Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party pressured lawmakers to support his personal lawyer, Michael Rabello, in the election for state comptroller, according to Israeli media reports on Wednesday.
The Times of Israel reported that lawmakers voted 61-57 in the Knesset to elect Rabello as state comptroller after a controversial repeat vote.
The state comptroller serves as Israel’s independent government auditor and watchdog. Rabello’s close ties to Netanyahu have raised concerns about the independence of the office.
The second round of voting was halted and rerun amid allegations that Likud lawmakers were pressured to photograph and even film their ballots to prove they had voted for Rabello and had not “betrayed” Netanyahu, despite legal requirements that the vote be conducted by secret ballot.
Opposition leaders accused Likud of undermining the integrity of the election and said they would petition Israel’s High Court of Justice to annul the result, arguing lawmakers had been intimidated into revealing how they voted, according to the report.
