Israel – Police cannot require an individual to produce an ID card if they are not suspected of committing a crime, according to a ruling handed down recently in the Krayot Magistrate’s Court.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Nahariya resident Yitzhak Nissim, 25, was acquitted of interfering with and assaulting a police officer after refusing to produce his ID card. Judge Tal Tadmore-Zamir ruled that because the police officers had no reason to suspect Nissim of a crime, he was entitled to refuse their request to identify himself.
Tadmore-Zamir ruled, however, that the demand to produce ID was tantamount to detaining an individual, which, by law, is defined as restricting a person’s freedom of movement. As such, police can only demand ID if they suspect an individual of committing a crime.
In lieu of such suspicion, she ruled, the act of detaining was unlawful and Nissim had the right to resist it.
Only in israel! Sorry ms judge but for no reason may you assault a Police officer if u don’t like what he/she is doing file a claim!
In reply to #1 . “Only in Israel” is right, but I think your comment in general is wrong. It may be that the judge got it right for once and is protecting someone’s personal privacy. There is something called probable cause. If the police did not have any probable cause, and simply were harassing Mr. Nissim to produce an ID, then I agree with the Judge. Generally speaking the police and courts in Israel are very anti-nationalist, anti-religious, and very pro-left, pro-Arab. As democratic as the system is suppose to be, there is no equality in the system and the police and courts unfortunately are known for overextending and abusing their powers. We don’t really know the whole story here, and why Mr. Nissim was also supposedly charged with “assaulting a police officer” in addition to “interefering”. It could be their definition is one in the same. Perhaps after Mr. Nissim refused to produce ID, the police got miffed and a little bit of a scuffle broke out. It doesn’t automatically mean that Mr. Nissim assaulted a police officer with intent to assault and batter him/her. Think about it.
I fully agree with the ruling. I wish they will adopt that here in the states too. Sorry, but why does the officer get the benefit of the doubt and gets away with harrasing innocent people. Wearing a uniform does not allow you to be gready and arrogant.