Coalition leader MK (Likud) David Bitan feels party colleague Dr. Benny Begin is not on board but “Of late, he acts more like the 25th seat in the Machane Tzioni party”. Bitan ousted Begin off of the Knesset Interior Committee after he refused to back a piece of legislation. Bitan plans to fill his slot personally. Begin announced he was removed from the committee against his will for not voting for the bill in its present form, a bill that seeks to pass a law prohibiting Israel Police from submitting recommendations to the attorney general and prosecutor upon completion of probing a case.

According to the recommendations law, the Likud wants to forbid the police from recommending to the State Attorney’s Office to file an indictment against a suspect who was interrogated, but to present only the dry findings. According to the proposal, an interrogator who deviates from the directive may face a prison term of one year.

In a discussion at the committee itself, MK Begin said that “this law, in the version before us, has no definition of the date of its commencement, and I suggest filling in the missing in the following way: The law will apply to investigations that will begin after its publication.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)