Israeli Lawmakers Pass Controversial Stop-Frisk Bill

Lawmakers in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, passed the controversial bill that allow police to stop and frisk suspects without prior cause, according to local media.

MOSCOW/TEL AVIV (Sputnik) – The Israeli parliament passed a long-stalled bill proposed by the government allowing police to stop and frisk suspects without prior cause, national media reported Tuesday.

Lawmakers in the Knesset passed the controversial bill in a late Monday session, according to the Israeli i24news broadcaster.

The Israeli Cabinet voted in October to revive the stop-and-frisk bill that passed in its first reading in 2011 before stalling in the Knesset.

Critics equate the bill to racial profiling, including toward Israel’s Ethiopian and Arab communities, allowing police to search any suspicious individual for unlicensed weapons.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who proposed the bill in October, responded to criticism by removing a clause allowing body searches outside nightclubs.

The law is seen as an effort to curb Israeli-Palestinian violence, including stabbing attacks, shootings and car rammings, which have spiked in number since September. Over 30 Israelis and 162 Palestinians are estimated to have been killed in the violence, with thousands wounded and over 2,400 Palestinians detained.