MK Sharren Haskel Summoned for Testimony in State Comptroller Election Investigation

Israeli Member of Knesset Sharren Haskel was summoned on Thursday to provide testimony to the Lahav 433 unit, which is investigating the conduct surrounding the election of the State Comptroller. Haskel, who recently resigned as Deputy Foreign Minister following the approval of a bill freezing arrests of draft-dodging ultra-Orthodox men, submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court alleging that members of the New Hope party were required to record their votes by video and show the footage to Prime Minister Netanyahu during the election of State Comptroller Michael Regev. She claimed that the Likud candidate was presented as the sole option, and party members were pressured to support him without expressing independent views. Despite warnings that submitting such an affidavit could lead to legal penalties, Haskel proceeded.

Tomer Naor, Deputy Director of Strategy and Legal Affairs at the Movement for Quality Government, responded to Haskel's affidavit by stating that the Knesset and Likud told the Supreme Court no instructions were given to record votes, describing such actions as private initiatives. However, Naor emphasized the contradiction between the two accounts and expressed concern that the court may have been misled, calling for the Attorney General to open a criminal investigation into the matter, including into Likud CEO David Sharan.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court ordered a repeat election for the State Comptroller position, citing a significant breach of voting secrecy that invalidated the original vote. This ruling sparked reactions from many public officials across both coalition and opposition parties.