4 Months: Israel's Comptroller Post Remains Empty After High Court Ruling

Israel remains without a state comptroller four months after Matanyahu Englman’s term expired. The High Court of Justice dismissed a petition on Tuesday seeking to force a new vote, concluding that a general election is too close for the outgoing Knesset to make the appointment. The ruling leaves the office vacant and leaves dozens of audit reports unpublished.

The vacancy traces back to June 3, when the Knesset attempted to select a replacement for Englman. Two candidates ran for the post: retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron and attorney Michael Rabello. Neither candidate secured the 61 votes required in the first round. Elron received 60 votes, while Rabello received 57. Speaker Amir Ohana called a second round, which resulted in a 61-57 victory for Rabello. The process was disrupted by coalition lawmakers recording their ballots, leading to disputes over secrecy.

On July 2, the High Court annulled the second round and ordered a repeat vote because ballot secrecy had been violated. The court identified five Likud lawmakers who filmed their votes and one Shas lawmaker who displayed his ballot openly. Ohana was required to schedule the new vote. He did not. On September 6, Yaron Gadot filed a petition to compel the Speaker to hold the repeat vote in the outgoing parliament.

The High Court found that Ohana’s failure to act amounted to a breach of the court’s earlier ruling. Justice Ruth Ronnen, writing the decision with Isaac Amit and Khaled Kabub, noted that the Speaker acted against the advice of the Knesset legal adviser. The court ordered Ohana and the Knesset to pay Gadot NIS 10,000 in costs. However, the justices decided to leave the appointment to the incoming parliament rather than impose it on the outgoing one in its final days.

The comptroller’s office continues to function, but it cannot exercise its full powers. Audit teams are still working under the plan drawn up during Englman’s tenure, but they cannot finalize reports or start new audits. The office cannot determine if political parties complied with financing rules or issue protection orders for whistleblowers. A committee handling conflicts of interest for ministers cannot convene without the comptroller.

The Knesset legal adviser, Sagit Afik, argued that the ruling must be implemented quickly but acknowledged practical difficulties near an election. She noted that assembling members of Knesset during recess and providing notice were challenging. She also warned that voting during an election period could be influenced by factional politics. The court accepted these difficulties but ruled they did not excuse compliance.

Ohana argued that the statutory timetable did not apply to this unusual situation. He stated that the next Knesset should make the choice because the comptroller serves a seven-year term. The court agreed that the outgoing parliament should not make a consequential appointment after voters had elected its replacement. The new Knesset is scheduled to convene for its first sitting on November 10.

The judgment did not decide whether the new Knesset must resume the contest between Rabello and Elron or start over. Ronnen left that question open, noting that resuming where the previous parliament left off appeared problematic due to changed membership. The decision comes as opposition leaders seek to replace Ohana as speaker. The new speaker will be responsible for setting the voting date for the next comptroller.