Members of the incoming coalition said Wednesday that recent testimony from witnesses in prime minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial accusing police investigators of harassment demonstrates the need for the next government to institute reforms to the justice system.
Over the past week, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff David Sharan and the former head of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council Yifat Ben Hai Segev testified that police investigators tried to intimidate them and their families so that they would cooperate in one of the three corruption cases against Netanyahu.
The prosecution initially requested that the court declare both of them as hostile witnesses, claiming their testimony differed from what they had initially told police investigators. The three-judge panel rejected last week’s request regarding Ben Hai Segev but did allow her to be cross-examined and for her previous testimony to be submitted to the court. The prosecution ended up withdrawing its request to declare Sharan a hostile witness.
Religious Zionism chairman Bezalel Smotrich tweeted Wednesday that “the injustices revealed in the last few days of the Netanyahu trial prove once again the vital need to correct the legal system in Israel.”
Smotrich added that he would work in the next government to adopt the key points of a reform he proposed during the election campaign, which included removing fraud and breach of trust — two of the three charges Netanyahu faces in the three cases against him — from the legal code.
“Today it is Netanyahu, tomorrow this ‘executioner’ could be used on any citizen in the country,” Smotrich said.
David Sharan arrives to testify in the trial against former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the District Court in Jerusalem on December 20, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The point was echoed by Likud MK Ofir Katz who said during a Knesset committee hearing on Tuesday that the recent testimony demonstrates that “we need checks and balances for the Israel Police as well.”
Katz highlighted Sharan’s testimony in which he said, “My mother was rushed to the Lahav 433 headquarters. They closed her bank account and she was forced to spend the weekend asking for money because for some reason they also decided to place my wife under house arrest. They told me: ‘If you want to see your wife, don’t have high expectations. We’ve got her now.'”
Katz spoke during a heated debate of a special committee convened to weigh legislation pushed by the incoming coalition to amend existing police regulations in order to give the next national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, expanded powers over law enforcement. Katz is the chair of the special committee.
During Wednesday’s session, Ben Gvir agreed to minor changes to the legislation that were requested by the Knesset legal adviser’s office, such as requiring Ben Gvir to publish his policies online as well as to report annually on his activity to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.
Yifat Ben-Hai Segev, former head of the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, seen after a court hearing in the trial against former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the District Court in Jerusalem on December 13, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The bill, which was passed through a first reading by the Knesset on Tuesday, would make the police and its leadership subordinate to the national security minister and under the government’s authority. At the same time, it declares the police commissioner — not a member of the government — the force’s “highest command authority.” It remains unclear how that will play out in practice though.
The bill also gives presumed incoming minister Ben Gvir the ability to set police policy, with the exception of making decisions on whether individuals should be charged. In addition, the formulation for investigations policy would require consultation with the police chief and attorney general.
Ben Gvir’s rivals have blasted the legislation as undemocratic and warned that the far-right lawmaker is seeking to politicize and weaken the police force.
Wednesday’s session quickly got heated and Katz threw out Yesh Atid MK Orna Barbivai as she lambasted the legislation, claiming it would cause scenes far worse than what unfolded during the so-called mixed-city riots during the May 2021 Gaza war because “now the police will be forced to take Ben Gvir’s politics into account.”
MKs Itamar Ben Gvir (left) and Bezalel Smotrich speak in the Knesset on December 19, 2022. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The debate lasted eight hours and will reconvene on Thursday morning, after lawmakers are given time to submit additional amendments, before it is brought before the Knesset for second and third reading votes in the coming days. The legislation will become law if it passes its third reading.
The legislation is part of a suite of three legal changes demanded by Netanyahu’s partners as preconditions to forming their right-wing, far-right and ultra-Orthodox government next week.
A second bill, which has also passed through a first reading, would amend Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws to allow Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich to be appointed a minister in charge of settlement building and other major West Bank issues in the Defense Ministry, and to ensure Shas chief Aryeh Deri can become interior and health minister despite his recent suspended jail sentence for tax fraud.
The Kan public broadcaster reported on Wednesday evening that Likud has discussed appointing Deri as alternate prime minister in the event that the latter piece of legislation is struck down by the High Court of Justice. The current law bars a recently convicted lawmaker from serving as minister but not prime minister nor alternate prime minister. However, Likud issued a statement adamantly denying the Kan report.
Last week, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara condemned the legislative package being advanced by the incoming coalition, cautioning that the bills could render Israel a “democracy in name only.”
Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara speaks during a conference at the University of Haifa, December 15, 2022. (Shir Torem/Flash90)
As part of an apparent deal between the incoming opposition and coalition, the plenum is expected to stay closed following Tuesday’s vote and not open again until next Monday. This will prevent final voting on the bills until next week, but will also potentially buy Netanyahu more time to finish all legislation before swearing in his government.
While he is expected to announce that he has finalized his expected coalition by Wednesday evening — ahead of a midnight deadline — Netanyahu’s subsequent seven-day clock until he must swear in the government won’t start ticking until his coalition is presented to the Knesset plenum. This, if the Wednesday plenum closure holds, means Netanyahu will have a few more days to complete his legislative push.
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Right-wing MKs: Claims by Netanyahu trial witnesses against cops show reform needed - The Times of Israel
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