From the Liveblog of
Sunday, July 16, 2023
Deliberations indefinitely delayed on bill to let Ben Gvir order administrative detentions
Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel
A government panel postpones discussion on a bill to give National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir unprecedented powers to fight crime, which the far-right leaders claims he needs to address surging criminal violence in Arab communities.
This is the fourth week in a row that the Ministerial Committee on Legislation has delayed taking a stance on the Otzma Yehudit-backed bill, though today is the first time it pushed off deliberations without announcing when it would again consider the proposal.
The moves comes a day after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly warned Justice Minister Yariv Levin that handing Ben Gvir the power to put suspects in administrative detention could undermine the legitimacy of the controversial tool as a counterterror measure, and thus harm national security.
