Itongadol.- Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan surprised many with his choice of a police commissioner from outside the force Tuesday: Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch.
Hirsch, 51, is chairman of the Israel Leadership Institute, an educational NGO, and Defensive Shields Holdings, a consulting service.
Hirsch resigned from the IDF following Second Lebanon War, during which he was Galilee Divison Commander, amid extensive criticism of his actions. Much of the criticism was of his handling of the kidnapping of soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, which sparked the war, leading then-IDF chief of staff Dan Halutz to refuse to promote him.
The Winograd Committee, which investigated the war, absolved Hirsch of any blame for the kidnapping, and the committee’s chairman, Dr. Eliyahu Winograd, said that an injustice was done to him. Hirsch returned to the IDF as Deputy Commander of the Depth Corps in 2012.
Previously, Hirsch was commander of the Bahad 1 officer training base, Paratroopers Battalion 202 and the IAF’s elite Shaldag unit, among other positions.
On Tuesday, Hirsch wrote on Facebook that he is very excited for his new job, which the government and the Committee on Appointments of Senior Civil Service Officials, led by Yaakov Tirkel, still need to approve.
“Israel police, fighters and officers, have been for many years my brothers and sisters in arms and my partners in many missions. I am happy that I was given this trust and am waiting for the appointment process to be completed,” he said.
Hirsch added: “When I was called to the flag today, I stood ready for the mission, as it says in the Book of Isaiah: Here I am, send me!”
Erdan called Hirsch "an excellent and valued officer who led changes and reforms in every unit he commanded.
"I am convinced that Gal is the most appropriate candidate at this time to lead the changes necessary in the Israel Police and to increase trust in it," Erdan stated. "Together with Israeli police officers and the experienced senior commanders, Gal will promote important reforms to increase the personal security of Israeli citizens and improve their quality of life."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement praising the Hirsch appointment.
Netanyahu said Hirsch was a "worthy and admired fighter and officer" who has filled a number of command positions, and with "courage and creativity" has led those under his command into battle and on military operations on many occasions.
Netanyahu said that Hirsch, as the police chief, will lead the police forward in facing its many challenges, while working to improve the personal security of Israelis and strengthening the rule of law in the country.
Erdan and Netanyahu clashed over the selection of a commissioner, with the latter trying to influence the former’s long-delayed decision. When asked about the prime minister’s involvement, a visibly irritated Erdan Minister told Channel 2 on Tuesday: “This is the candidate I chose. I chose him; the prime minister didn’t know. I take the responsibility for this appointment and I hope the Tirkel Committee approves it.”
Erdan explained in interviews with Channels 2 and 10 that he felt that a police chief from outside the system was necessary in order to shake up the force after a series of sexual misconduct and corruption scandals, as well as the police’s failure to stop the stabbing at last month’s LGBT parade even though the perpetrator, Yishai Shlissel, was recently released from a prison service to which he was sentenced for committing the same crime a decade earlier.
“I needed to look at the organization and see why there was so much damage to the public’s trust [in the police]. This is a person who comes from the army, a different organizational culture with different norms and standards, some better, some worse,” Erdan explained.
MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid), a former Assistant-Chiefs and Jerusalem police commander, criticized Erdan for appointing someone from outside of the force, saying he should have chosen one of the current Assistant-Chiefs.
Levy called the current commanders “talented people with many years of experience in the organization,” whereas Hirsch is “a person who does not know Israel Police at all, which went through difficult upheavals in the last year.
“Despite this, the police is close to my heart…and it faces difficult challenges. I wish luck to the police and the new Inspector-General,” he said.
Meanwhile, acting Commissioner and Tel Aviv Commander Asst. Ch. Bentzi Sau, who was considered to be a frontrunner for the top job, told Erdan he intends to resign from the police.
Praising Sau’s talents and contributions to the force, Erdan said he asked Sau to continue serving as deputy chief of police and that he hopes Sau will reconsider his resignation.
Sau, 54, served in the Border Police from 1977-2006, and was next in line to most recent Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino, after the forced resignation of Asst.-Ch. Nissim Mor in February, due to a sexual harassment investigation. He held the post of divisional brigade commander for the Northern Command of the Border Police during the the October 2000 riots, when 13 Israeli Arabs were killed by security forces during melees at the beginning of the second intifada. In 2003, the Orr Commission – founded to examine the conduct of Israeli security forces throughout the disturbances, ruled that Sau violated police guidelines by sending his officers into the city to battle rioters and that he was responsible for the sniper fire, as the commanding officer. They ordered that he not be promoted for four years.
MK Yussuf Jabarin (Joint List) said that “Sau was undoubtedly inappropriate for the job and choosing him would have led to a serious crisis in the Arab public.
“The minister did the right thing in not deciding to appoint him as Inspector General, and saved us from a severe public protest,” Jabarin stated.
Other leading candidates within the police were Northern District Commander Asst.-Ch. Zohar Dvir and Southern District Commander Asst.-Ch. Yoram Halevy.