Knesset to Vote on Bill Placing the Police Internal Investigations Unit Under the Justice Minister

The bill on the Police Internal Investigations Department, known by its Hebrew acronym Machash, comes up this evening, Wednesday, for final approval in the Knesset in its second and third readings. The bill, considered one of the laws in the judicial overhaul, was advanced in direct opposition to the position of the Attorney General's legal advisory team, which believes it will accelerate the politicization of the police and turn police officers from servants of the public into servants of those in power.

Live broadcast. Photo: Knesset Channel 2

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Machash will be transferred to the Ministry of Justice (Photo: Eli Mandelbaum)

There is also concern that corruption investigations will decrease, since officers will fear that their career advancement will be harmed when the person under investigation is more senior. "This is the funeral ceremony for corruption investigations. A police investigator would have to be crazy to ask sharp questions, under caution, of someone close to the government," said a senior legal source.

According to the law, which was prepared and approved by the joint committee on Constitution and National Security, the Justice Minister will reestablish the Police Internal Investigations Department within his ministry, removing it from the State Attorney's Office. However, Machash will continue to be subject to the general directives of the Attorney General and the State Attorney.

It will be staffed by civilians and will be able to investigate Shin Bet personnel. As part of separating Machash from the State Attorney's Office and the Attorney General's office, all criminal powers, including the authority to suspend proceedings, which currently belong to the Attorney General or the State Attorney, will be transferred to the head of Machash.

In addition, a coordination mechanism will be established under which a retired judge, from the district or Supreme Court, will be appointed by a committee to decide in cases of disagreement between Machash and another investigative or prosecutorial body. Regarding the investigation of Shin Bet employees, Machash will investigate with the approval of both the Attorney General and the department head, and in the event of disagreement, the official overseeing the police investigations coordination mechanism will decide.

All Machash employees will also be civilians who will be granted access to all of the police's intelligence and case-management systems, according to rules to be set by the police commissioner with the consent of the head of Machash. The head of Machash himself will serve one six-year term and will be appointed by a committee chaired by the director general of the Ministry of Justice or his representative. Its members will include a lawyer who represents criminal defendants, to be appointed by the Justice Minister in consultation with the Public Defender; a retired Supreme Court or district court judge, to be appointed by the chair of the Knesset State Control Committee; a person with investigative experience, to be appointed by the Civil Service Commissioner in consultation with the director general of the Ministry of Justice; and the Civil Service Commissioner or his representative. In practice, this gives a majority to those chosen by the Justice Minister or the director general of his ministry.

The conditions for appointing the head of Machash will be eligibility to serve as a Supreme Court justice and experience in criminal law. The committee demanded that the law include a detailed reporting requirement, including, among other things, the number of complaints filed and how they were handled. The requirement will apply to Machash, the police public complaints unit, and the police discipline unit.

"Enforcement influenced by interests"

In her speech last week at the Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara said the bill splitting the Attorney General's role and the Machash bill share the same goal and complement each other, namely political control over law enforcement and the criminal justice system.

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"A politicized Machash will lead to overenforcement." Gali Baharav-Miara at the Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat (Photo: Israel Bar Association)

Baharav-Miara believes that once the laws are passed, Israel's law enforcement system will completely change its character: "Instead of independent law enforcement, we will get law enforcement that is heavily influenced by political interests and by the needs of the current government and the ministers themselves."

Since the law is expected to be challenged in petitions to the High Court of Justice, and since the Attorney General and the High Court petitions department are likely not to defend it, the Justice Ministry will argue that Israel Police officers, in the course of their duties, come into daily contact with citizens and sometimes exercise harmful powers against them.

Therefore, a nonpolitical Police Internal Investigations Department, as it currently exists in their view, serves as a central barrier against the abuse of power given to Israeli police officers. "Machash will in practice be subordinate to the political echelon, and the head of Machash will למעשה be appointed by the political echelon," the Attorney General added.

"The meaning of a politicized Machash is deterring police investigators from handling cases involving people in power and their associates. The meaning of a politicized Machash is also overenforcement against police officers toward groups that are not favored by those in power. The citizens of the state will feel the change in the street, at soccer games and at protest rallies."

Last week, Baharav-Miara recalled that a committee headed by the director general of the Ministry of Justice, which examined the recommended structure for Machash, concluded that the department must remain independent and apolitical. "The bill, by contrast, purports to build a model of a new Machash that has no precedent in the world. A political model, not an independent one. Here too, as in the case of the split law, the staff work that was done is being cast aside, and a political takeover of law enforcement mechanisms becomes possible," she concluded.