MK Sharren Haskel Testifies in Police Probe Over State Comptroller Election Voting Controversy

Member of Knesset Sharren Haskel appeared at the Lahav 433 police unit on Sunday to provide testimony in an ongoing investigation concerning the election process for Israel's State Comptroller. Haskel was summoned following an affidavit she submitted to the Supreme Court as part of her request to split from the New Right faction. In her affidavit, she alleged that members of the New Hope party were required to record their votes on video during the repeated voting round and present the footage to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as proof of their support for the Likud candidate, attorney Michael Regev.

Haskel's claims sparked controversy as they seemingly contradicted previous affidavits submitted by Likud's CEO David Sharan and Likud MKs, who denied any directive to film the voting. The Movement for Quality Government in Israel called for an investigation into possible false statements made to the court. The State Comptroller election took place in the Knesset on June 3, with no candidate achieving a majority in the first round. In the subsequent round, Regev was declared the winner with 61 votes against 57 for retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron. However, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the video documentation of the vote violated the secrecy of the ballot, ordering the election results to be annulled and a new vote to be held due to the potential impact of this breach on the outcome.