Police deny the summoning of MK Haskel: "She is not here"

The Israel Police denied today (Thursday) reports that MK Sharren Haskel was summoned to provide testimony at Lahav 433. In response to a query from C14, the police stated: "She is not here and there is no date."

Subsequently, and in light of the questions that arose on the matter, it was stated on behalf of Haskel that she was indeed summoned to provide testimony at Lahav 433 and is expected to appear at the beginning of next week. At this stage, this involves providing testimony and not an interrogation under caution.

In the background is an affidavit submitted by Haskel to the Supreme Court as part of her request to split from the National Right (Yamin Mamlakhti) faction. In the affidavit, she claimed that the Likud candidate for the position of State Comptroller, Adv. Michael Ravilo, was presented as a candidate whom members of the New Hope (Tikva Hadasha) faction were required to support, and that during the repeat voting round, they were required to document their vote on video and present the documentation to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as evidence of their choice.

Haskel's claims caused a stir, partly because they apparently contradict previous affidavits submitted by Likud CEO David Sharan and MKs from the party, in which they denied that an instruction was given to film the vote. Following the publication, the Movement for Quality Government demanded to open an investigation on suspicion of providing false statements to the court.

The elections for State Comptroller were held in the Knesset on June 3. After none of the candidates won the required majority in the first round, an additional round was held, at the end of which it was announced that Ravilo was elected after receiving 61 votes, compared to 57 votes received by retired Supreme Court Justice Yosef Elron. However, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the documentation of the vote by MKs fundamentally damaged the secrecy of the procedure. The five judges ordered the cancellation of the election results and the holding of a repeat vote, after determining that the flaw in the secrecy could have influenced the result.