MK Amir Ohana's appointment as Minister of Public Security was accompanied by a rare right-and-left consensus (albeit from contradictory sentiments), the purpose of which is to make significant reforms in the Israeli police. This impression was added by the fresh minister's statements regarding the flaws and biases of the prosecutor's office and unit The police, and the general public for criminals suspected of criminal activity, the series of clashes and stagnant attitudes that characterized his brief and tumultuous tenure as Minister of Justice, fueled the expectations of the right and the concerns on the left that from the beginning of his term as Minister of Public Security he would strive to weaken and limit the authority of the Israeli police. To give a comprehensive backing to the police, though on another issue - the violent dispersal and unjust detention of the protesters in front of the Prime Minister's Office; conduct that has also been criticized by the court. 

The automatic backing provided by the Israeli police is not only surprising given Ohana's attitude to the law enforcement system. Minister of Justice, Ohana, acknowledged the problem of police violence against minority groups and promoted the establishment of a DIP investigation committee following the killing of Salomon Teka. The behavior demonstrated by the police is not limited to "roadblocks" on Balfour Street, as the minister called them, but typical of its behavior in the face of public demonstrations. Others: settlers or leftists, ultra-Orthodox or Arabs, and sometimes football fans. 

There is no dispute that demonstrations are a loaded moment in which the police are required to allow the exercise of the right to protest, but also to maintain order vis-à-vis emotionally charged protesters, and sometimes tend to clash. Part of the escalation dynamics of a protest involves a clash with the police, with the evacuation of protesters or their arrest fusing the atmosphere and creating a media drama. However, despite this sticky argument, the Israeli police record is rather bleak. Both the 2006 Amona Parliamentary Inquiry Committee and the September 2000 Light Investigation Commission addressed the rapid aggressiveness of police operations. The Or Commission pointed to a phenomenon that is also reported by ultra-Orthodox, LGBT people, leftists and others - the tendency of the police as an organization and police as individuals, to see Israeli citizens of Arab citizens as unequal rights, and perhaps even enemies. The reports of these and other committees, as well as expert recommendations, including former police officers, point to not only the flaws in the police conduct but also possible solutions.

Along with recommendations on improving the Torah, training and preparedness for police demonstrations and order violations, the reports state that Police improve understanding and relations with minority groups in Israeli society. Minister Ohana, eight to change the attitude of the law enforcement system to the VIPs, has a golden opportunity to "disappoint for the better" and change the attitude of the police precisely to citizens from below, and especially to the weaker groups in the company. The first significant step will be to appoint a chief of police who will seek to transform the police Israel to the police for all its citizens.

Dr. Tamir Liebel is a Research Fellow at the University of Bamberg in Germany