Knesset Approves Law Separating Police Investigations Unit from the State Attorney’s Office

The Knesset approved overnight Wednesday into Thursday the bill to amend the Police Ordinance, known as the “Mahash law,” by a vote of 43 in favor and 39 against. The bill stipulates that the Department for Police Investigations will be separated from the State Attorney’s Office and become a unit within the Justice Ministry.

MK Moshe Saada (Likud), who promoted the law, previously said the aim was “that there will no longer be immunity granted to senior police officials who are close to the prosecution.” State Attorney Amit Isman sent a letter this morning to Mahash employees following the law’s approval, writing that “throughout the legislative process, I and many professional figures in the law enforcement system presented professional positions, comments and reservations regarding the bill, its significance and its implications for the law enforcement system in the State of Israel.” He added that “the Knesset has decided on the issue, and the law establishes a significant transition and preparation period during which various state bodies will be required to deal with the legal, organizational and practical aspects related to its implementation.”

“Over the years, the Department for Police Investigations has played a central and important role in preserving the rule of law, integrity and public trust in law enforcement systems,” Isman added. “I wish to express deep appreciation to the women and men of Mahash, past and present, for their professional, dedicated and important work.”

The move advanced against the position of the attorney general, Gali Baharav-Miara, who determined that the proposal “will lead to a political takeover of Mahash and will become a tool in the hands of the government to steer investigations against police officers and direct police behavior according to its needs.” State Attorney Isman also opposed the law, and several months ago he wrote to MK Simcha Rothman, chairman of the joint committee of the Constitution Committee and the National Security Committee, which debated the proposal, that the law “increases the concern about political interference in police activity.”

In his letter to Rothman, Isman added that “the benefit of separating the Department for Police Investigations (Mahash) from the State Attorney’s Office is limited, while the potential damage to the unit’s independence, to the ability of its head to stand up to pressure from the political echelon, to the professionalism of the unit and its operation according to uniform professional standards with the other law enforcement bodies, and to the concern about harm to the rule of law in general, is extremely significant.”

Isman noted in the letter that Mahash’s independence and professionalism are important guarantees for the independence and professionalism of the police, and warned that “harm to Mahash’s ability to fulfill its role as an independent and professional law enforcement body will ultimately lead to increased concern about political interference in police activity.”

“Mahash is a complex unit to manage,” the state attorney wrote, “and decision makers in the unit are often confronted with complex professional and legal decisions. In light of this, it is important that Mahash not become an isolated unit operating separately from the existing law enforcement system, in a way that creates different rules for Mahash’s target population, and that could increase concern about political influence over enforcement authorities’ decisions. There is no doubt that, as in any body or unit, there have been failures in Mahash in the past, probably are occurring now and will occur in the future as well. Mahash has undergone far-reaching changes in recent years and faces many challenges. There is a need to strengthen Mahash’s standing and provide it with the tools required to carry out its work in a professional and optimal manner and to strengthen public trust in it.”

“In my view,” he concluded, “the current bill, the cancellation of Mahash’s organizational affiliation as an organic unit in the prosecution, and the establishment of another unit that will not be subordinate to the attorney general, her interpretation of the law and her professional guidelines, will cause Mahash to cease functioning as a professional, efficient and effective enforcement body. Given this, I believe there is no justification for advancing the model proposed in the current bill, a model for which, to the best of my understanding, no equivalent exists in the world, and meanwhile there is concern that the bill will harm Mahash, an organ that is indisputably of paramount importance in the law enforcement system, harm equality before the law and the ability to effectively conduct complex and sensitive investigations.”