Or Commission

The Or Commission (Hebrew: ועדת אור‎‎; full name: ועדת החקירה הממלכתית לבירור ההתנגשויות בין כוחות הביטחון לבין אזרחים ישראלים באוקטובר 2000, lit. "Commission of Inquiry into the Clashes Between Security Forces and Israeli Citizens in October 2000", was a panel of inquiry appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the events of October 2000 at the beginning of the Second Intifada in which 12 Arab citizens of Israel and one Palestinian were killed by Israeli police amid several demonstrations. One Israeli Jew was killed by a stone dropped from a bridge onto her vehicle near one such demonstration; however, it is not clear that the incident was linked. The commission released its findings on "the clashes between security forces and Israeli civilians" on September 2, 2003. The chief investigator was Theodor Or, an Israeli Supreme Court Justice.

The governmental body of inquiry criticised the Israeli police for being unprepared for the riots and using excessive force to disperse the protesting and rioting citizens. Eight policemen were reprimanded by the commission, most of them after they had retired from the police force. Two police officers were released from the force due to the conclusions.

As the Commission's mandate was one of inquiry, no action was taken against most of those warned by it, but rather recommendations were made. Most Jewish politicians were determined to be largely not responsible, with the exception being the Internal Security Ministry, Prof. Shlomo Ben-Ami. The commission recommended that he be removed from his post, and he would later become foreign minister. Also, three Arab figures (two Arab members Knesset and the head of the northern branch of the Islamic movement in Israel) were found to be partially responsible by incitement that preceded the riots.

The Or Commission found that Arab citizens suffer discrimination in Israel and leveled criticism at the government for failing to give fair and equal attention to the needs of Arab citizens of Israel. The commission found that frustration with discrimination led to the outpourings of frustration in October 2000.

The commission's report was highly controversial on all sides, both gravely disappointing the families of the victims and angering those who blamed Arab citizens for the unrest of October 2000.

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