The public spoke its peace at the ballot box on April 9, and as a result, a right-wing government will serve and govern in the democratic country of Israel for another four years. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan will pass the baton to his successor in the role. But in the Israel Police, which following the failed attempt to appoint Moshe Edri to the role has for six months been unable to cultivate a full-time commissioner, they are already preparing to brandish their swords against the future minister as they ask: "Are you for us or against us?"
It seems that in the Israel Police, they believe they can pick and choose the next commissioner as they see fit. Perhaps the senior police echelon will convene to interview candidates for the post of minister responsible for them and appoint the one they see fit. Someone there is confused. It would be interesting to know which of these retired or active service "police officials," who lack any understanding of the term "democratic rule" and rush to spread rumors among their colleagues and the media about who they deem to be "worthy and acceptable" candidates for the position of public security minister.
Who will "Their Excellencies," the generals at the National Headquarters of the Israel Police in Jerusalem, accept for the role? And who will they write off with the stroke of a pen or "intelligence information" the likes of which we saw with the infamous Maj. Gen. (ret.) Meni Itzhaki document? That, of course, was their method of choice when a "top secret" document was leaked from the cellars of the national headquarters under then-Police Chief Ronnie Alsheikh's watch, through the use of methods we are familiar with from previous cases and borrowed from Sicily or countless outdated regimes.
I have not forgotten the "forum of retired commissioners and directors" that convened at Beit Hashoter in Tel Aviv immediately upon the announcement that Brig. Gen. Gal Hirsh would be appointed Israel's police chief. Members of this forum expressed its aversion to the appointment, vehemently opposing it as if they had had no part in the process that led the public to completely lose its trust in the police. We should also mention that no less than seven police deputy commissioners have been removed from the position, most of them in disgrace.
We should also recall 1996, when former IDF Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan was a candidate for the position of public security ministry. I will never forget the way the police framed him, nor how the case ended with a rare acquittal in court. Nor will I forget Brig. Gen. (ret.) Avigdor Kahalani, who had received the medal of valor, and even served as public security minister himself, and who was put through a criminal trial that also ended in a resounding acquittal. At the time, Judge Oded Aligon called the indictment "a lot of hot air."
So here we have two resounding acquittals of two Israeli heroes who were never restored to their positions, just as Professor Yaakov Neeman, who became the focus of a criminal investigation just two months upon becoming justice minister was never reinstated in the role despite being acquitted. Nor have I forgotten how then-Justice Minister Daniel Friedman's shared with the public that, throughout his tenure in the lofty position, his constant concern was that the police would also move to frame him for an alleged crime.
So before we go and land a Beresheet 2 spaceship on the moon's surface, we must first bring the senior Israel Police officials back down to earth and make it clear to them that they serve in a democratic. Maybe then we will finally be rid of this perverse phenomenon, and the sooner the better.
