Those who said the new, 94-MK coalition would be able to win any Knesset vote easily received a rude awakening on Monday evening, as Judge Joseph Shapira – Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s choice – was elected state comptroller, but only in the third round of voting.
Shapira, a Jerusalem District Court judge for the past seven years, is the official candidate of the Knesset’s three biggest parties – Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beytenu – and was nominated by 70 MKs earlier this month, but won the vote with the support of 68 legislators after getting less than 60 in the previous two rounds.
Current State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss finishes his term on July 3.
The state comptroller vote is by secret ballot, as per the 1988 Basic Law: State Comptroller, which means that party and coalition discipline cannot be enforced. As such, many Kadima and a few Likud MKs rebelled and voted for Deputy Supreme Court President Eliezer Rivlin instead.
Several Kadima MKs explained that they would like to rebel against the unity coalition, but cannot do so. Therefore, they voted against the agreed-upon choice of comptroller.
One Kadima source said the vote shows Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cannot force the party to do what he wants.
MK Marina Solodkin (Kadima) said she would vote for Rivlin, because she saw him preside over a case in which he “saved the life” of a Russian immigrant that had been mistreated by lower courts. She tried to convince other MKs from the Former Soviet Union to follow suit.
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin is the only Likud MK to openly support Rivlin for comptroller. The two are distant cousins, but the Knesset Speaker says they do not know each other well.
The first two rounds of votes for the state comptroller can only be won by 61 MKs. In the first round, Shapiro received 58 votes, with Rivlin receiving 44 and Organization of Internal Auditors president Shlomo Calderon getting support from 10 MKs. In the second round, ballot committee members Knesset Ethics Committee chairman Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas), MK Arye Eldad (National Union) and MK Rachel Adatto (Kadima) counted 59 for Shapira, 45 for Rivlin and two for Calderon.
Shapira won the third round with support from 68 MKs, though he could have become comptroller with a simple plurality. Rivlin received 40 votes.
“The Knesset made an excellent choice in supporting Judge Shapira,” MK Yariv Levin (Likud) said. “He has exceptional courage, and I am convinced he will make a great contribution to the State Comptroller’s Office.”
According to Levin, Shapira’s victory ends the line of Supreme Court justices chosen for the role.
Kadima faction chairwoman Dalia Itzik also expressed satisfaction that Shapira was elected, adding that she is sure he will be a dedicated comptroller.
In the opposition, Meretz and National Union MKs also spoke out in favor of the Shapira, saying he is an excellent choice, will serve independently and be unbiased.
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said he could not vote for Rivlin, explaining that “when I want to be right, I do the opposite of the recommendations of Haaretz, which aggressively campaigned against Shapira.”


By LAHAV HARKOV

JPost.com