Support for a Candidate for State Comptroller Cannot Be Based Solely on What Netanyahu Wants
Unless something extraordinary happens, former Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron will be elected State Comptroller. Even more remarkably, he will probably receive very broad support. Benny Gantz’s National Unity party has already announced its support, and it is far from certain that this will be the extent of the opposition’s backing.
On the face of it, the opposition should have resisted his appointment. His election to the Supreme Court was, as I recall, supported by the corrupt chairman of the Israel Bar Association, Efi Nave, who persuaded then-Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to support him. Among other things, his decisive argument was: “Elron will destroy them” — referring to the other Supreme Court justices.
During the darkest period of the struggle over the Supreme Court, Elron sided with the coalition and put forward his candidacy for president of the court, challenging the entire seniority system, as the coalition wanted. Elron also sided with the coalition in the court’s major tests, such as the cancellation of the reasonableness doctrine, the change to the incapacitation law, and Aryeh Deri’s continued service as a minister.
In my view, by the way, this does not necessarily disqualify him from serving as State Comptroller. It is possible that once he takes the position, he will change his stance. These days, Elron is running an energetic campaign: he calls members of the Knesset, meets with them, and behaves like any candidate would. He promises to be independent and to take orders from no one. Perhaps he will. Although there are several question marks. Unfortunately, the opposition fell asleep at the wheel, failed to search for a candidate of its own, and left the field empty.
I spoke with several opposition leaders. They explained that no candidate had approached them and that there was no point running a candidate who had no chance of winning. The most important argument in their view is that Elron’s victory would be a defeat for Benjamin Netanyahu. They became convinced that Netanyahu opposes the appointment, even though Likud MK Eli Dellal was the one who secured Knesset members’ signatures in support of Elron. The claim is that Dellal is independent, and that Netanyahu’s people are pressuring him to withdraw his support because Netanyahu wants attorney Michael Raabillo. Perhaps. But support for a candidate for such an important position cannot be based solely on what Netanyahu wants. The fact that opposition faction leaders failed to appoint a team in time to search for a good candidate with a realistic chance of winning is a disgraceful reflection on the opposition.
The State Comptroller is a critical gatekeeper. Netanyahu’s success in appointing Matanyahu Englman to the position was the first link in his attempt to eliminate all the checks on his rule. By the time Englman tried to assert some independence, after October 7, it was already too late. The institution had become marginal and lacking in prestige, to the point that almost no one attaches importance to its reports. Even when Englman publishes a significant and critical report on the government, it disappears within a few hours without leaving much of a mark.
One of Englman’s first actions was to eliminate the unit established to fight corruption. This was the most important thing for Netanyahu’s coalition, and it proved effective. Throughout his tenure, the State Comptroller’s Office virtually disappeared from the struggle for integrity in public life. At roughly the same time, and not coincidentally, the police also halted most of its efforts in this area. Netanyahu’s government thus gained an almost dictatorial degree of quiet when it came to corruption offenses.
What does Elron think about this? Does he believe the State Comptroller has a role to play in protecting integrity in public life? Will he reestablish the unit that was shut down? It is impossible to know. In the meetings I am aware of, he was not asked about these issues, and therefore did not answer them. At the moment, he also feels no need to provide the public with answers because he is sailing safely toward the position. If so, why should he commit himself to any particular position?
There is very little time left before the election, and the chances that some kind of dark horse will manage to defeat Elron are slim. Had such a candidate emerged, they might at least have forced Elron to provide answers and explain what kind of State Comptroller he intends to be. Englman did not need to do so, and we saw the result immediately after his election.