Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana on Sunday turned down a High Court of Justice suggestion to conduct another election for state comptroller, based on a filing submitted on behalf of the Knesset.

The filing noted that the suggestion, offered by the court at the close of Thursday's hearing on petitions against attorney Michael Rabello's election, had been passed to Ohana. He chose not to schedule another vote, pointing to the points raised in the Knesset's initial response and at the hearing.

"The Knesset has already had its say," Ohana wrote on X/Twitter.

Justices to decide on intervention

The choice sends the issue back to the High Court panel of Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg and Justices Gila Canfy-Steinitz and Ruth Ronnen.

At Thursday's hearing, the justices suggested that the Knesset hold a repeat vote to settle the petitions without a court ruling that would nullify the original election. Sohlberg noted that if the suggestion were rejected, the court planned to issue a conditional order centered on whether ballot secrecy had been upheld.

Such an order would require the respondents to explain why the election should not be nullified. It would not, by itself, overturn the outcome.

The petitions question Rabello's June 3 election to succeed State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman. Rabello, a longtime attorney for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, beat retired Supreme Court justice Yosef Elron in a second round of voting.

Rabello wins final vote

In the opening round, Elron received 60 votes, and Rabello received 57, leaving both candidates one vote short of the 61 needed for election. A second round was stopped and restarted amid controversy over several coalition MKs recording their votes behind the curtain.

Rabello then won the final vote by 61-57.

The petitioners maintain that the legally required secret ballot was undermined when MKs photographed or filmed their ballots. They argue that the practice created political pressure by forcing lawmakers to show how they voted.

The Knesset and Likud have disputed that there was evidence of an instruction directing MKs to record their ballots. Their representatives argued at Thursday's hearing that the petitioners had not shown that such a directive was issued.

The court's questions centered largely on whether the recorded ballots aligned with the secrecy required under Basic Law: The State Comptroller. Sohlberg said that an "undesirable cloud" and a "bitter taste" hung over the process, and described some of the ballots as problematic.

Repeat vote 'simplest and cleanest solution'

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners, said Sunday that the court had offered the "simplest and cleanest" solution: a repeat vote held without cameras or coercion.

"Anyone who refuses to vote again in a clean process admits that the first vote was tainted," the movement said. It argued that a state comptroller, whose role includes scrutinizing government bodies, cannot be elected through a process that breached the principle of ballot secrecy.

Labor MK Gilad Kariv also criticized Ohana's decision, arguing that the Speaker could not claim to speak for the Knesset. He accused Ohana of acting contrary to the Knesset legal adviser's guidance and of turning the comptroller-selection process into a "circus." He urged the High Court to reject what he termed Ohana's "corrupt notice."

The petitions also cite Rabello's professional ties to Netanyahu and Likud as raising potential conflict-of-interest concerns. The panel, however, appeared less inclined to intervene on that ground at this stage, indicating that any such concerns could potentially be addressed through a conflict-of-interest arrangement.

Englman's term is due to end on July 3.