The dispute over the election for Israel’s state comptroller intensified on Monday, after Deputy Foreign Minister MK Sharren Haskel publicly backed claims that the secret ballot process was flawed. In an interview with Mati Tuchfeld on Galey Israel, she said she had spoken with people involved and could confirm there was substance to the allegations raised in recent days.
“As someone who was in the Knesset, spoke with those involved and knows exactly what happened, I can say there were flaws, and there is basis to those claims,” Haskel said. She stressed that her view was not based on rumors, but on direct observation and conversations with the relevant figures behind the scenes in the Knesset.
Haskel said she was present in the plenum and described a tense atmosphere and questions that surfaced already during the ballot count. At the same time, she urged caution before taking any unprecedented step such as rerunning the vote. “We need to be very careful before deciding on repeat votes,” she said.
She ended by saying, “From the internal conversation and the things I was exposed to, there is something to it,” adding momentum to the coalition-side criticism of the process.
