Published: 23 September 2024
Last updated: 24 September 2024
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition is promoting changes in legislation and law enforcement that could pave the way for a surge of politically-motivated arrests and other abuses by police, democracy watchdogs are warning.
A proposed amendment that would eliminate the requirement that police obtain approval from state attorneys before making arrests for alleged incitement has “very dangerous implications”, Israel Democracy Institute scholar Amir Fuchs told The Jewish Independent.
The amendment, proposed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Jewish Power party also broadens the definition of what constitutes punishable incitement. Taken together, this would create a situation in which “there are liable to be many arrests that are political arrests rather than actually being connected to terror,” Fuchs said.
He is not the only one worried. Referring to the proposal, Haaretz last week headlined an editorial: ”A green light for political arrests. This is how Ben-Gvir and the police impose a regime of fear”.
Comments1
Rachel Sussman24 September at 09:12 am
Thank you for this article. It is indeed worrisome how Ben Gvir is pushing to increase his power. The man is clearly a danger to democracy. I believe that world Jewry should support Israelis in the struggle to sustain a healthy democracy. We must not be afraid to speak against attempt to damage the Israeli Democratic system even if it means raising a voice against the current Government and abstaining funds from it. Israel belongs to all Jews and we are all responsible to sustain it for the future of all the Jewish People wherever they are. Thank you.