Earlier this month, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) and the Adalah Center won a victory for democracy.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, as a part of his coalition agreement to join Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, had been promised significant and expanded powers over the police as he built his new “Ministry of National Security.” But when he tried to implement the agreement, and amend the law that governs the police in order to give himself those expanded powers, powers that would allow him to bring political calculations into law enforcement decisions, he was met with opposition from NIFC project partners ACRI and Adalah.
These organizations, with NIF support, filed a petition to the Supreme Court to insist on an independent and professional police force. The petition warned that should the police force become beholden to a particular party or ideology, it would be at risk of becoming the personal militia of its political or ideological leader. It would fail the most fundamental task of the police: protecting each and every citizen, regardless of their politics.
Nearly a year later, in a 5-4 decision, the Court accepted part of ACRI and Adalah’s petition. The Court struck down a key provision of what those in the opposition were calling “Ben Gvir’s Law”, so that even as the Court maintained the Minister of National Security’s authority to set general policy, it established a clear boundary: no political official — including Ben-Gvir — can direct or interfere with police investigations. This ruling builds an essential firewall between political oversight and professional law enforcement.
In his ruling, Acting President of the Supreme Court, Justice Yitzhak Amit, sharply criticized Ben-Gvir, writing that his conduct over the course of his tenure as Minister of National Security “illustrates the dangers inherent in (Ben-Gvir’s proposed) amendment to the law, which in effect led to the strengthening of the minister’s position without checks and balances.”
NIFC is proud to invest in organizations like ACRI and Adalah that work day in and day out in the courts to insist on democracy and equality for all. This ruling is a victory for all who believe that professional, independent law enforcement is part of a healthy democracy.