Ex-Supreme Court justice Elron said to believe judges will nix Knesset vote picking PM’s lawyer as state comptroller

Retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron believes that the High Court will overturn yesterday’s controversial Knesset vote to elect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer, Michael Rabello, as state comptroller, instead of him, Channel 12 news reports.

“Judge Elron intends to be a formal respondent and will agree to come to the High Court as part of the petitions that will be filed,” associates of the former justice tell Channel 12.

He “believes that the High Court will overturn the decision on the appointment. He is not angry or disappointed and actually seems encouraged,” the sources say.

The election, initially conducted by secret ballot as required by law, descended into chaos after Elron won the first round 60-57, falling just one vote short of the 61 needed for victory, meaning that several coalition lawmakers had defected.

Rabello’s win came after the second round of voting was halted and rerun amid allegations that Likud lawmakers were pressured and ordered to photograph — and even film — their ballots to prove they had voted for Rabello and not “betrayed” Netanyahu, despite the law requiring a secret ballot.

Although nominated by opposition parties, Elron was also seen as popular among some coalition lawmakers. A conservative jurist appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017, he retired in 2024 after unsuccessfully seeking the court’s presidency with the backing of Justice Minister Yariv Levin. Both Supreme Court President Isaac Amit and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara have praised Elron for his contributions to Israeli criminal jurisprudence.

Ariela Karmel contributed to this report.