Knesset starts marathon debate over bill to give Ben Gvir expanded power over police

The Knesset begins a marathon session to debate a bill that will give far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir expansive powers over the police.

The contentious bill, which will expand political authority over police leadership and policy, was demanded by incoming police minister Ben Gvir as a precondition for joining the new government.

The bill will establish government authority over Israel’s police, as well as set out Ben Gvir’s authority to direct general police policy and to influence investigations policy, the latter in coordination with the attorney general and the police commissioner.

Provisions to make the police commissioner formally subordinate to Ben Gvir, as well as giving the minister free rein to develop investigations and police prosecution policy, were removed from the bill in response to pressure from the attorney general’s office, which objected to how the clauses would affect the independence of the police.

Ben Gvir has said he plans to pursue them at a later date.

Opening the Knesset floor debate ahead of the bill’s second and third votes, Likud MK Ofir Katz says it is appropriate to expand the incoming police minister’s authority.

“Alongside his responsibility, it’s appropriate to give him authority,” says Katz, who chaired the special committee that prepared the bill for its floor votes.

The bill is the third and final part of a legislative package rushed in ahead of Thursday’s vote to swear in Israel’s next government, composed of six right-wing, far-right, and ultra-Orthodox parties.