High Court petition filed over state comptroller election after coalition MKs filmed their votes

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel filed a High Court of Justice petition on Thursday against the appointment of Michael Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, as the next state comptroller, charging that his election in a Knesset vote on Wednesday was seriously flawed.

The petition argues that coalition MKs who filmed or photographed themselves putting a voting slip for Rabello into the ballot box, reportedly on orders of the Likud party, violated Basic Law: The State Comptroller, which says the vote must be secret. Thus, says the petition, they undermined the freedom of other MKs to vote their conscience and by extension the political independence of Rabello as comptroller.

During the course of the election process on Wednesday, Rabello lost the first round of voting to retired Supreme Court judge Yosef Elron 60-57, but a second round was required because neither candidate secured the necessary 61 votes.

Reports emerged that during the second round of voting that Likud party officials, including at least one MK close to Netanyahu, had instructed coalition lawmakers to vote for Rabello and send the prime minister videos or pictures of themselves voting inside the ballot box, to prove they had voted for his candidate.

The second round was scrapped midway through amid an uproar in the Knesset plenum from opposition MKs.

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Prior to restarting the vote anew, Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana rejected the recommendation of Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik to bar phones from the voting area to protect the secrecy of the ballot, ruling that lawmakers could photograph themselves if they chose.

During the second iteration of round two of the vote, some Likud MKs again took photos and videos of themselves voting for Rabello, and apparently sent them to Netanyahu, some of which leaked to the press.

Likud MK Sasson Guetta apparently went straight from the ballot box to coalition whip MK Ofir Katz to show him on his phone that he had voted for Rabello.

ששון גואטה מתעד שם ״משהו״ באופן יסודי pic.twitter.com/mqFXcfYtBk

— מיכאל שמש Michael Shemesh (@shemeshmicha) June 3, 2026

One MK speaking anonymously to Channel 12 News said there had been “crazy pressure on us” to vote for Netanyahu’s candidate.

“An MK who is close to the prime minister spoke to me and said ‘Respect the prime minister, make him happy. Make a video of yourself voting for Rabello and send it to him. It’s important for him. This is [for] the honor of the PM and the coalition,” the unnamed MK said.

“When there’s such pressure it’s hard to stand up to it,” the MK said.

Rabello won the do-over second round 61-57, with some coalition MKs having apparently switched their vote.

The Movement for Quality Government argued in its petition that under the circumstances, the vote was not secret and was therefore not legally valid since Basic Law: The State Comptroller states that the vote in Knesset must be by secret ballot.

The organization argued in its petition that having a secret ballot for the position of state comptroller is designed to safeguard Knesset members’ freedom to vote without pressure or political dependence, in order to preserve the status of the state comptroller as an independent and impartial oversight authority over government agencies.

“An election conducted in explicit violation of a Basic Law provision cannot stand. The ballot box must not be turned into a test of political loyalty,” said Stav Livne, an attorney for the Movement for Quality Government. “When a secret ballot is turned into a test of loyalty, it is not only one particular outcome that is harmed, but the public’s trust in the integrity of the democratic process itself.”

Speaking to Army Radio on Thursday morning, Likud MK Ariel Kallner claimed that an MK taking videos or pictures of themselves in the ballot box was permitted by Knesset regulations, arguing that “I can photograph of my own free choice if I want, so that no one distrusts me.”

The petition filed by the Movement for Quality Government pointed out that in previous rulings about Knesset secret ballots, the High Court has determined that the secrecy of the vote is designed to protect the independence of MKs from political pressure when they cast their vote.

Current Supreme Court President Isaac Amit wrote in a 2020 ruling that the reason for having a secret ballot was “the importance that the legislature attaches to ensuring the independence of the Knesset members’ discretion in these elections,” adding that “the secret ballot is intended to ensure the political independence of Knesset members” when participating in such votes.

The state comptroller, elected by secret ballot in the Knesset, has the authority to audit and review the functioning of government ministries and agencies and examine whether they are acting legally, efficiently and properly.

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