Lapid, Bennett to petition High Court over ‘tainted’ state comptroller vote

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid says he will submit a petition on behalf of his and former prime minister Nafatli Bennett’s joint Together slate, over the election of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer Michael Rabello as state comptroller, arguing that the secret-ballot vote was irreparably compromised by efforts to pressure Likud lawmakers into proving how they had voted.

“Likud has tainted the elections for state comptroller,” Lapid says in a statement, saying that he will petition the High Court of Justice over “the undermining of the secrecy of the vote, and following the Knesset speaker’s intervention on behalf of the Likud faction regarding the legal adviser’s position.”

“These were not free votes, but extortion of Likud MKs living under the threat of a price on their heads,” Bennett says, adding that the votes should be “disqualified.”

The criticism follows a chaotic election in which retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron, backed by the opposition, won the first round 60-57, falling just one vote short of the 61 needed for victory, meaning that several coalition lawmakers had defected. The second round of votes was halted over reports that Likud MKs had been pressured to photograph or film their votes to prove they’d voted for Rabello despite the election being conducted by secret ballot.

Knesset Speak Amir Ohana subsequently ordered the second round to be rerun from scratch but rejected advice from Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik to ban phones from the plenum, ruling that lawmakers could photograph themselves if they chose.

Rabello ultimately prevailed in the rerun, defeating Elron 61-57 in the second round.