Knesset speaker rejects High Court call to redo tainted state comptroller vote
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Sunday rejected the High Court of Justice’s recommendation that lawmakers redo the June 3 vote for state comptroller, when Michael Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longtime attorney, was elected in a tainted ballot.
“The Knesset has already spoken,” Ohana wrote on X.
Rabello’s opposition-backed rival, Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron, led him 60-57 in the first secret ballot, which was inconclusive because a comptroller needs a majority of at least 61 to be elected.
Rabello won 61-57 in the second ballot, when some coalition lawmakers videoed themselves voting, allegedly on the orders of senior Likud officials who suspected the lawmakers had voted for Elron the first time around.
In a Thursday High Court hearing on petitions against Rabello’s election, judges expressed concern that the ballot’s required secrecy was violated, and suggested the parliament redo vote.
Court’ Deputy President Noam Sohlberg called the proposed rematch “a procedural step that does not interfere with the discretion of the Knesset.” Sohlberg told respondents — Netanyahu, Rabello and the Knesset itself — that they........
