Knesset legal adviser said to tell Ohana that new state comptroller vote must be held ‘as soon as possible’

Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik has told Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana that the government must comply with the High Court of Justice and hold repeat elections for the position of state comptroller within the next two weeks, or “as soon as possible,” Ynet reports.

Afik informed Ohana that the vote can take place even after the Knesset is dissolved later this month in preparation for the national election, due to the urgency of the matter.

The High Court ruled last week that the results of the state comptroller election the previous month were invalid due to at least six coalition lawmakers violating the legal requirement that the vote be held by secret ballot.

Members of the government have pushed back against the ruling, and this morning, Justice Minister Yariv Levin declared that Michael Rabello — a longtime lawyer and adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who was elected state comptroller in the now-overturned ballot — should simply take up the position regardless of the ruling.