliament, meaning that several coalition lawmakers had voted for Elron, defying pressure to vote for Rabello.

Under the State Comptroller Law, because neither candidate secured the support of 61 MKs in the first round, a second ballot was held, after which the candidate who garnered the most votes would win, even without getting 61 votes.

However, the vote was plunged into chaos and halted amid reports that Likud MKs had been ordered to photograph or film their votes to prove they had voted for Rabello.

Amid complaints from opposition lawmakers, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana paused the voting process to hold a consultation in his office.

Afterward, he decided to restart the second round, while reminding MKs that the ballot was supposed to be secret. However, he did not ban phones in the voting booth, as Afik — who was on a plane when the chaotic vote took place, but was consulting with parliamentary leadership over WhatsApp — had recommended.

Ohana contended that while lawmakers had the right to keep their choice a secret, nothing in the law prevented them from voluntarily documenting themselves voting, as had sometimes happened in the past.

The opposition Yesh Atid party argued that the vote was tainted and turned to the Knesset legal adviser with a request to overrule it.

In her response to the appeal, Afik said she was “not convinced that the gap between the results of the first vote and the results of the second vote, in and of itself, necessarily demonstrates illegitimate influence imposed on Knesset members.”

Afik said that Ohana’s decision not to ban phones from the voting booth was legal, even though it deviated from her advice.

She noted that the speaker’s arrangement appeared to be the result of a compromise between the coalition and opposition, which has legal weight.

“When the decision was presented to MKs upon [Ohana’s] return from consultations in his office, from the plenum’s appearance, it seemed that it was acceptable to MKs from the opposition as well, who were in the plenum (and also the appeals to me from MKs stopped at that point),” she wrote.

Rabello, Netanyahu’s longtime personal lawyer, is scheduled to be sworn in on July 1.

At least one petition to the High Court has been filed against Rabello’s appointment, requesting that the court issue an order blocking him from taking up the post until the justices can make a final ruling.

A key question is likely to be whether it can be proven that the lawmakers documented themselves due to external pressure rather than of their own free will.

On Thursday, Rabello met with outgoing comptroller Matanyahu Englman for a transition briefing in the State Comptroller’s Office.

According to Channel 12, the meeting – marking the start of a transition process – took place before the establishment of a conflict-of-interest arrangement that would define what topics Rabello would be obligated to avoid dealing with.

The state comptroller, who reports directly to the Knesset, is responsible, among other things, for the external oversight of the activities of government ministries and local government, and the financial affairs of political parties, safeguarding the public interest. The outgoing comptroller has also been probing the government’s role in the failures that led up to the October 7, 2023, massacre.

The office is meant to be independent of the prime minister and the government, making Rabello’s candidacy and now election particularly sensitive given his longstanding ties to Netanyahu and the allegations that coalition lawmakers were pressured to support him.

Rabello has represented Netanyahu in various political negotiations and has acted for both the prime minister and his wife, Sara, in numerous legal proceedings.

Among other cases, he has represented Netanyahu before the High Court of Justice on multiple occasions, including in petitions against the government demanding that a state commission of inquiry be established into the failures surrounding the Hamas-led October 7 invasion and atrocities.

He has also represented the premier’s Likud party, Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, and a slate of municipal authorities and state institutions. He is also married to the Finance Ministry’s deputy legal adviser.