Sharren Haskel Tells Israel’s High Court: We Were Asked to Film Our Vote for Rabillo

Former Knesset member and former government minister Sharren Haskel submitted an affidavit today (Wednesday) to Israel’s High Court of Justice as part of her petition seeking permission to split from the HaYamin faction. In the affidavit, Haskel repeated claims she has raised before, alleging that there were serious flaws in the process of electing the state comptroller, including a demand that Knesset members document their vote behind the voting screen.

According to Haskel, at the time of the election for state comptroller, the "New Hope" faction did not form an independent position on the issue, and no faction discussion was held in which a decision was made about how its members should vote. She argues that the Likud position was forced on faction members, with the Likud candidate presented as someone who had to be supported without reservation, and without giving Knesset members the opportunity to express an independent position or vote according to their own judgment.

The affidavit also claims that during the repeat round of voting, Knesset members were required to document their vote by video recording it, and then present that documentation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a condition tied to how they voted. Haskel stressed that these are facts known to her personally, and that the demand did in fact take place.

The claims Haskel is making relate to the process that ultimately resulted in attorney Michael Rabillo being chosen as state comptroller. A short time after his election, petitions were filed with Israel’s High Court by the opposition, arguing that there were flaws in the way the vote was conducted in the Knesset. Among other things, the petitioners argued that coalition members were subjected to a "photography requirement" that, they said, undermined the principle of ballot secrecy in the selection process.

The affidavit now submitted adds to Haskel’s earlier public statements on the issue. Several weeks ago, in an interview on the program "Midday Journal" on Galei Israel, hosted by Mati Tuchfeld, she said she had witnessed what happened during the vote: "As someone who was there and knows exactly what happened — there were flaws. They forced Knesset members to film themselves."

At the same time, following the seven petitions filed against the election process, the High Court justices issued a conditional order instructing the state to explain why the process of selecting the state comptroller should not be voided. This came after the justices had already floated the idea at an earlier stage of holding a new election, in light of the alleged failures in the process. Haskel’s affidavit now joins the claims already placed before the court, and is expected to be part of the material reviewed as the petitions are decided.