Supreme Court Dismisses Petition against Minister Uzi Landau Challenging the Promotion of Border Police Commander Benzy Sau

Today, the Supreme Court of Israel dismissed a petition filed by Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and the Committee of the Martyrs’ Families against Uzi Landau, the Minister of Internal Security and Shlomo Aharonishky, the Chief of Police, which asked to freeze the promotion and suspend Border Police Commander Benzy Sau until the Or Commission publishes its final conclusions. 

On 16 April 2001, Minister Landau promoted Sau to the rank of Brigadier General. In doing so, Minister Landau overturned former Minister Shlomo Ben Ami’s decision to freeze the promotions of all police officers involved in the October demonstrations. On 1 and 2 October 2000, Sau was the commanding officer of all the regular police and border police units in the Triangle region. On those days, Sau gave orders to police to open fire on demonstrators. However, as his testimony before the Or Commission showed, Sau lacked even basic knowledge of police open fire regulations. In the area under Sau’s command, four Palestinian youth were shot and killed by police. Autopsies performed on those killed show that the shootings, which led to their deaths, violated the police open fire regulations. Despite this, Sau testified that he knew nothing of the circumstances under which the four youth were killed. The petitioners argued that Sau, together with Alik Ron, the Police Commander of the Northern District, used “snipers” to shoot at Palestinian citizen demonstrators in Umm al-Fahem, which also violated the open fire regulations. The petitioners also maintained that Sau’s testimony before the Or Commission was clearly contradicted by the testimonies of police under his command in a way that undermines his credibility. 

Supreme Court Justices Matza, Tirkel and Rivlin, in dismissing the petition, rejected the arguments made by Hassan Jabareen, Advocate of Adalah. The Justices ruled that the Supreme Court would not intervene in matters before the Or Commission, which is ongoing, and that the petition was filed after the promotions had already been made. 

Adalah lawyers expressed their disappointment with the Supreme Court’s decision, which damages the confidence of the public, in general, and the Arab public, in particular, in the Or Commission, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies. The Court’s decision legitimizes the promotion of high-ranking police officers, who were involved in the October demonstrations, before the Or Commission has clarified the issue of their responsibility for loss of life and injury to hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel. With this decision, the Court also effectively supports Minister Landau’s statements with respect to the public status of the Or Commission, “as a Commission that was mistakenly established and from political motives.”

The Court’s decision also stands in stark contrast to Supreme Court precedent in cases involving the promotion of public officials and political appointments. For example, in the Galili case, the Supreme Court nullified the promotion of an army officer due to sexual harassment allegations lodged against him by a junior officer under his command. Similarly, the Supreme Court prohibited the appointment of Yossi Ginosar, a former senior Shin Bet officer, as General Director of the Ministry of Housing, because of allegations concerning bribe-taking and obstruction of justice in the Bus 300 affair in the 1980s.