The appointment of MK Amir Ohana to the post of public security minister enjoyed a rare consensus by the Right and Left, albeit over conflicting interests. The aim of the move was to carry out substantial reforms within the Israel Police and its general approach towards cases involving alleged transgressions by public figures.
Ohana's short yet highly tumultuous tenure as justice minister is at the heart of the expectations held by the Right and fears stoked on the Left that from the onset of his tenure at the Public Security Ministry, he will strive to weaken and limit the powers of the Israel Police.
To everyone's surprise, the new minister has actually chosen to provide full backing to the police, but of all things over the violent dispersal of protests and the unjust detention of demonstrators protesting against the prime minister – something that was criticized by the courts as well.
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The automatic backing given by the minister to the Israel Police is surprising not only due to Ohana's own past attitude towards law enforcement. As justice minister, Ohana acknowledged the problem of police violence against minority groups and promoted the establishment of an investigation mechanism following the killing of Solomon Teka in later 2019.
Police conduct, however, is not limited to "roadblocks" near the Prime Minister's Residence, as the minister called them, but is typical of its behavior vis-à-vis other public demonstrations: settlers or leftists, ultra-Orthodox or Arabs, and even at times, soccer fans.
There is no denying that demonstrations are sensitive by nature and that the police are required to find the balance between allowing civilians to exercise the right to protest and maintaining public order opposite emotionally charged demonstrators, which at times even tend to become confrontational.
Part of the escalation of protest dynamics includes clashes with the police, and the dispersal of protesters or their arrests often fans the flames and creates media coverage coupled with drama.
However, despite this lenient argument, the Israeli police's record is rather bleak. Both the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry into the 2006 Amona eviction and the Orr Commission investigating the October 2000 riots referred to how quickly the police were to use excessive force.
The Orr Commission pointed to a phenomenon that is also reported by the ultra-Orthodox, the LGBT community, leftists and others, namely the tendency of the police as an organization and police officers as individuals, to view Arab Israelis as unequal, and perhaps even enemies. The reports of these and other committees, as well as the recommendations of experts including former police officers, point out not only the flaws of police conduct but also possible solutions.
Alongside recommendations for improving police conduct, training, and readiness with respect to dealing with demonstrations and riots, the reports repeat that the police must improve their understanding and relations with minority groups in Israel.
Minister Ohana, who was appointed to reform the attitude of law enforcement officers, has a golden opportunity to change the attitude of the police specifically towards disadvantaged Israelis. The first significant step will be to appoint a commissioner who will strive, first and foremost, to make the Israel Police the police of all its citizens.
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