Law granting Ben-Gvir unprecedented power over police passes 61-55

The law is the last out of the four bills that the coalition began to expedite through the Knesset approximately three weeks ago.

By ELIAV BREUER, JPOST

Far-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir closes his eyes during the swearing-in ceremony for the new Israeli parliament, at the Knesset, or parliament, in Jerusalem, November 15, 2022. (photo credit: MAYA ALLERUZZO/REUTERS)

Israel’s Knesset plenum on Wednesday passed into law the bill by incoming national security minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir, which will give him unprecedented control over the Israel Police. The debate continued throughout the night, and the final voting began at 10:00 a.m. on a number of reservations put forward by the soon-to-be opposition and then on its second and third reading.

The final vote passed, 61 in favor and 55 against.

The law is the last out of the four bills that the coalition began to expedite through the Knesset approximately three weeks ago with the intention of signing all of them into law by the government’s ratification in the Knesset, which is scheduled to begin on Thursday at 11:00 a.m.

Majority of young Israelis fear for Israel’s democracy – survey

Yariv Levin resigns as Knesset speaker

According to the law as it stood, the decision over moral turpitude would have had to be decided by the Central Election Committee chairman, High Court justice Yitzhak Amit. However, the new amendment blocks the decision from reaching Amit by changing the law so that it only applied to actual, and not suspended, jail sentences.

The “Smotrich Law” is another provision that enables the position of minister within a ministry. This would enable Religious Zionist Party Chairman Bezalel Smotrich to serve as a minister within the Defense Ministry, and take over authority over civil issues in the West Bank, including Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories and the Civil Administration.

Likud Head MK Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with MK Yariv Levin during a vote for the new Knesset speaker at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on December 13, 2022. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)

At the end of the plenum, Yariv Levin resigned as Knesset speaker so that he could serve as Justice Minister. Levin’s resignation will come into effect on Thursday morning, ahead of the plenum session to ratify the new government, which will begin at 11:00 a.m.

Ongoing backlash from opposition parties

“The Deri Law is more proof of the weakness of [incoming prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu opposite his extremist partners,” Yesh Atid wrote on Twitter after the law was passed.

“Bibi is weak, and Deri knew he would give in to him just like he gives in to everyone. IDF soldiers, Holocaust survivors and fighting the high cost of living doesn’t matter to them. They don’t have good will to do what’s right for you, Israel’s citizens, but only to make a convicted criminal a minister without being bothered.”

Outgoing prime minister Yair Lapid wrote in a tweet, “Even before it was fully formed, this government will be remembered as the most corrupt of all times. A prime minister on trial for severe crimes, a criminal who was in prison and then convicted again will be appointed to a senior minister who will be responsible for your money, a criminal who was convicted of supporting a terrorist organization will be given responsibility over the police. Every honest Zionist who loves his country is ashamed of this government.”

Outgoing Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar pointed out during the Knesset debate that contrary to the incoming coalition’s claims that the amendments were a manifestation of the will of the majority as a result of the election, recent polls showed that a large majority of the public opposed them, and that the new government was “wasting its credit” even before its formation.

“Two months have passed [since the election] and look what is happening – instead of excitement over the large victory, every hour the incoming prime minister is publishing an apology, or clarification, or reservation, or flik-flak,” he added.

Sa’ar’s comments were in reference to Netanyahu distancing himself in recent days from comments made by his coalition partners, who condoned discrimination against LGBTQ+ Israelis in private businesses on religious grounds, and by his son Yair, who called the State Attorney officials who indicted his father “traitors” and hinted that they should be executed.

Outgoing Transportation Minister and Labor leader Merav Michaeli wrote on Twitter, “The Netanyahu government is celebrating passing the law that allows a convicted criminal to return to the scene of the crime. Shame. This is Netanyahu’s government: people charged with crimes, people convicted of crimes, homophobes and racists who bring shame on the State of Israel and are taking it down with them. We have to stop them and get the country back on track.”

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel immediately filed an appeal to the High Court against the law, just two days after it filed a similar appeal against the possibility of Deri becoming a minister irrespective of the law.

The law harms the Israeli governing system as it lowers the ethical standard to serve as a minister, all for “prohibited personal considerations, temporary coalition needs, and lacking any worthy cause outside of the passing political context,” the movement argued in the appeal.

“This is a disgrace, madness, and moral tyranny,” said lawyer Dr. Eliad Shraga, CEO of the Movement for Quality Government in Israel. “It is a black day when the Knesset entered into the State of Israel’s law book a kosher certificate for a convicted felon.

“We woke up to a dark day, in which the members of the apparent coalition acted like thieves in the night and hurried to change a Basic Law in a hasty and retroactive manner, only to allow the criminal Deri to be appointed minister.

“The High Court must intervene and prevent this disgrace, and even cancel the plea agreement made with Aryeh Deri,” Shraga concluded.

The High Court announced later on Tuesday that the state had until January 3 at 1:00 p.m. to file its answer to the appeal. The court said it would then hear the appeal on January 5 in front of an unusually large 11 judges, presumably due to the sensitivity and importance of the case.

Coalition struggles to iron out final details

Final details of the coalition agreements between the Likud and United Torah Judaism were nailed down on Tuesday, after a crisis erupted between UTJ’s two factions over Lithuanian Degel Hatorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni’s refusal to sign the agreement at the last minute. Gafni’s change of heart was reportedly because he received a directive not to back down from a demand for Degel Hatorah to have its own rabbinic council on “kosher” cellphones, which would be slightly more lenient than the current council.

Degel Hatorah and the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael reportedly decided to postpone the issue until after the law to cancel outgoing Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel’s kosher cellphone reform passes its first reading in the Knesset plenum. The reform’s goal was to bar the rabbinic council from controlling which cellphone numbers would belong solely to “kosher” cellphones, thus blocking the council’s ability to monitor who does and who does not use a kosher phone.

Shas’ spiritual leadership council, the Council of Torah Sages, put out a statement on Tuesday evening that the ministerial positions and Knesset committees that Shas received in the coalition negotiations would be given in order of the party’s Knesset list.

According to haredi news outlet Behadrei Haredim, this means that MK Aryeh Deri will be Interior and Health Minister; MK Ya’acov Margi will be Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services Minister; MK Yoav Ben-Tzur will serve as a minister within Margi’s ministry; and MK Michael Malkieli will serve as Religious Affairs Minister.

Additionally, MK Haim Biton will serve as a minister within the education ministry; MK Moshe Arbel will serve as deputy interior minister and deputy health minister; MK Uriel Busso will serve as party CEO, chairman of the Knesset Health Committee and deputy Knesset speaker; and MK Yosef Taieb will serve as the Knesset Education Committee chairman.