The controversial “stop and frisk” law which will allow police to conduct a physical search of someone without a court order was approved Sunday by the government.
The bill, advanced by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, enables security officials to frisk anyone and search their belongings in public without probable cause.
Five years ago, this law was recommended, but the proposal never got off the ground. Now it’s moving with a vengeance.
The law will skip the two-week appeal period, go to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation very shortly and straight to the Knesset for its first reading.
In other words, this law is taking the express route to a vote on the plenum floor due to the current security situation. Or not. At least one civil rights NGO contends its passage has nothing to do with the wave of terror.
Up to this point, police could only search a person if there were a reasonable suspicion that person was armed (illegally) — referred to abroad as “probable cause.” That will change if the law is passed by the Knesset however.
The bill was roundly criticized by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which claimed its resurgence had nothing to do with the current wave of terror.
“The legislation is a cynical exploitation of the security situation. The Public Security Ministry has tried to push forward the legislation for the last five years, and it has nothing to do with the current security situation,” said Avner Pinchuk, head of the association’s department of information and privacy.
Erdan contends, however, the opposite is true.
“Due to recent attacks, an urgent need has emerged to grant police the ability to conduct bodily searches in order to better deal with knife wielding terrorists,” Erdan told reporters.
Pinchuk said the police already have a wide authority to search, and the proposed bill would legitimize a practice by police which has already been rejected by the courts.
“Past experience says that the law is selectively enforced against minorities including Arabs or dark skinned men,” he noted.