MK Sharren Haskel Claims She Was Forced to Record Vote for State Comptroller to Show Netanyahu

MK Sharren Haskel submitted an affidavit to the Israeli Supreme Court as part of her petition seeking permission to split from the New Hope-National Right faction. In her affidavit, she alleges that during the repeated voting round for the State Comptroller elections, members of her faction were required to record their votes on video and present the footage to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This claim contradicts affidavits submitted by Likud Secretary-General David Sharon and several Likud MKs, who denied any such demand.

Haskel states that not only was there a requirement to document the vote, but the recordings were intended to be shown to Netanyahu as proof of how members voted. She also declared that the New Hope-National Right faction did not have an independent position in the State Comptroller elections and that no internal discussion or decision-making process took place within the faction. According to her, the Likud faction's decision was imposed on her faction members, with the Likud candidate presented as one they had to support unconditionally, without room for independent opinion.

Haskel emphasized that the requirement to record votes and present them to Netanyahu, a Likud faction member, was publicized in the media and that the reports are accurate. Previously, the Supreme Court ruled that the secrecy of the vote was violated due to vote recording and ordered the Knesset to hold repeat elections for the State Comptroller. However, the Knesset has yet to comply with the court's directive.