Supreme Court to hold decisive hearing on petitions challenging amendment subordinating police to National Security Minister Ben Gvir, on Tuesday, 18 June
On Tuesday, 18 June 2024, at 10:00 AM, the Supreme Court, in an expanded panel of 9 justices, will hold a hearing concerning five petitions submitted against Amendment No. 37 to the Police Ordinance (Powers), 5783-2022. They include a petition by Adalah and the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens in Israel challenging the amendment, which subordinates the Israel Police to the National Security Minister, the openly racist Itamar Ben-Gvir. The amendment grants the minister the authority to determine the police’s general policies, operating principles and priorities, including policies regarding investigations.
It follows an earlier hearing, held on 7 June 2023, after which, on 18 June 2023, the Supreme Court issued an order nisi (order to show cause) compelling the respondents (the state) to explain why the legal amendment should not be repealed. During tomorrow’s hearing, the Knesset will present its arguments justifying the legality of the law. Israel’s Attorney General (AG) Gali Baharav-Miara will present her own arguments; in her response to the petition, the AG argues that a part of the law, specifically the article allowing the minister to set investigation policies, is unconstitutional, while suggesting that the rest of the law can be interpreted to align with the independence of the police. In an additional response submitted on 1 January 2024, regarding an interim order request about Ben-Gvir’s intervention in police policies concerning protests during the war, the AG further stated that Minister Ben Gvir had exceeded his authority and that his interference in the work of the police was unacceptable and an attempt to unduly influence the police. Minister Ben Gvir, as the initiator of the amendment, will present his views, representing himself before the court.
Several of the respondents, as well as some of the petitioners, are of the view that the law can be interpreted in a manner that is consistent with Israel’s Basic Laws and constitutional principles, and thus should not be repealed but rather given a narrow interpretation. Adalah, however, believes the law as a whole must be repealed.
The hearing will be livestreamed here.
Case citation: HCJ 2985/23 High Follow up Committee et al. v the Knesset et al.
In its petition, filed with the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel in April 2023, Adalah argued that the amendment inherently undermined the principle of the rule of law and politicized law enforcement, thereby infringing the principle of equality. The petitioners emphasized that granting such far-reaching authority to a minister, and thereby further politicizing the police, stands to exacerbate pre-existing racist police practices towards Palestinian citizens of Israel, and that the amendment must therefore be struck down.
During tomorrow’s hearing, Adalah will present before the Supreme Court numerous police policies and measures that have implemented under the leadership of Ben-Gvir since the court first heard the petition in June 2023, particularly during the current war, all of which underscore the illegitimate purpose of the amendment and demonstrate how he is using his new authorities to directly harm Palestinian citizens, including by limiting their political expression. These arguments are supported both by direct orders given by the minister himself and the pervasive influence of his general racist attitude ” and rhetoric on the Israeli police since his appointment. Examples include the police’s systematic policy of suppressing demonstrations in Palestinian towns and villages, harassing Arab public representatives and obstructing gatherings of Arab political parties, unlawfully banning the display of the Palestinian flag, conducting mass and violent arrests of Palestinian citizens for making legitimate statements and other expressions on social media that fall within the scope of free speech, and pursuing an aggressive policy of home demolitions in unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Naqab. All this has occurred while, during Minister Ben Gvir’s tenure as National Security Minister, the murder rate in Palestinian towns and villages has reached an all-time high due to complete neglect by law enforcement. In 2023 alone, 244 Palestinian citizens were murdered, and only 10.5% of these cases have been solved. According to the Arab High Follow-Up Committee and Adalah, these figures demonstrate the consequences of politicizing the police force and subordinating it to Minister Ben Gvir, who views all Palestinians as enemies and sees combating crime as a means to increase Israel’s control over Palestinian citizens.
CLICK HERE to read Adalah’s submission to the Supreme Court
Date: Tuesday, 18 June 2024
Time: 10:00 am
Location: Supreme Court, Jerusalem, Courtroom 3, https://goo.gl/maps/3Edg7bhPTzZypfBh7
Adalah Comms Team will be on-site to handle media queries.
Lama Taha: +972 54-698-3888
