Retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron joined High Court petitions on Monday against the controversial election of Michael Rabello as state comptroller earlier this month.

Rabello, who is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-time personal lawyer and negotiator, was elected over Elron in an ostensibly secret ballot in the Knesset on June 3. The voting process was marred, however, by allegations that lawmakers from Netanyahu’s Likud party were photographing their ballots to prove compliance with the prime minister and his preferred candidate.

Elron said he was joining a petition asking the court to freeze Rabello’s appointment until a decision has been made regarding the “illegality” of the voting process.

Elron won the first round of voting with 60-57 votes, falling just one vote short of the 61 needed for victory, meaning several coalition lawmakers had defected. As neither candidate secured the backing of 61 MKs, a second round of voting was held in accordance with the State Comptroller Law.

He was then defeated 61-57 by Rabello in the highly contentious second vote, which was halted briefly and rerun after multiple Likud MKs were accused of taking photos or videos of themselves voting for Netanyahu’s lawyer. Senior Likud officials reportedly instructed them to provide evidence to ensure they were voting for the premier’s preferred candidate, despite the stipulation of the law that the vote be conducted by secret ballot.

Some of the footage was subsequently leaked to the press, including a video of Education Minister Shlomo Karhi placing his ballot slip in an envelope, and a selfie taken by Finance Committee chair........

© The Times of Israel