These past few months, associates of outgoing Israel Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Roni Alsheikh have been working hand in glove with the top dogs at various media outlets to create the narrative that the extension (or not) of Alsheikh's term as head of the Israel Police has to do with the investigations against the prime minister. They know the opposite is true. Previous police commissioners succeeded one another in the midst of investigations into the actions of other prime ministers, and then – just like now – their terms ended by the book. Like other police commissioners, Alsheikh is going home for one reason: he was legally appointed to only one three-year term.
Alsheikh was not Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan's first choice for the position, and he was appointed for a number of reasons at a time when the police force was engulfed in crisis. He was given a mandate to restore the public's faith in the police, among other things, but his mistaken attempts to seal up police leaks – ignoring the fact that media is a vital component in strengthening the public's faith – did the opposite and frequently exposed his lack of experience in this type of position to the media spotlight.
His term as police chief should be studied not only in police academies but also in classes for senior managers. How did a Shin Bet security agency official with such impressive abilities manage to surround himself with advisors who urged him to make every mistake possible? When he began serving as commissioner, the first thing he was presented with was the hot potato of the sexual harassment scandal involving a senior police commander. Instead of letting things cool down, the Shin Bet man – who is considered an expert in gathering intelligence on individuals – gulped it down, and got burned. The scandal saw him dragged into court, the High Court criticized his conduct, he had difficulty explaining why he didn't believe the female officer who the court ruled had been sexually harassed, and the media went wild.
Under Alsheikh, the media took several steps forward in everything having to do with its investigative, intelligence, and computer capabilities, but at the same time several steps back when it came to the relations between the police commissioner and the public security minister, to whom he answers, not to mention the prime minister. The man who instilled in the police the concept that the most effective way to prevent crime is to reduce opportunities to commit crime, didn't miss a single opportunity to go head to head with both of them.
Alsheikh himself announced the end of his term as police commissioner and immediately became irrelevant. His remarks about the investigations into the prime minister and his wife, and his unsuccessful statement that "I won't give up my principles for another year in the position," marked him as a police chief who was being persecuted by the prime minister and his family and allowed his opponents to argue – justifiably – that if this is the attitude of the head of the police, how can the investigators working under him operate without bias?
The Israel Police needs a commissioner who can exhibit restraint and who leaves his ego at the door, one who came up through the ranks, knows the organization inside and out, works quietly and objectively, and most of all – doesn't run to the media every other day.
