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Selective Enforcement and Over-Policing of Minority Groups Call for Urgent Legislative Reform

>> Read the full position paper

Equal enforcement is a fundamental principle in any democracy, yet the reality in Israel points to a policy of selective enforcement and over-policing of minority groups, particularly Israeli Ethiopians, Palestinian citizens of Israel, and protest activists. This position paper presents troubling patterns of police profiling, excessive use of force, and suppression of demonstrations targeting marginalized populations.

Article 66 of the Criminal Procedure Law-1996 grants police officers the authority to detain a person if there is “reasonable suspicion” that they have committed a crime. In practice, however, this article is invoked selectively and disproportionately toward minority groups, resulting in a continuous violation of their constitutional rights, a sense of humiliation, and a complete lack of trust in law enforcement.

The most recent case involves a citizen of Ethiopian descent who suffered a stroke while driving, but the officers mistook him for being under the influence and arrested him instead of providing medical treatment. As a result of the delay, he suffered irreversible medical damage. This case illustrates the existing bias in police discretion and the severe consequences of this policy.

Selective policing is not limited to random encounters with citizens but is also evident in demonstrations. In protests of Israeli Ethiopians, police use excessive force and mass arrests, while in protests of Palestinians or East Jerusalem residents, there are numerous incidents of stun grenade fire, arbitrary arrests, and disproportionate use of force. In contrast, during the March of Flags in Jerusalem, far-right groups receive police escort, allowing them to move freely, even when violating public order or inciting violence.

This policy casts a chilling effect as marginalized groups avoid participating in legitimate protests due to concerns over police violence or unjustified arrests. It leads to loss of trust in the police, criminal records acquired as a result of unjustified arrests limit employment and education opportunities, and the persistent sense of discrimination and inequality fosters alienation and deepens the divide with the state.

Zulat calls for comprehensive reforms to ensure fair enforcement, limit police profiling powers, establish effective oversight, and enforce full transparency of police operations. This is the only way to restore public trust in law enforcement and ensure that Israel retains its democratic and egalitarian character.

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Dr. Maha Sabbah Karkabi

 

Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Tel Aviv University (2015), a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Gender Studies, SOAS, University of London (2015-2016), a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University (2016-2017), and a postdoctoral fellowship Ph.D. at the Humphrey Institute for Social Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (2018-2020).
Dr. Maha Karbahi’s areas of interest focus on the connection between social change, family behavior, and gender inequality in societies in the process of change and specifically in Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Her research draws attention to the study of family life and employment, using a combined “ethnic lens” and “gender lens” and paying attention to the perspective of Palestinian Arab women, a group characterized by intersections between multiple marginal locations, which over the years has remained hidden from the research eye. Dr. Karkabi-Sabah’s research is published in professional journals and chapters in scientific books that are considered pioneers in family research, work, and gender equality.

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Prof. Frances Raday

Professor Emeritus in the Lieberman Chair in Labor Law, in the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University and serves as a full professor in the College of Management’s academic track, where she also serves as chair of the graduate program and as honorary president of the Concord Center for International Law Absorption. Radai was a member of a working group of the UN Human Rights Council on discrimination against women. In addition, she is a prominent and feminist human rights activist.

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Dr. Rawia Aburabia 

Faculty member of Sapir Academic College’s School of Law, received her PhD from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research deals with the interface between law, gender, minorities, and human rights. Has published in leading journals on the subject of the matrimonial laws pertaining to Muslim women in Israel. Her book Under the Law, Outside Justice: Polygamy, Gendered Citizenship, and Colonialism in Israeli Law is expected to be published as part of the Gender Series of Kibbutz Meuhad Publishing House.

Dr. Aburabia has extensive experience in international human rights and public law. She has worked as a jurist for the Association for Civil Right and has been invited as a specialist to address such international forums as the United Nations and the European Parliament on the subject of indigenous communities and minority rights. She has interned with Human Rights Watch in Washington DC, and has been a member of the executive board of Amnesty International. In 2018, she was selected by the magazine Globes as one of the 40 most promising young persons in Israel under the age of 40.

 

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Ron Kessler

With over two decades of experience in the field of digital content, Ron has participated in numerous political and social campaigns. He helped run the digital activity of senior public officials, and worked in various NGOs. Ron is a fundamentally optimistic man, who believes that Israel can be changed and so can people. Lives in Tel Aviv.