Elron: State Comptroller vote was invalid, ballot was not secret

First report: In his first response to the voting process in the election for state comptroller, with quotes published this evening (Thursday) for the first time in the main edition, retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron, who lost the vote in the Knesset to the prime minister’s attorney, Adv. Michael Ravilo, said that the election was "invalid" and that "the vote was not secret." Elron said he does not intend to petition the High Court of Justice, but that he plans to respond within petitions that will be filed in any case. The Knesset legal adviser, Sagit Apik, said her official position is that the vote for state comptroller should not be annulled. In a letter explaining her position, Apik relied on the denials by coalition chairman Ofir Katz and Likud faction manager Aliza Brachi that no demand was made for Knesset members to film themselves during the vote. In addition, she wrote that the difference between the results of the first and second voting rounds does not necessarily indicate pressure that was applied.

Earlier today, Channel 13 News reported for the first time that after the coalition blocked his candidacy for state comptroller, Elron canceled his participation in a conference marking 75 years since the immigration of Iraqi Jews, organized by coalition MKs Eli Dallal, Ofir Katz, Nissim Vaturi and Limor Son Har-Melech. At the same time, the newly elected state comptroller, Adv. Michael Ravilo, arrived today for his first handover meeting with outgoing State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman in his office in Jerusalem. The next comptroller is expected to be sworn in at the rostrum of the Knesset plenum on July 1, and when he takes office in a month he will become the 10th to hold the post since the founding of the state, and the ninth public complaints commissioner of the State of Israel. In addition, he will replace Englman as president of the European Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) and will serve in that role until May 2027.

As recalled, chaos broke out in the Knesset last night during the voting round for state comptroller, following claims by the opposition that Likud faction manager Aliza Brachi demanded that coalition members photograph their vote for Netanyahu’s candidate behind the curtain. The main edition also published last night for the first time statements attributed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to which "whoever sabotages Ravilo will pay in the primaries" and "are there traitors in the coalition." Immediately after the results were announced, the Movement for Quality Government and the Yesh Atid faction said they would petition the High Court of Justice against the appointment. "The appointment of the prime minister’s personal attorney to a position charged with overseeing the prime minister himself is a severe conflict of interest, and it was carried out in a process that was contaminated before our eyes, after Knesset members were reportedly required to document their vote in an illegal way as a loyalty test, contrary to the position of the Knesset legal adviser," the Movement for Quality Government said in response. "It is important to emphasize, what we have just seen is the opening shot of the election campaign: this is what the attempt to subordinate the gatekeepers to personal loyalty looks like, and this is the direction heading into the general election. This must not be met with silence."