Former security officials in Knesset in no rush to pass pro-police laws

By REBECCA ANNA STOIL
With four recent public security ministers and two former senior police officers among the 120 MKs, the Israel Police might have expected a flood of relevant legislation to back up the law enforcement community. They would, however, have been mistaken. Two former ministers - MKs Avi Dichter and Gideon Ezra (Kadima) - returned to the Knesset as regular MKs after their party lost the government, but neither has translated their experiences at the helm of the law enforcement establishment into legislation in their ensuing four months of Knesset activity. A third former minister, MK Tzahi Hanegbi, has his hands full chairing the prestigious Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, a rare position for an opposition MK. Of the rank-and-file MKs with close former ties to police, the only one whose history has been reflected in parliamentary work is former Jerusalem Police commander MK Arieh Bibi (Kadima). Bibi has been a fervent defender of the police at every possible Knesset juncture - including during Wednesday's contentious committee debates on the recent murders, and has established a Knesset caucus to strengthen and support the police. Within the government, National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Beiteinu) also held the ministerial post, but he has not filed any private member's bills based on his experiences in internal security. Landau's colleague at the cabinet table, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, a former deputy police commissioner, has not initiated any bills either, though he has certainly worked to advance the police in his current post.