Today (March 17, 2025), an important hearing will take place regarding our petition, together with other organizations, concerning the police procedure for “Presenting an Identity Card and the Duty to Identify Oneself to a Police Officer.”
As a reminder, on July 1, 2019, Tebeka filed its first petition against the Israel Police (HCJ 4455/19 Tebeka – Justice and Equality for Ethiopian Israelis v. Israel Police), challenging the police procedure (02.220.008) issued on March 6, 2019, which required individuals to present an ID and identify themselves to a police officer. Later, on August 18, 2019, another petition on this issue was filed and consolidated with ours (HCJ 5471/19).
The Supreme Court held an extensive and thorough hearing, in which the organization demanded that the procedure be revoked and that the police not be given unlimited discretion as they requested, especially when there are various other laws that enable them to maintain public safety effectively.
On January 25, 2021, a ruling was issued stating that the power granted in Section 2 of the Identity Card Law is not conditional upon reasonable suspicion of a criminal offense, but it is subject to the limitations outlined in Chapter C of the Criminal Procedure Law (Powers of Enforcement – Arrests), 1996, and there must be a relevant connection between the demand for identification and the information contained in the ID card. It was further ruled that, given the infringement of human rights caused by additional policing actions carried out during the identification demand, Section 2 of the Identity Card Law cannot serve as explicit authorization for these additional policing measures.
The Court, by majority opinion, ordered that the existing police procedure be canceled and that the police draft a new procedure within ninety days, consistent with the interpretation set forth in the judgment. It was clarified that after ninety days from the date of the judgment, the police would no longer be able to rely on the existing procedure.
Following the Court’s decision, the Israel Police published a new procedure, No. 220.002.19, regarding the presentation of an ID card and the duty to identify oneself to a police officer.
On January 8, 2023, the organization, together with other organizations, filed a new petition against this updated procedure, arguing that it contradicts the Court’s ruling, exceeds the legal authority, and allows the police to continue questionable practices!
On May 2, 2024, the Supreme Court issued a conditional order instructing the Israel Police to show cause why the procedure should not be amended as follows: Section 4A(5) of the procedure shall be canceled, and Section 5A(3) shall be amended to state that “a police officer shall not detain a person for longer than the reasonable time required to complete the identification demand.”
We will continue to fight to prevent over-policing, discrimination, and racial profiling!