From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, December 13, 2022
Bill to expand police minister’s authority passes preliminary reading
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleCarrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel
A bill to expand the authority of the national security minister police minister — set to be Otzma Yehudit head Itamar Ben Gvir — over the police force passes its preliminary reading in the Knesset.
Outgoing minister Omer Barlev, says in the discussion preceding the vote that broadening the minister’s powers would threaten turning Israel into a “police state.”
Barlev says that while the bill is meant to create a command relationship between police minister and police commissioner akin to the IDF chief of staff’s subordination to the defense minister, the comparison is inappropriate. While the IDF operates against external threats, the police deals with Israeli citizens, and the primacy of Israeli law versus minister directive should be unchallenged.
Ben Gvir countered that Barlev had chaffed against the limits of his power, and that “suddenly when we suggest it, it’s not democratic and hurts human rights?”
The bill passes with 61 votes for and 53 against. It now goes to committees in preparation for its next vote this evening.
The Times of Israel Community.