Knesset lawmakers early Thursday approved highly controversial coalition legislation giving the justice minister control over the Department for Internal Police Investigations, voting 43-39 to pass the bill into law.

The law gives the justice minister control over the appointment of DIPI’s director, and creates a new, politically appointed official within the department to arbitrate disputes over investigations.

Critically, it removes the department from under the authority of professional prosecutors and sets it up as an “independent” agency within the Justice Ministry.

Although nominally independent, the DIPI director will now be chosen by a five-member committee in which the justice minister will control the appointment of a majority of members. Until now, the director has been appointed by a professional committee of the Civil Service Commission.

Justice Ministry officials, the legal adviser to the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee — where the law was drawn up — and the opposition have all argued that the changes to DIPI’s structure, including the new authorities it gives to the justice minister, will compromise the department’s independence, politicize it, and politicize........

© The Times of Israel