חוק לתיקון פקודת המשטרה (מס' 45), התשפ"ו–2026Police Ordinance (Amendment No. 45) Law, 2026 · automatic translation · suggest a correction

Official summary of the law (Knesset)

The Law provides that a Police Investigations Department will be established as an independent body within the Ministry of Justice, with a separate budget, and will be authorized to investigate and prosecute police officers for criminal offenses, including minor offenses, as well as to handle offenses committed by volunteers in the Israel Police. The Law further establishes a new mechanism for appointing the Department's director through a dedicated search committee, and creates the position of a Coordination Supervisor for matters concerning the investigation of police officers, who will be authorized to resolve disputes between the Police Investigations Department and other investigative and prosecutorial bodies and to order, in appropriate cases, the transfer of files between the bodies. In addition, the Law establishes a separation between the Police Investigations Department and the government legal counsel system, such that the Department's prosecutors will be authorized by the Department's director, and the criminal authorities currently held by the Attorney General or the State Attorney's Office in cases handled by the Department will be transferred to the Department's director. The Law further provides that appeals against decisions of the Department to close a file will be submitted to the Coordination Supervisor. At the same time, the Department will be subject to the general guidelines of the Attorney General and the State Attorney, except where the guidelines grant authority to a body external to the Department. The Law also includes amendments concerning the full civilianization of the Police Investigations Department, and consequently provisions regarding the access of Department employees to the Police's information systems. Finally, the Law establishes commencement and preparatory provisions for its implementation, as well as a duty for the Minister of Justice and the Minister of National Security to report to the Knesset on the handling of complaints and offenses attributed to police officers and on the results of such handling.

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Sponsors

Moshe Saada

What was said in the plenum

The bill seeks to disconnect the Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) from the oversight of the State Attorney's Office and turn it into an independent body, while changing the mechanism for appointing its director and expanding its authority to also investigate prosecutors. The debate focused on whether the move strengthens the independence of investigations and public trust in the police, or whether it amounts to transferring the PIID to the political control of the Minister of Justice, against the backdrop of mutual accusations related to the Prime Minister's cases and broad criticism of the PIID's conduct toward vulnerable citizens.

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An automatic summary of the plenum transcripts: the debate on the bill at every reading it was voted on. Arguments are given as the speakers made them; this is not an assessment. The list of speakers comes from the transcript, without a model. A very long debate: every speech was shortened to the same length before summarising. Transcripts of the sittings: 1, 2, 3

Reservations to the second reading

89 reservations were filed: proposed changes to the text the committee brought to the second and third reading.

The reservations mainly concerned the composition of the department for investigating police officers and the manner of appointing its members, the degree of its independence from the government and the Attorney General, the timetables for investigations and decisions, the rights of victims and investigated police officers, and the date the law would take effect. Some groups sought to expand the department's independence and public oversight, while others sought to increase the involvement of the political echelon or to postpone or cancel the main elements of the bill.

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By faction

• Labor opposition · 30 reservations · 4 members
• Yesh Atid opposition · 30 reservations · 23 members
• Hadash–Ta'al opposition · 22 reservations · 5 members
• Blue and White opposition · 20 reservations · 8 members
• Yisrael Beytenu opposition · 9 reservations · 6 members
• Ra'am opposition · 7 reservations · 5 members
• United Torah Judaism coalition · 1 reservation · 1 member

A joint reservation counts for every faction whose members filed it. 1 proposer was not matched to a member: listed under the groups, not counted by faction.

Asked to speak: יצחק גולדקנופף, Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism), Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), Yaakov Tesler (United Torah Judaism), Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism)

Proposers and reservation numbers are extracted automatically from the committee version, and the count is checked against the numbers printed in it. The descriptions are an automatic summary. Committee version for the second and third reading (PDF)