Weekly Commentary: Challenge - Balancing Rights Against Fighting Crime
Dr. Aaron Lerner 13 February 2026

We have a disaster in our Moslem-Arab sector.

The murder rate is climbing as women are killed by family members while others die in endless rounds of revenge killings and more.

Organized crime is incredibly powerful and violent.

And the police are working blind since cooperating with them means endangering one's extended family.

As citizens we have the right to our privacy,

We shouldn't be subject to surveillance without a court order based on evidence.

Ditto for a search of our homes and many other measures.

But sometimes in an emergency situation these rights need to be compromised.

We have already taken some steps but we are far from the scope that's needed to succeed.

"Emergency situation" is a dangerous designation.

We have some "emergency situations" in place for many decades.

To safeguard against this, if we take the measures which are needed, they should be limited to a specific period of time and require a supermajority Knesset vote (e.g., 70 members) for a one-time extension, and an even higher threshold (e.g., 80 members) for any further renewals. This sunset clause ensures the powers remain temporary, preventing mission creep while allowing evaluation of results.

It would be fantastic if there was another way.

But if there isn't, we owe it to everyone to be bold enough to act.

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