‘Provocation’: Sa’ar clashes with fellow New Hope MK in probe of comptroller vote

New Hope MK Sharren Haskel told police that her party instructed lawmakers to record their votes for Michael Rabello in the June state comptroller election and show them to Netanyahu. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar rejected the claim as a 'media provocation.' The High Court ruled the vote violated secret ballot requirements, ordering a new election, which has not been held.

New Hope MK Sharren Haskel told police on Sunday that her own faction ordered its lawmakers to record themselves casting ballots for Michael Rabello, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's preferred candidate in the June vote for state comptroller, and to show their votes to the premier. In her testimony to investigators from the Lahav 433 major crimes unit, Haskel said the instruction came from New Hope MK Michel Buskila, the party whip, according to a source cited by Kan. Police are expected to collect testimony from other New Hope MKs who received the same instructions. In an interview last week, New Hope MK and Minister Ze'ev Elkin denied receiving such instructions. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar, who chairs New Hope, rejected the claim in an affidavit submitted to the High Court of Justice, writing that Haskel's claims are 'not only baseless, they're also irrelevant and are designed to generate a media provocation.' He insisted there was no such demand by Likud and said he made clear to party members they were not supposed to video themselves casting ballots. The comptroller election was marred by at least six coalition MKs recording their vote, which opposition parties and watchdog groups alleged was done on instructions from senior Likud officials. The High Court ruled that those MKs violated the secret ballot requirement, ordering a new election. Justice Minister Yariv Levin called on the Knesset not to abide by the ruling, and no repeat election has been held. Rabello has refused to take up the position. Haskel, who opposed New Hope's March 2025 merger with Likud, resigned from her role as deputy foreign minister last month and launched a new party, 'Israel First.'