Retired Supreme Court Justice Elron asks High Court to void State Comptroller vote

Retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron has joined petitioners asking the High Court of Justice to cancel the Knesset vote that chose Israel’s next state comptroller and to freeze the winner’s entry into office. The winner was attorney Michael Ravillo, who previously served as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personal lawyer.

Ravillo was elected in a secret ballot in the Knesset plenum about a week and a half ago. In the first round, Elron led with 60 votes to Ravillo’s 57, but neither candidate reached the required 61-vote majority, forcing a second round. In that runoff, Ravillo won 61 votes and Elron received 57.

During the second round, opposition lawmakers alleged that Likud MKs were instructed to take a selfie with their ballot behind the curtain to prove loyalty, undermining the secrecy of the vote. Some MKs later published photos of themselves with a ballot marked with Ravillo’s name, but said they were not ordered to document it and did so on their own initiative.

The petitions against Ravillo’s appointment were filed by the Movement for Quality Government and several opposition parties. They argue that the “selection process was tainted” and that the Knesset procedure violated the principle of secret balloting.