The Knesset on Wednesday filed its full response to the High Court of Justice in petitions seeking to void the election of State Comptroller Adv. Michael Ravilo, and asked the court to dismiss the challenge outright. The filing, signed by Knesset representative Adv. Yitzhak Bart, says the vote that took place in the Knesset on June 3, 2026, was ultimately conducted without a legal defect serious enough to annul it.
According to the response, the first round produced a 60 to 57 lead for retired judge Yosef Elron, but no candidate reached the required 61 votes, so a second round was held. That round descended into chaos after opposition lawmakers claimed the Likud faction manager, Aliza Barashi, or other coalition figures had instructed lawmakers to photograph their ballots. The Speaker halted the session and held an urgent consultation with coalition and opposition leaders.
At that meeting, coalition whip Ofir Katz denied any instruction to photograph ballots, and opposition whip Merav Ben Ari said on the spot that she accepted his denial. The sides then agreed to a three-part compromise, restarting the second round from scratch, having the Speaker declare that any instruction to photograph a vote is unlawful and invalid, and allowing lawmakers to keep mobile phones behind the voting booth curtain. Opposition representatives reportedly agreed to the plan and asked the Knesset legal adviser to allow the revote to proceed, which Ravilo won 61 to 57.
The Knesset also disclosed what it said were extensive video findings from the voting area. In the first ballot, 11 lawmakers were seen leaving the curtain area with phones, including Shelly Tal Meron, whose phone appeared to be in camera mode. In the canceled second round, four lawmakers were seen with phones, including minister May Golan appearing to film the vote, while Yinon Azoulay and minister Gila Gamliel were seen leaving with visible ballots and inserting them into envelopes outside the curtain. In the renewed second round, 14 lawmakers were seen with phones, including Moshe Abutbul, Sasson Guetta, May Golan and Keti Shitrit, with phones apparently in camera mode; Guetta and Mansour Abbas were also seen apparently showing their ballot photos to other lawmakers afterward.
The Knesset argues there is no explicit law, Knesset rule, or precedent banning a lawmaker from taking a self-photo or bringing a phone behind the curtain. It says comparative law is mixed, and cites the Supreme Court’s principle that election rules should not be changed in the middle of the game. Since the procedure was run under an agreed framework and there is no solid evidence of factional coercion beyond rumors and anonymous claims, the Knesset says the extraordinary remedy of canceling the election is unwarranted.
