Israel’s High Court of Justice heard petitions on Thursday morning challenging the appointment of Michael Ravilo as state comptroller. The petitioners argue that the vote was tainted after Knesset members were instructed to photograph themselves behind the voting booth curtain, and they want the court to cancel the appointment and order a new secret ballot.
The panel, Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg and justices Gila Kanfi-Steinitz and Ruth Ronen, must decide whether to invalidate the appointment. Sohlberg said, “We all worked with Justice Elron, naturally there are friendly relations between us. When all of us are disqualified, the general legal rule is that we are fit. That is how we do it honestly.” Kanfi-Steinitz added that the first two petitions were “almost liable to be dismissed outright.”
The Movement for Quality Government, one of the petitioners, said, “The process of choosing the state comptroller was tainted and must be canceled.” It is joined by the Blue and White, National Unity faction, MKs Karin Elharar and Naama Lazimi, and the Israel Bar Association. Their lawyer, Eran Marinberg, said the law requires a secret vote “to ensure the independence of Knesset members’ judgment and political independence,” and argued that the act of photographing and publishing the ballot itself violates the secrecy requirement.
The petitioners also claim there was a conflict of interest because Ravilo previously served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyer. Ravilo has replied that his election was lawful, while retired justice Yosef Elron, who ran against him for the post, also said there were defects in the selection. Sohlberg also told attorney Eyal Shraga that the court focused first on the more complete petitions because one early petition was only a page long and another was filed before the petitioners had exhausted administrative remedies. MK Tali Gottlieb appeared in court and said, “I am from Likud and I did not document,” prompting Sohlberg to tell her not to interrupt.
