It the police fail to develop clear criteria within the three months, the current regulation will be rescinded, the court ruled. The court decision was rendered in response to petitions by a number of civil rights organizations, including the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and the Association of Ethiopian Jews.
The three-justice panel, headed by Supreme Court President Esther Hayut, also included Justices Hanan Melcer and Alex Stein. "The demand that a person identify themself to a police officer through an identity card could lead to actual infringement of the right to human dignity," Hayut wrote, noting that if such a request is made in public, it might be perceived by passersby as a sign that the person was suspected of a crime and might also be carried out arbitrarily. Police officers have demanded IDs on a selective basis, she stated, "leading to discrimination against certain minorities, even if it was without malicious intent."