Three days after a hearing before an expanded High Court of Justice panel, five Supreme Court justices issued an injunction Wednesday freezing attorney Michael Rabello’s entry into the post of state comptroller.
Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorney, defeated retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron in the second round of voting in the Knesset, against the backdrop of an uproar over coalition lawmakers photographing their ballots. In effect, following the decision, Israel will have no state comptroller as of this weekend.
In a decision by Supreme Court President Yitzhak Amit, Deputy President Noam Sohlberg and Justices Daphne Barak-Erez, Ruth Ronnen and Gila Canfy-Steinitz, the court wrote: "In view of the timetable required due to the end of the term of the incumbent state comptroller, and in order to allow sufficient time for a judgment in the proceedings, an interim order is hereby issued under which attorney Michael Rabello’s entry into the post of state comptroller will be frozen until a judgment is handed down."
Likud MK Hanoch Milwidsky, who proudly photographed himself behind the voting booth with his ballot for Rabello, quickly responded: "The High Court’s illegal decision must be ignored. As I have been saying for some time, it is a mistake to continue taking part in the theater of the absurd of Yitzhak Amit and his rebellious colleagues. If we want governance, the time has come to act."
Hanoch Milwidsky and Minister Karhi vote in the secret ballot
Opposition leader Yair Lapid welcomed the justices’ decision: "I welcome the High Court’s decision to freeze Rabello’s appointment as state comptroller. As we wrote in the petition we filed on the matter, these elections were tainted, and Netanyahu’s private attorney cannot be appointed to the position."
First published: 12:43, 07.01.26