Ex-Supreme Court justice Elron joins petitions against state comptroller election

Retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron joined High Court petitions on Monday against the controversial election of Michael Rabello as state comptroller earlier this month.

Rabello, who is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-time personal lawyer and negotiator, was elected over Elron in an ostensibly secret ballot in the Knesset on June 3. The voting process was marred, however, by allegations that lawmakers from Netanyahu’s Likud party were photographing their ballots to prove compliance with the prime minister and his preferred candidate.

Elron said he was joining a petition asking the court to freeze Rabello’s appointment until a decision has been made regarding the “illegality” of the voting process.

Elron won the first round of voting with 60-57 votes, falling just one vote short of the 61 needed for victory, meaning several coalition lawmakers had defected. As neither candidate secured the backing of 61 MKs, a second round of voting was held in accordance with the State Comptroller Law.

He was then defeated 61-57 by Rabello in the highly contentious second vote, which was halted briefly and rerun after multiple Likud MKs were accused of taking photos or videos of themselves voting for Netanyahu’s lawyer. Senior Likud officials reportedly instructed them to provide evidence to ensure they were voting for the premier’s preferred candidate, despite the stipulation of the law that the vote be conducted by secret ballot.

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Some of the footage was subsequently leaked to the press, including a video of Education Minister Shlomo Karhi placing his ballot slip in an envelope, and a selfie taken by Finance Committee chair Hanoch Milwidsky with his ballot.

כמו כן ״דלף״ תיעוד של חנוך מילבצקי מתעד את עצמו מצביע לראבילו pic.twitter.com/xkQQ8YlcS0

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

The petition against Rabello’s election was filed by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, which argued that coalition MKs who filmed or photographed themselves putting a voting slip for Rabello into the ballot box violated Basic Law: The State Comptroller, which says the vote must be secret. Thus, said the petition, they undermined the freedom of other MKs to vote their conscience and, by extension, the political independence of Rabello as comptroller.

A hearing is scheduled in the High Court for Thursday, June 18.

If the court does not issue an interim order, Rabello will be sworn in on July 1, replacing Matanyahu Englman at the end of his seven-year term as state comptroller.

The 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 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 subsequent 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 married to the Finance Ministry’s deputy legal adviser.

Ariela Karmel and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.