The High Court of Justice issued on Sunday an interim order against the so-called “police law,” which subordinated the police to the National Security Ministry.
The government has 90 days to respond as to why the law should not be canceled.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel said in response that this meant that the court was close to striking down the law through judicial review.
The court ruling came in response to petitions by MQG, Labor party members, Yesh Atid members, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee arguing that the Police Law politicized law enforcement by allowing the national security minister set guidelines and policy for the Israel Police.
Arguments against the law
Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir at the annual Jerusalem Conference of the ‘Besheva’ group in Jerusalem, on February 21, 2023. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)On June 7, the High Court heard arguments against the law, in which it was claimed that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir used the ambiguous framing and wording of the law to issue direct field orders to the police.
The control exerted by Ben-Gvir contended blurred the lines between politics and law enforcement, and confused the chain of command, the petitioners said. They said that rights, especially those of minorities and political rivals, were in danger from such a law.
Ben-Gvir and his representatives said that they had developed a law to address a gap in the law in which the police were not properly anchored to government bodies in the same way as the IDF and Shin Bet were. Ben-Gvir also claimed that the motivation behind attacking the law was personal, that he backed the law and was the minister.
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