Constitutional Crisis Deepens as Justice Minister Urges Knesset to Defy High Court

by | Jul 10, 2026 | News

Israel’s confrontation between government and judiciary has escalated sharply, with Justice Minister Yariv Levin calling on the Knesset to ignore a High Court ruling that invalidated last month’s election of the state comptroller and ordered a new vote.

The court ruled unanimously, in a five judge panel, that a fundamental defect had compromised the secrecy of the ballot. During the June vote, Likud lawmakers were reportedly instructed to photograph themselves behind the voting curtain holding ballots marked for Michael Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s longtime personal attorney, apparently to demonstrate loyalty. Images later circulated publicly. Rabello defeated retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron by 61 votes to 57. Petitioners argued that documenting votes turned a secret ballot into a loyalty test.

Levin, speaking in a radio interview, said there could be no consideration of holding a new election and that Rabello should simply enter the office and begin work. He accused the court of manufacturing the crisis by taking authority it does not possess and asserting control over a body meant to govern itself.

The Knesset’s legal adviser, Sagit Afik, took the opposite view, informing Speaker Amir Ohana that the Knesset must comply and hold a repeat vote within roughly two weeks, noting that the election can proceed even after parliament dissolves later this month given the office’s constitutional importance.

The stakes are practical as well as symbolic. Israel currently has no sitting state comptroller. The office confirmed that without one, there is no legal authority to issue protective orders for whistleblowers reporting public sector corruption, since those powers rest solely with the comptroller acting as ombudsman. Audit reports are also delayed.

Rabello himself reportedly told coalition leaders he would not take the post in defiance of the court, and Netanyahu is said to prefer a new vote he expects to win.

Opposition leaders condemned Levin. Gadi Eisenkot called him a leading contributor to the lowest point in the state’s history. Yair Golan accused him of calling for defiance of the law. All living former Supreme Court presidents criticized the government’s stance.

With elections approaching, the question of who obeys the courts has moved to the center of Israeli politics.

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