The chairman of the committee, MK Yuri Stern (National Union), called for a halt to the flow of funds for the unit, which is "betraying its job," and for it to be disbanded.

Stern said that he would seek to enact legislation that would limit police authority "to the point where the police would turn into puppets," adding that many eyewitness accounts of violence at the hands of police and the issue of police brutality have not been properly dealt with.

"The police are waging a campaign of terror against citizens, but the investigations unit is not doing a thing," said committee member MK Marina Solodkin (Likud), who added that she received over 1,000 complaints of police violence mainly from immigrants, settlers, and Arabs.

Solodkin called for the establishment of a parliamentary commission of inquiry into police brutality.

Committee members heard from a number of citizens who claim to be victims of violence at the hands of police. Yosef Haikon, a new immigrant from Russia, said he had been arrested for no reason, was handcuffed, beaten and taken to a police station, where he lost consciousness.

Assaf Daavol, deputy mayor of Rishon Lezion, said his son was arrested because he shabbily wore his army uniform and was physically abused by 10 officers.

Urit Strik, a resident of Hebron, said she was amazed that the police investigation unit used evidence gathered by the police as the basis for its investigation of her claims of abuse, saying that the evidence is not objective and unreliable.

In 2003, the police received 6,000 complaints of police brutality, of which 1,531 were investigated for excessive use of force, according to Hila Yaron-Adelman, deputy administrative official for the investigation unit. The investigations yielded only 58 criminal indictments and 119 police officers were subject to disciplinary action.

Stern said he was disturbed by the minuscule number of indictments in comparison with the number of investigations, criticizing Yaron-Adelman for failing to produce statistics on the number of officers convicted, demoted to a lower rank, or removed from their positions.

The head of the police human resources department, Major General Gabi Gal, responded that police brutality was a top priority, and the first discussion held by incoming Commissioner Moshe Karadi was devoted to the subject.

"We are not talking about violence deep within the ranks of the police," said Commander Ronit Kaminsky, who added that there has been a significant improvement in recent years compared to the past.

"The internal investigations unit is considered a fierce whip in the eyes of the police," Kaminsky said, adding that in each instance where a complaint against a policeman is filed, the department delays any promotion in rank or position until the conclusion of the investigation.