Excessive force will harm the police: A week ago, on the evening that the change concerning reasonableness was approved, a stormy demonstration took place in Tel Aviv, at the end of which the Ayalon Highway was blocked for the umpteenth time. Several youths were arrested, including 18-year-old Amitai Aboudi. Photos released a short time later show two Special Patrol Unit officers punching him without posing a danger.
I asked the police for the names of the officers. In Israel, police officers are required to identify themselves by name and photography, except for confidential positions (for example, in the SWAT). But that didn't interest the police, who did everything they could not to give me the names. I received irrelevant responses, I was rolled over from speaker to speaker, the main thing is not to do the basic - to give the name.
Demonstrators block Ayalon South in Halacha area | Tali Melamed
Eventually I got the names, and it wasn't just me. They have since been published everywhere. The two policemen who beat in this case were Lieutenant Colonel Yair Hanona, commander of the Tel Aviv Special Patrol Unit ("The Smiling Policeman"), and another Special Patrol Unit officer, Avi Shusefi. The two, it turns out, have a long history of incidents in which they were alleged to have used excessive force.
Instead of fixing - the police found an easy solution
Police promised to locate helmet footage from the incident to prove that the officers acted in self-defense. I am still waiting to receive them, although it will be very difficult to explain this incident, as well as other incidents in which excessive and disproportionate force was used against demonstrators, including adults and young people, and even journalists.
Instead of correcting its steps, distancing the violent police officers and explaining to their friends what is permitted and what is forbidden, the police found an easy solution: it opened an investigation against those who distributed the pictures of police officers suspected of excessive violence.
Demonstrators block Ayalon, photo: Itay Ron
I also don't like to see pictures of uniformed police officers as if they are wanted persons, but I also don't like to see police beating civilians. I didn't like it in the disengagement, I didn't like it on the football fields, and I don't like it in protest. Not that citizens are always okay - they are not. But the police, as an entity that uses force, commands restraint of force.
Not an easy time for the police
The Israel Police is going through a difficult time. Israel 2023 is a violent and polarized society. The demonstrations are turbulent and often disruptive to life, and the police are required to provide solutions. She doesn't always have them in her pocket, and she can't always use them with silk gloves.
That's without mentioning the intense heat and impossible pressure exerted on it by various political elements, headed by the minister in charge of it, Itamar Ben-Gvir, a serial offender who himself wrote on Twitter just five years ago: "Let every policeman know that if he beats demonstrators, he will have to be held accountable."
Demonstrators block Ayalon North near Rokach interchange | Efrat Safran
Ben-Gvir was right then. The flip-flop he's done since then is less interesting, but more is expected from the police, because they are (still) public servants in a democracy. As such, it has clear do's and don'ts that it must not deviate from, even if the protesters really don't look good to it.
A protest has been taking place in Israel for 30 weeks. It's a loud protest, but let's not get confused: Anyone who thinks it's violent should see what's happening in France. Our protest is much more polite, and that's a good thing. If the police think that using excessive force will restrain them, they are wrong; The result will be quite the opposite.
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