State Comptroller-Elect Rejects Petitions to Void His Election

State Comptroller-elect Michael Rabello filed a preliminary response on Tuesday to a group of petitions to the High Court of Justice seeking to cancel his election. He rejected the challenge outright, denied that the second Knesset vote was unlawful, and said claims that his past professional ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make him politically dependent are unfounded.

Rabello said he is taking the post with “deep responsibility” and a commitment to all Israeli citizens. He argued that any potential conflict of interest can be handled, as usual, through a detailed public conflict-of-interest arrangement, rather than by nullifying the choice of a parliamentary majority.

A major part of the filing addressed the controversy over the second-round vote, when lawmakers were allowed to enter the voting booth with mobile phones and photograph their ballots. Rabello said Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana acted lawfully after legal consultation and with the full agreement of coalition and opposition representatives, to preserve integrity and remove doubts. He added that Israeli law, the Knesset rules, and the Basic Law: State Comptroller do not expressly forbid self-documentation of a secret vote.

The response was filed against seven petitions that were consolidated, including by Yehuda Rassler, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, Blue and White, Knesset Member Karin Elharrar, Yesh Atid, the Israelis, Yaya Fink, Brothers and Sisters in Arms, the Israel Bar Association, and Knesset Member Naama Lazimi with former senior officials. Rabello also said the State Comptroller Law does not bar politicians, even sitting MKs, from running, cited past High Court-approved appointments with professional ties to prime ministers, and asked to dismiss Lazimi’s petition as premature and delayed. His lawyers also rejected the argument that a cooling-off period is required, saying such a rule applies to a retiring comptroller, not someone entering public service from the private sector. They added that new elections would be legally and practically difficult because Knesset membership has changed after Boaz Toporovsky’s resignation and the legal deadline for another vote has already passed.