Israel Police legal advisers have formalized a policy allowing officers and commanders to receive free legal representation in administrative petitions, while also choosing their own lawyer. The decision was made about two months ago, when Tamar Liberty was serving as acting legal adviser to the force, but it is only now becoming public.
The move follows the internal uproar over Rinat Saban, an officer who received free representation from the Movement for Quality Government. That case angered many inside the police and led Police Commissioner Danny Levy to appoint a special team to examine the approval process for such legal representation.
According to the report, flaws discovered in that process prompted the new blanket arrangement. A senior police source told C14 that “what Saban did opened the door for other officers who are unhappy with their promotions,” adding that, in practice, “from today, the one granting promotions in the police is the court, which did not throw out the petitions at the outset.”
The source warned that the policy could encourage more petitions over promotions. Since the Saban affair, two female officers have already filed petitions against National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, and on Tuesday Senior Cmdr. Itzik Elpasi submitted a pre-litigation demand letter to the minister before filing a lawsuit seeking a post.
