After hundreds of objections submitted to the bill were rejected, the Knesset Plenum approved in second and third reading the bill to amend the Police Ordinance, No. 37, 2022, by MK Itamar Ben Gabir. In the third reading, 61 Knesset members supported the proposal against 55 who opposed it.
It is proposed to establish that the Israel Police is subject to the government and the Minister of Internal Security and the authority of the Minister of Internal Security to outline the police’s policy and the general principles for its activities.
It is also proposed to state that in the area of investigations, the Minister will be entitled to establish a general policy, after hearing the position of the ombudsman for the government and consulting with the commissioner and those in charge of the police on the area of investigations, but in any case the minister’s policy cannot detract from the duty of the police according to any law regarding an investigation or case , and will not detract from her duty if she learns of the commission of a crime.
It is also suggested that the police instructions determined by the commissioner be in accordance with the minister’s policy, as well as to reverse the default regarding the publication of police orders, and to stipulate that as a general rule, orders will be published, unless the commissioner believes, with the approval of the ombudsman for the government, that a certain order should not be published.
Yesterday, the Knesset approved the decision of the regulatory committee to split the bill into two sections. One deals with the regulation of the chief of staff’s subordinate relationship and subordination to the minister and the government in the same way that the issue regarding the chief of staff is regulated in the Basic Law: The Army, and the other deals with provisions regarding the minister’s authority to outline policy and establish general principles regarding the duration of handling cases. The split is intended to allow the committee to continue clarifying the issues that arose during the discussion of these sections.
The chairman of the special committee that prepared the law, MK Ofir Katz: “The Police Ordinance, which was enacted during the British Mandate period, did not so far include provisions regulating the relationship between the government and the Minister of Internal Security in charge of the police and the commissioner and the police, except for a few individual arrangements . The bill I am presenting to you is intended to regulate these relations for the first time and to enshrine in law the subordination of the Israel Police to the government, and the fact that the Minister of Internal Security is appointed to it by the government, as well as to enshrine the authority of the Minister of Internal Security to outline the policy of the police.
I should note that during the discussions in the committee, we heard many comments from members of the Knesset, of course also from the opposition, from government ministries, from the police, from many civil organizations, from former commissioners and former police officers, from academics and from the legal counsel to the committee. Some of the comments also We have accepted and included the wording of the term now for your approval.”
The initiator of the proposal MK Itamar Ben Gabir said after the approval of the law: “We made history for the State of Israel, for security on the roads and streets.”