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

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.