According to various testimonies, Israel's police commissioner Insp. Gen. Roni Alsheikh is a prodigy – a man of great stature both intellectually and professionally. One day we'll have to examine how as commissioner he became so entangled in investigating the prime minister. It wasn't particularly necessary. But before the story begins, it must be said: the decision not to extend a police commissioner's term isn't a dramatic one. It's perhaps dramatic when a commissioner is fired or appointed. The Israel Police has indeed notched some achievements. Like other organs of the state, it has functioned better under the Netanyahu government. The governor of the Bank of Israel also goes to sleep at night with a robust economy and financial system, and she too opposes the prime minister and finance minister. And in the case of Karnit Flug, her contribution to Israel's economic situation is relatively minor.
The police was caught in the massive political-media pressure campaign, which intensified in the summer of 2016, to topple Prime Minister Netanyahu as quickly as possible. At his press conference Thursday, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan mentioned "disagreements." He didn't mention the investigations against Netanyahu, but it's obvious that Alsheikh's conduct was lacking in that regard. The apex came in February this year when investigative and current affairs program "Uvda" aired a series of interviews with him. That the program was aired to coincide with the police's "recommendations" about the prime minister's cases was fundamentally flawed conduct. Alsheikh projected a cold disdain toward the prime minister; the hostility toward the person accused by the police and state prosecutor exuded from him. One could say made himself, through that interview, a lame duck. It was exposed that during his tenure the police collected large pools of information on public officials. It created a sense that the fate of elected and senior government officials was in the hands of the police.
The smear campaign against Gal Hirsch, who had been tabbed as a possible commissioner prior to Alsheikh, returned to the headlines. Even as his candidacy was being shelved it was clear at the time that a group of retired officers, representing part of the police's internal organizational mechanism, torpedoed Hirsch's chances. Accordingly, they concocted a case against him.
It seems that some politicians in Israel are blind to the rules of democracy. Anything that falls under the label of opposition to Netanyahu is deemed democratic, even if it reeks of a coup. "This disgraceful farce of having the option to extend a term needs to be abolished," declared Opposition Leader MK Tzipi Livni. She wants the heads of the army and police to be "independent." What does she mean? Apparently, she doesn't want them subjected to state or civilian oversight. This cannot be acceptable in a free country that doesn't want to become a police state. Alsheikh himself also responds by espousing the worldview that "the Israel Police is at the forefront of defending the country's image, character, security, and integrity." Perhaps the police's job is possibly also to enforce the law? And maybe not in a selective manner.
Among the contenders to replace Alsheikh is one natural candidate. We can expect to see an effort to sabotage this person's appointment in the form of protests and perhaps petitions to the High Court of Justice regarding the decision not to extend Alsheikh's term.
