High Court leaves state comptroller seat vacant pending new parliament

Israel remains without a state comptroller four months after the previous term expired, following a High Court of Justice decision on Tuesday that dismissed a petition for a repeat vote. The panel concluded that a new parliament should determine the next auditor rather than the outgoing Knesset in its final days.

Justice Ruth Ronnen, writing for a three-judge panel that included President Isaac Amit and Justice Khaled Kabub, found that Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana’s delay constituted a breach of an earlier court ruling. The court ordered Ohana and the Knesset to pay petitioner Yaron Gadot NIS 10,000 in costs, noting that dismissing the case did not approve the Speaker's conduct.

The vacancy has stalled the audit process since Matanyahu Englman's term ended in early July. The comptroller's office reported that while audit teams continue fieldwork, they cannot finalize reports, start new audits, or issue protection orders for whistleblowers. The office also lacks the authority to sanction political parties for financing violations or convene the committee handling ministerial conflicts of interest.

The dispute stems from a June 3 Knesset vote between retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron and attorney Michael Rabello. Neither candidate reached the required 61 votes in the first round. A second round, won by Rabello 61-57, was annulled on July 2 after the court found that lawmakers filmed their ballots, violating secrecy. The court identified six members, including five from Likud and one from Shas, who displayed their votes.

Ohana argued that the statutory timetable for setting a voting date did not apply to this exceptional situation and that the incoming parliament should make the choice. Knesset legal adviser Sagit Afik told the court that the judgment required immediate implementation but acknowledged practical difficulties due to the approaching general election. Ronnen accepted that the Speaker acted contrary to the legal adviser's position but ruled that the election changed the dynamic.

The judgment left open whether the new Knesset will resume the contest between Rabello and Elron or start the process again. Ronnen noted that resuming the previous vote appeared problematic given the changed membership, but did not mandate a specific path forward. The decision arrives as opposition leaders seek to replace Ohana as Speaker after the new Knesset is sworn in on November 10, a move that will directly affect who controls the scheduling of the next comptroller vote.

The court emphasized that the public suffered harm from the prolonged vacancy, which left the office without a designated ombudsman to protect employees who expose corruption. Gadot's petition, filed on September 6, sought a repeat second round before the current Knesset dissolved. The panel rejected this request, prioritizing the mandate of the newly elected representatives.