Knesset Legal Adviser: Petitions Against State Comptroller Appointment Should Be Rejected

The Knesset has asked the High Court of Justice to throw out petitions challenging the appointment of attorney Michael Rabello as state comptroller, arguing that the selection process was not flawed. In a preliminary response filed on Tuesday, the Knesset said there was no factual basis for claims that lawmakers were instructed to photograph their votes, and described the allegation as an unsubstantiated rumor drawn mainly from media reports.

The Knesset also argued that the gap between the first and second rounds of voting does not prove improper pressure, saying the change in results is not enough to show an unlawful directive. It stressed that overturning an election requires a very high evidentiary threshold, not suspicions. According to the filing, there is currently no clear legal ban on a person photographing their own ballot, although any coercion or pressure over the matter would be improper, and no such coercion was proven here.

The response said the process was corrected in real time with agreement between the coalition and the opposition, and that a revote was held after a clear clarification that such instructions had no validity. On that basis, the Knesset said there is no reason for judicial intervention and the petitions should be dismissed.

On Rabello’s suitability, the Knesset said there is no legal basis to intervene, and that his professional ties to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do not create a disqualifying conflict of interest. It said no defect amounting to extreme unreasonableness was shown, and that choosing the state comptroller is a matter of parliamentary discretion the court should not replace. Earlier on Tuesday, Likud also filed its response to the petitions through attorney Ilan Bombach, calling any judicial intervention in a secret ballot an “extreme and unprecedented step.”