Police Illegally Strip Searching Protesters
- ACRI
- Aug 13
- 3 min read
On June 25, 2025, ACRI submitted an appeal to the Police Commissioner, the legal advisor to the police, and the Attorney General, following two incidents in Jerusalem in which police officers conducted partial or full strip searches of women detained during protests, serious violations of their privacy and dignity. The details of the incidents described in the appeal raised concerns about the systematic mistreatment of women protesters with the goal of humiliating and degrading them to deter protesters and would-be protesters, particularly women. Other protesters who had previously been arrested for participating in demonstrations in the area also reported having been subjected to unjustified strip searches.
ACRI submitted another appeal on November 13, 2025, following an incident in which an individual who shouted protest slogans at the Minister of National Security was subjected to an unlawful full strip search. Then, on March 4, 2026, ACRI submitted a third appeal after a 19-year-old protester underwent an unlawful and degrading full strip search after being arrested in Tel Aviv at a peaceful demonstration against the war with Iran.
The protester's clothing and belongings had been searched before he was placed in a police vehicle, and nothing was found. Nonetheless, he was strip searched upon his arrival at the police station. When the protester told the officers that the search was unlawful, he was told that if he refused, an officer would forcibly remove his underwear. The search was conducted in a room with internal windows through which others could observe him, and the protester was not provided with a search report, as required.
ACRI filed a complaint with the Police Internal Investigations Department (Machash) on the protester's behalf. Attorneys Eden Gilad, Nitsan Ilani, and Elza Bugnet noted in the appeals that these incidents reflect a troubling pattern of humiliating and degrading protesters, and may amount to sexual harassment. Legally, the police are authorized to conduct a full strip search only under exceptional circumstances when there is reasonable suspicion that evidence is concealed on a suspect's body; according to police procedures a partial strip search may be conducted only after taking into account factors such as the nature and seriousness of the offense and the level of danger it presents. Legally and procedurally there was no justification for partial or full strip searches of protesters.
In the appeals, ACRI called for an investigation into the incidents and for a clear and unequivocal directive to be issued clarifying that searches may be conducted solely in accordance with the law and police procedures, and that searches must not be used as a means of deterrence, humiliation, degradation, or punishment.
In June 2026, the Police Internal Investigations Department informed us that it had decided to close the investigation into the strip search of the 19-year-old protester. ACRI filed an appeal against the closure of the case on August 13, 2026, demanding that the decision be reversed and that steps be taken to file indictments against the police officers and officials responsible for ordering, approving, and carrying out the search.
Attorneys Elza Bugnet and Nitsan Ilani emphasized in the appeal that the police have no authority to conduct routine strip searches of detainees. In the protester's case, no such suspicion existed: they were arrested spontaneously during a demonstration, had already undergone a search that yielded nothing, and there was no indication that they were concealing evidence on their body. Moreover, the officer who conducted the search did not point to any specific suspicions, but instead claimed that it was standard practice at the station to conduct a full strip search of every detainee before placing them in a cell. If this is indeed a blanket policy or standing instruction, it is deeply troubling and breaks the law.
ACRI's appeal, June 25, 2025 (Heb)
ACRI's appeal, November 13, 2025 (Heb)
Response from the police, November 18, 2025 (Heb)
ACRI's appeal, March 4, 2026 (Heb)
ACRI's appeal against Machash closing the investigation, August 13, 2026 (Heb)
