Court orders state to respond to petition against promotion of indicted police officer
Jerusalem District Court declines to immediately issue interim order blocking Meir Suissa from assuming command of Tel Aviv police station; police won’t say if he’s begun new role
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Jerusalem District Court declined on Wednesday to immediately issue an interim order blocking indicted police officer Meir Suissa from taking up his new post as commander of the South Tel Aviv police station, but did order the state to reply to the petition against the appointment and the request for an interim order by Monday.
The court was responding to a petition filed on Wednesday by the TLM – Anti Corruption Movement against Suissa’s promotion to chief superintendent and commander of the police station owing to an indictment against him over his conduct during an anti-government protest in March 2023.
Suissa was indicted by the Department for Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) in July for throwing a stun grenade at protesters during the demonstration, in violation of police directives.
TLM argued in its petition that promoting a police officer who is under indictment violates police regulations. It also pointed out that the Attorney General’s Office explicitly told National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who has authority over the police, that Suissa could not be promoted at this time because the police commissioner has yet to issue his opinion on the matter and has not conducted the necessary evaluation of the circumstances, including the indictment against Suissa.
In his decision on Wednesday, Jerusalem District Court Judge Elazar Nachalon wrote that he could not issue an interim order against Suissa’s promotion without hearing from the respondents in the case, namely Ben Gvir and new police commissioner Daniel Levy.
The judge also pointed out that it has not been made clear to the court by the respondents if Suissa has begun serving in his new post, or when he is scheduled to do so.
The court ordered Ben Gvir and the police commissioner to respond to the petition by Monday.
Aviah Alef, chair of the TLM – Anti Corruption Movement, said that technically, in the absence of an interim order, Suissa could in theory begin serving as the head of the South Tel Aviv Police Station but that “in a normal country” such a step would be delayed until a final decision is made on the request for an interim order.
The police have not answered a request for comment regarding Suissa’s current status and Alef said her organization had not gained clarity as to whether Suissa has taken up his new post.
The police said on Monday that new Police Commissioner Levy would hold a special hearing regarding Suissa’s appointment, although did not say when that might happen.
On Tuesday, Channel 13 reported that previous police commissioner Kobi Shabtai, who headed the Israel Police during the demonstration in which Suissa threw the stun grenade into the crowd of protestors, said he had authorized the use of stun grenades during such protests.
“In the incident in question I authorized throwing stun grenades,” Shabtai was quoted as saying, although he also clarified that “in the end the officer threw the grenade — and in the video it’s not clear that he was in danger.”
