“In no man’s land:” failures in responding to police misconduct in Israel (1948-1951)

ABSTRACT

This article deals with a crime whose seriousness is difficult to overestimate: The rape of a Palestinian woman, who was being held for deportation the next day from Israel, by four policemen in August 1950. Through this micro-historical story, we embark on a macro-historical journey seeking to learn about the way in which the law enforcement and government system in Israel was formed in its early years. The study focuses on the process of prosecuting police officers who have violated the criminal law, and in doing so examines two law enforcement systems designed to prosecute them: the disciplinary one, which was conducted within the police, and the criminal one, which was conducted in the courts of civil society. While tracing the police’s decision to subject the four officers to disciplinary proceedings, by stretching its powers to the limit, we examine the evolution of the affair in the context of the new justice system

KEYWORDS:

• Police
• brutality
• disciplinary proceeding
• criminal prosecution
• Yehezkel Sahar
• Bechor Sheetrit

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Smadar Ben-Natan, Sharon Geva, Mordechai Kremnitzer, Assaf Likhovski, Guy Lurie, Josef Ohayon, Orna Alyagon Darr, and to the anonymous for their comments on early drafts of the article

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15,1951 Israel State Archives (hereinafter: ISA) G-337/41. We could not trace the full verdict, and the only part of it that was found is the one included in Cohn’s letter.

² “Elef Mataim shotrim yihiu bamishtara haivrit [1200 Policemen Will Be in the Hebrew Police],” Ha-Mashkif, May 16, 1948, 3; Sahar, My Life, 96.

³ The term “infiltrators” was used in official documents in relation to Arab citizens who lived in Palestine until the outbreak of the 1948 War, and left or were expelled. The vast majority did not see themselves as freedom fighters or criminals, but rather sought to visit family members, pick up crops left on their land, or reclaim property left behind. Use of the term “infiltrators” was intended to establish their status as unlawful invaders, although from the point of view of international law, the term “refugees” was more correct.

⁴ Letter from Z. Gayer, assistant district commissioner, acting head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, to the head of Investigations Division. August 18, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

⁵ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 2,1951, see note 1.

⁶ “Confidential Report as a Neutral Interrogator of Frontier Incidents,” Jean Gas, district inspector of UNRWA, Jerusalem, August 17, 1950, ISA MFA-1987/1.

⁷ A letter from Menachem Bashmi, on behalf of the head of the General Investigations Branch, to the commander of the Jerusalem district, August 17, 1950, ISA IP/2191.

⁸ David Tal’s research points to a distinct group of infiltrators who lived on the border, on the Jordanian or Egyptian side, and worked their lands on the Israeli side: “The ceasefire lines with Jordan and Egypt created another type of infiltrators: these were the people who by the end of the war found themselves as residents of the border zone. This population had to get used to the existence of a ‘border’ line, an imaginary and tangible line that cannot be crossed and passed. But the problem was not entirely abstract: the imaginary border line actually separated the Arab inhabitants of the border zone from their lands, and many of them were separated by the new boundary from their sources of living. The villagers did not accept this partition and they tried to re-cultivate their fields or orchards. Another aspect of the same phenomenon had to do with attempts by Arab residents who lived in the border zone to take over vacant lands on the Israeli side of the border and cultivate them or even harvest crops of Israeli settlers.” Tal “Heskem mefakdim,” 117. According to Israeli reports, the soldiers who arrested the group also needed to check whether they arrested them in the State of Israel.

⁹ The testimony of the infiltrator Khadija Osman Hasin al-Kha’ij (August 15, 1950), ISA IP-2181/7.

¹⁰ About half the Palestinians who left Israel or were deported moved to the West Bank of the Kingdom of Jordan, and became citizens of Jordan after 1949. Bartal, Ha-Falastinim, 15-20.

¹¹ Bashmi August 17, 1950. See note 7.

¹² Bracha, “Ha-mistanenim”; Rozin, “Infiltration.” For data on the numbers of dead and wounded in the years 1954-1956, see ISA, MFA 2402/12.

¹³ Levenkron, “Is Work the Path to Rehabilitation?”.

¹⁴ Letters from Yehoshua Palmon, adviser on Arab affairs in the Prime Minister’s Office to Reuven Shiloah, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, March 15, 1950 and April 20, 1950, ISA GL-17110/19.

¹⁵ The shortage was a result of the low number of policewomen during these years. See Geva, “Shihrur be-tnaaim Magbilim.”

¹⁶ Letter from Police Minister Bechor Sheetrit to the police commissioner January 11, 1951, ISA G-337/41

¹⁷ For a similar position expressed by Moshe Dayan, concerning several cases of rape, see footnote 129-130 and the text next to it.

¹⁸ Letter from the Military Government of the Occupied Territories to the minister of minorities September 5, 1948, ISA G-307/46.

¹⁹ Letter from Minority Officer Refael Levy to Dr. A. Biran, commissioner of the Jerusalem District, March 20, 1950. ISA G-2217/5.

²⁰ See the various responses to the requests in ISA GL-17110/37.

²¹ Letter from the Jerusalem district officer to the minority minister, December 9, 1948; letter from S.B. Yeshaya, Jerusalem district officer in the Ministry of Interior to the district director in the Ministry of Interior, February 27, 1949. Both letters at the SA G-2217/5.

²² Levy, See note 19.

²³ Levenkron, “Bein galuy le-ne’elam.” Chetrit, “Ba-shoter taluy ha-davar.” Levenkron, “Ehey ani.”

²⁴ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, November 21, 1951, 2.

²⁵ Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting, December 9, 1951, 27.

²⁶ See, for Example: Tsur, “Carnival Fears”; Ben-Shushan, “Yehudim tzarfatim.”

²⁷ Sara Ozacky-Lazar, “Ha-mimshal ha-tzvai.” For a discussion of the arrest of Arab citizens for the violation of regulations during the military administration, see Koren, “Kriminalizatzia.” for offenses against Arab civilians under military government, see, for example, the complaints and incidents described in ISA G-6840/19; for examples for beatings of Arab detainees, see, for example, the minutes of the Interior Committee, January 23, 1951, 8; the 90th session of the Third Knesset March 5, 1956, 1279. According to Sheetrit, the two young Arabs were not beaten.

²⁸ Marx, Alimut mitzad ha-medina.

²⁹ Balaish, “Alimut medinit kitzonit.”

³⁰ Morris, Milhamot ha-gvul, 177. Boimel, “Ekronot mediniut ha-aflaya,” 391.

³¹ Letter from Mahmoud Rashid to the minister of religious affairs, May 7, 1949, ISA G-307/46.

³² The 264th minute of the First Knesset July 11, 1950, 2146, 2152.

³³ Letter from Moshe Sharett, minister of foreign affairs, to Reuven Shiloach, in charge of special missions, July 14, 1950, ISA MFA 2402/12.

³⁴ Bracha, “Ha-mistanenim.”

³⁵ Shlomo Avineri wrote on this matter: “In the equation between David and Golaith, Ben-Gurion always saw Israel as David, and – except perhaps for a very short period after the 1956 war – was never blinded by the military achievements of the State of Israel. Ben-Gurion always recognized that the ability of Israel to defend herself was not autonomous but depended on wealth, procurement, and international sympathy. Therefore he knew that Israel always needed allies among the powerful nations, but nevertheless, he knew that in the end allies are always conditional allies, and that is Israel’s basic distress.” Avineri, Ha-ra’ayon ha-tzioni, 240. For a further discussion of Israel’s foreign policy during this period, see Bialer, Between East and West.

³⁶ Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett in the 43th Session of the First Knesset 717, 719 June 15, 1949; letter from the Foreign Ministry legal advisor to the attorney general, March 28, 1950, ISA G-5757/2.

³⁷ The 264th Session of the First Knesset 2146, 2153 July 11, 1950. Benny Morris noted in his book that the US embassy followed what was happening in Abu Ghosh but believed that global public opinion would not prevent the fight against infiltrators from continuing, and that Israel was expected to remain “a rather deadly place for Arabs not listed in the positive records… of the Israel Police.” Morris, Milhamot ha-gvul, 177.

³⁸ Letter from Z. Gayer, assistant district commissioner, acting head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, to the head of Investigations Division. August 18, 1950, ISA IP/2191.

³⁹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 2,1951 Israel State Archives (hereinafter: ISA) G-337/41.

⁴⁰ “Confidential Report as a Neutral Interrogator of Frontier Incidents,” Jean Gas, district inspector of UNRWA, Jerusalem, August 17, 1950, ISA MFA-1987/1.

⁴¹ On the Mandelbaum Gate and its unique role in divided Jerusalem between 1948-1967, see Cohen-Hattab “The Border as Bridge.” The fact that the Mandelbaum Gate passed from the hands of the army into those of the police at the end of 1949, as an attempt on the part of Israel to give it as civilian an appearance as possible, probably made it easier for the police to hide the affair at least partially. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs knew about the case, but to the best of our knowledge did not inform the government. This assertion can be based on two sources: A letter from Jean F Munier, ICRC representative to the State of Israel to Moshe Shilo, national liaison officer for the Red Cross, December 20, 1950. ISA MFA 1987/1.

⁴² Ibid.

⁴³ For a discussion of the early years of the Israeli legal system, see Rozin “Ha-historiya shel ha-mishpat ha-israeli”;

Schnitzer and Shachar, “Bagatz be-Tel Aviv”; Lahav, “Ha-oz ve-ha-mishara.”

⁴⁴ Fine, “Establishing a New Governmental System.”

⁴⁵ Cohn, Mavo ishi, 193-4.

⁴⁶ Levenkron, “Is Work the Path to Rehabilitation?”.

⁴⁷ Ben-Yosef, Mahsom la-toho.

⁴⁸ Bilsky “Lifnei ze lo avarnu al gderot.”

⁴⁹ HCJ 214/52, Shochat Vs. The General Commissioner of the Police (1953).

⁵⁰ “This claim of pressure and coercion has become a ‘commodity’ accepted in courts, and in most cases in which a criminal raise this claim it is accepted by the judges.” Letter from Yeshurun Shiff to the commissioner of police, October 29,1952, ISA G-338/12.

⁵¹ Lurie, “Mishtara be-shvil ha-neytivs,” 119.

⁵² For a collection of Sahar’s complaint letters regarding the conduct of various judges, see ISA G-338/12.

⁵³ Two notable examples are the judgments in the Sofer matter and in the Iqrit matter. Shlomo Sofer, the police officer who recommended in this case that the police officers be prosecuted, was dismissed from the police immediately after the establishment of the state, along with hundreds of other police officers, for reasons that were most likely political. Following a petition filed by Sofer, he returned to the police, as the High Court ruled that the dismissals were unlawful, but those police officers who were fired with him and returned to serve following the High Court’s ruling, were never promoted to senior positions. Regarding Iqrit, see: Rozin, “Kol Ha-Am,” 76-78. During the 1948 War, the IDF demanded that the residents of Ikrit evacuate their homes, promising that they would be able to return shortly. However, they were later prevented from returning home. The High Court ruled that the army must allow them to return, but unfortunately, their homes had already been destroyed by the IDF.

⁵⁴ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, January 16, 1951, 16

⁵⁵ Letter from the commissioner to the cabinet secretary, April 20, 1952; letter from Adv. Y. Salomon to the commissioner April 4, 1952, ISA G-5424/24 “Mishpat neged Tripos Ve-Schwarzbard [Trial against Tripos and Schwarzbard].” The request was apparently seriously considered by Cohn but was eventually denied.

⁵⁶ Letter from the commissioner to the minister of police, the minister of justice, and the prime minister, February 28, 1951, ISA G-338/12 “Ha-yehasim bein ha-mishtara ve-ha-rashut ha-mishpatit [The relationship between the police and the judiciary].”

⁵⁷ See a collection of letters from the general attorney, the minister of police, and the minister of justice, ISA G-338/12.

⁵⁸ No author or date, ISA G-338/12.

⁵⁹ Yehezkelly and Shalev, “ha-yehasim.”

⁶⁰ Meir-Glitzenstein, “Mehuyavuyot mitnagshot,” 63, 73.

⁶¹ Letter from the minister of police to all government ministries, August 29, 1948, ISA, G-5664/4.

⁶² Letter from the minister of police to the commissioner, October 26, 1948, ISA, IP-4791/3.

⁶³ Goodman, “Melakha lo neima,” 78; Kroizer, “Parashat Ramat Ha-Kovesh,” 171.

⁶⁴ Sheetrit, “Ala ve-gam rove.”

⁶⁵ See Section 20 of the Addendum to the Police Ordinance Concerning Definitions of Disciplinary Offenses (1941); Amendment to section 69 of the Mandatory Police Ordinance; Appendix No. 2 to the Official Gazette, Issue 1078 (February 13, 1941), 205.

⁶⁶ HCJ 269/52 Spoznikov v. Disciplinary Tribunal 656 (May 31, 1953).

⁶⁷ Kosovsky, Be-tzedek tishpot.

⁶⁸ Bareli, “Hitbargenut ve-shhitut.”

⁶⁹ On the difficulty in gaining the public trust during this period, see Chetrit, “Ba-shoter taluy ha-davar.”

⁷⁰ Spoznikov v. Disciplinary Tribunal, see note 67.

⁷¹ For examples of lenient punishment for sexual offenses during this period, see, for example: CA 229/53 Attorney General v. Vahabah 276 (1954) (18 months in prison. Raped a 5-year-old boy); CA 83/50 the Attorney General v. Shulman 5 174 (1951) (3 years in prison – rape of a new immigrant); CA 65/55 Attorney General v. Ravchik 9 1373 (1955) (one year in prison - attempted rape of a sick woman, after she underwent surgery, in her home, and while her son was in the next room)

⁷² National Headquarters Ordinance, “Shimush be-koah lelo hekhrah [Use of Unnecessary Force]” (89/49).

⁷³ See the collection of complaints to the minister of justice, the prime minister, the general attorney, station commanders, and more, in ISA G-5694/15.

⁷⁴ For example, the police report from 1949 states that in that year “the number of complaints against the police was not high, most of them were of minor nature, and a significant portion were found to be baseless”. Din ve-heshbon shnati tashat-tashay [Report of the Israel Police for 1948], 7. https://www.policemuseum.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/israel_police_yearly_report_1950.pdf. However, it is clear that this claim does not necessarily reflect the true numbers.

⁷⁵ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, January 23, 1951, 3.

⁷⁶ Ibid, 4.

⁷⁷ In the Internal Affairs Committee, Sahar presented 10 examples of punishments handed down in disciplinary proceedings in the years 1948-1951 for unlawful use of force. Minutes of the Interior Affairs Committee January 16, 1951, 13-14.

See also “Nezifa le-shoter she-tzavat be-peotav shel na’ar [A Policeman who Pinched a Boy’s Earlocks was Reprimanded],” Ha-Tzofe, October 25, 1951, 4.

⁷⁸ Remarks of the Police legal advisor Ram Salomon concerning the regulations enacted and published in accordance with section 50 of the Police Ordinance, August 25, 1948, ISA, G-338/8.

⁷⁹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, November 4, 1948, ISA, G-5673/8.

⁸⁰ Letter from MK Bar-Yehuda to the minister of justice May 16, 1950, ISA, G-5683/20.

⁸¹ Letter from the attorney general to MK Bar-Yehuda May 23, 1950, ISA, G-5683/20.

⁸² Letter from the deputy commissioner to the attorney general, August 8, 1950, ISA, G-337/41. It is not known when the correspondence between the two began, but the letter from the ombudsman, to which the commissioner responded in this letter, was sent on August 14, 1950, one day before the rape.

⁸³ Alyagon Darr, “Zirot shel busha”; Alyagon Darr, Plausible Crime Stories; Alyagon Darr, “Relocated doctrine”; Bilsky and Verbin, “Ha-esek shel Rothstein.”

⁸⁴ Alyagon Darr, Hokhahat averat ha-inus, 136.

⁸⁵ “Hakira: Be-hetem le-hartzaotav shel Rav Pakad Yitzhak Bodinger be-kurs le-mefakhim [Investigation: Based on the lectures of Superintendent Yitzhak Bodinger in a Course for supervisors],” National Training Base, 195-196 (1958). Israel Police Heritage Center.

⁸⁶ See, for example, ISA IP-2191, 3/3/9.

⁸⁷ “Hakira: Be-hetem le-hartzaotav shel Rav Pakad Yitzhak Bodinger be-kurs le-mefakhim [Investigation: Based on the lectures of Superintendent Yitzhak Bodinger in a Course for supervisors],” National Training Base, 195-196 (1958). Israel Police Heritage Center.

⁸⁸ For example, the police report from 1951 states that in that year 40 complaints about rape or attempted rape were filed, of which only 24 were “true” and during 1950 only 30 were filed, of which 17 were defined as “true.” Report of the Israel Police for 1951, 51 (1952). https://www.policemuseum.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/israel_police_yearly_report_1952.pdf.

⁸⁹ Triger, “Ahava ve-de’ah kduma,” 768-770.

⁹⁰ Alyagon Darr, “Zirot shel busha.”

⁹¹ Rosenberg-Friedman, “Captivity and Gender.”

⁹² Appeal 147/49 H. v. Chief Military Prosecutor (Judgment May 25, 1951); Borer, Haganat ha-tziduk.

⁹³ Letter from Moshe Dayan to Yigael Yadin, April 1950 (no exact date), IDF Archive 12-1291-1951. The letter was written in response to three different cases of murder of three Bedouin women and six children in the south, between January and March 1950. The file includes a letter from Captain Hagai Abriel detailing these cases, and demanding an investigation, ending with these words: “I will ask you to release me from a position that obliges me to cover up these acts toward external parties.” Captain Hagai Avril to commander of the Southern Command March 30, 1950.

⁹⁴ Warrant of arrest August 16, 1950, ISA IP/2191.

⁹⁵ Letter from Z. Gayer, assistant district commissioner, acting head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, to the head of Investigations Division. August 18, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

⁹⁶ Letter from Yehuda Fargo, on behalf of the head of the General Investigations Branch, to the commander of the Jerusalem District, August 18, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

⁹⁷ Letter from Naaman Stavy, assistant inspector general, to the head of the Investigations Division, August 22, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

⁹⁸ Letter from Z. Gayer, assistant district commissioner, acting head of the Criminal Investigation Branch, to the head of Investigations Division. August 18, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

⁹⁹ “Arba’a shotrim nidonu le-maasar al hit’alelut be-guf mistanenet [Four Police Officers Were Sentenced to Prison for Abusing an Infiltrator’s Body],” Haaretz, January 22, 1951.

¹⁰⁰ Letter from the Jerusalem district commander to the commissioner August 29, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

¹⁰¹ Letter from Z. Margalit to the Jerusalem District Headquarters, September 1, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

¹⁰² Sofer was a police officer with 28 years of experience dating back to the Mandatory police, and had a partial legal training, which probably influenced the analysis he proposed for the case.

¹⁰³ Letter from Z. Unger, district superintendent, to the head of the Police Administration Division September19, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

¹⁰⁴ On the complexity of sexual offenses in minority groups, their exposure, and the filing of complaints about them, see Gavey, Just Sex? 26-27.

¹⁰⁵ Orna Alyagon Darr, “Narratives of Sodomy,” 255-256.

¹⁰⁶ “Hakira: Be-hetem le-hartzaotav shel Rav Pakad Yitzhak Bodinger be-kurs le-mefakhim [Investigation: Based on the lectures of Superintendent Yitzhak Bodinger in a Course for supervisors],” National Training Base, 195-196 (1958). Israel Police Heritage Center; Alyagon Darr, “hokhahat averat ha-inus.”

¹⁰⁷ “Confidential Report as a Neutral Interrogator of Frontier Incidents,” Jean Gas, district inspector of

UNRWA, Jerusalem, August 17, 1950, ISA MFA-1987/1.

¹⁰⁸ Letter from the Jerusalem district commander to the commissioner, October 16, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

¹⁰⁹ Letter from the Jerusalem district commander to A. Hermetz, October 29, 1950, ISA, IP/2191.

¹¹⁰ 27/8637 the commissioner v. Moshe R., ISA, G-337/41.

¹¹¹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15,1951, ISA, G-337/41.

¹¹² Letter from the Minister of Justice Pinchas Rosen to the prime minister and the minister of police March 12, 1951, ISA G-337/41.

¹¹³ The Knesset, Report of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on the Detention of Camp Detainees in Jalami 2196, 2200 (1951).

¹¹⁴ “Husmekhu 97 orkhei din hadashim [97 New Lawyers Passed the Bar],” Haaretz December 22, 1953, 2 (Shamai was certified as a lawyer in 1953, so at the time of the trial, he was a student at the beginning of his career).

¹¹⁵ Kossovsky, Be-tzedek tishpot, 13-15.

¹¹⁶ ISA LAW 28209/16.

¹¹⁷ See ISA G-5763/8. “Ha-katazin Shamai mit’alel be-asirei Kele Haifa [Officer Shamai Abuses Inmates at Haifa Prison]” Kol Ha-Am, October 19, 1948, 2; “Hiketi et Lund be-alat ha-etz shebeyadi [I Hit Lund with the Wooden Bat in my Hand]” Kol Ha-Am, June 28, 1949, 4.

¹¹⁸ Ibid.

¹¹⁹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15,1951, ISA, G-337/41.

¹²⁰ Ibid.

¹²¹ Ibid.

¹²² The complete verdict could not be traced, only this paragraph quoted by Cohn in his letter, February 15, 1951.

¹²³ We know that the accused had begun to serve their sentence, but in light of the large number of amnesties during this period, we do not know if they have served their full sentence. Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15, 1951, ISA G-337/41.

¹²⁴ Rozin, “Tnaim shel slida”; Tzur, “Carnival Fears.”

¹²⁵ The 77th minutes of the second Knesset, May 6, 1952, 1917-1919.

¹²⁶ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, January 23, 1951, 3.

¹²⁷ Ibid; Warrant of arrest August 16, 1950, ISA IP/2191.

¹²⁸ Morris, Israel’s Border Wars, 177.

¹²⁹ Letter from Police Minister Bechor Sheetrit to the police commissioner January 11, 1951, ISA G-337/41.

¹³⁰ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs January 16, 1951, 18.

¹³¹ “Arba’a shotrim nidonu le-maasar al hit’alelut be-guf mistanenet [Four Policemen Sentenced to Prison for Abusing a Female Infiltrator’s Body],” Haaretz, January 22, 1951, 4; “Maasar la-shotrim al ma’ase ones [Imprisonment of Police Officers for Rape],” Al Ha-Mishmar January 22, 1951, 4.

¹³² Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, January 23, 1951, 3.

¹³³ Ibid.

¹³⁴ Ibid, p. 4.

¹³⁵ Ibid.

¹³⁶ Knesset Plenary Session February 7, 1951, 1014-1015.

¹³⁷ Minutes of the Cabinet Meeting, January 25, 1951, 5-6. Golda Meir responded: “A year and a half is more than you get in a regular court” (5).

¹³⁸ “Sar ha-mishpatim megane et ha-mishtara [The Minister of Justice Condemns the Police],” Ha-Boker, February 8 1951, 1.

¹³⁹ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15, 1951, ISA G-337/41.

¹⁴⁰ Letter from Rosen, The minister of justice, to the prime minister and the minister of police, March3, 1951. G-337/41.

¹⁴¹ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs, January 16, 1951, 3.

¹⁴² Ibid, p. 10.

¹⁴³ Minutes of the Committee on Internal Affairs February 27, 1951, 9.

¹⁴⁴ Letter from Lieutenant Colonel Shaul Harmati to Moshe Shilo, national liaison officer for the Red Cross, February 5, 1951, ISA MFA-1987/2.

¹⁴⁵ Giorgio Agamben, Homo Sacer. The last sentence is quoted by Agamben from the theologian Carl Schmitt, in his book Political Theology, 15.

¹⁴⁶ Letter from the attorney general to the minister of justice, February 15, 1951, ISA G-337/41.

¹⁴⁷ Alyagon Darr, “Zirot shel busha”; Alyagon Darr, Hokhahat averat ha-inus.

¹⁴⁸ Hasisi and Bernstein, “Echoes of Domestic Silence,” 60.

¹⁴⁹ Alyagon Darr, “Narratives of ‘Sodomy’,” 249.

¹⁵⁰ Two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that the rape offense was unsuitable for handling in a disciplinary proceeding. HCJ 269/52 Spoznikov v. Disciplinary Tribunal 656 (May 31, 1953).

¹⁵¹ Kabalo, Shurat ha-mitnadvim, 226.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nomi Levenkron

Nomi Levenkron is a lecturer at Kinneret College, School of Multidisciplinary Studies, and a postdoctoral student in the Faculty of Law at Bar Ilan University. Her areas of research and teaching are human trafficking, police and policing, and social and legal history. Since 2017, she is the editor of the Journal Mishtara Ve-Historiya.

Oded Ron

Oded Ron is a doctoral candidate in Law (LL.D) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research, under the guidance of Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer and Prof. Yuval Shany, focuses on racial motive as an aggravating circumstance. He is a scholar at the Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought at The Shalom Hartman Institute.