The brazen Saturday afternoon gangland murder outside Tel
Aviv’s crowded Hatachana shopping center, in which two men on motorcycles shot
a Jaffa criminal in his car, brought to 20 the number of organized crime
assassinations and attempted murders in the last four months.
In the midst of
this killing spree, which is causing heightened fear among the public (aka
innocent bystanders), the Israel Police finds itself with a dearth of
experienced crime-fighters among its top brass, according to some police
officials, active and retired, who have been involved in fighting organized
crime.
The war of succession began with the recent resignation of
Chief Superintendent Menashe Arviv of the Lahav 433 crime-fighting unit, often
called “Israel’s FBI.” Arviv’s alleged acceptance of cash and favors from Rabbi
Yoshiyahu Pinto has cast a shadow over his integrity, but his ability to catch
serious criminals was never questioned.
The leading candidate to replace him
appears to be the head of the traffic division. Moshe “Chico” Edri is an
admired commander who served in the Tel Aviv district, but is certainly not
considered a crime-fighter. He never was an investigator or intelligence
officer, and never even faced the prosecution in a serious case against organized
crime.
“The army would never appoint a tank commander to command
the air force,” asserts Meir Gilboa, former head of the major crimes unit.
“They understand in the army that it is a different profession. In the police,
they have not internalized that.”
The newly appointed head of investigations for the police
international crime investigations unit, Yoav Telem, came in with a few months
experience in the unit, but never was in a position to take on the crime
organizations and never led a significant investigation before his boss, police
Commissioner Yohanan Danino, decided to give his assistant such a sensitive
post in the fight against organized crime.
“Telem is a serious and very talented guy as assistant to
the police commissioner, but to appoint him head of investigations responsible
for the war on organized crime is practically negligence,” says a former police
commander. “The appointment is clearly because of his proximity to Danino, but
it’s an unfunny joke that comes at the expense of the public, which sees what
is going on in the streets.”
The appointment of Telem’s boss, unit commander Gadi Siso,
is also taking heat. A police officer said Siso previously did not command a
unit, was not the head of an investigation team, and did not handle any major
cases.
Senior police officers go on to ask how it happened that
officers like Gadi Eshed, commander of the central investigative unit’s Tel
Aviv district, Yigal Ben Shalom, commander of its central district, Eli
Assayag, commander of its coastal district, were not promoted to head one of
the national units or at least be put in key positions fighting organized
crime.
“It’s Danino’s decision not to promote those officers and
weaken the central investigative units,” says a former police officer. “Ben Shalom,
Eshed and Asayag are intelligence and investigation men from birth, and there
is no way they won’t be at the forefront of this war.”
In response, the police said the appointment and promotion
of officers is an organized, careful process accompanied by police committees’
discussions of the candidates’ suitability. These panels discuss the
appointments of hundreds of officers every year.
This success shows in the
fight against crime, the police said, pointing to the drop in the number of
murders last year, and the fact that most murders are solved by the police.
Police also noted the confiscation of 250 million shekels from criminal
profits, the drop in the number of car thefts and home break-ins; and the rise
in the number of indictments of members of criminal organizations.
Nevertheless, there is something wrong with the Israel
Police’s priorities. The lack of personal security is not just a feeling
citizens have based on what they see on the news; it’s based on the increase in
violent crimes and robberies, as proved by the police’s own statistics.
Danino, who made public trust in the police his goal and
understood that to gain it he must deal with the crimes that most affect the
public, has instead looked for answers in the least important places. Instead
of dealing with murder, bombs, violence and robbery; he has chosen to deal with
things like social protests and minor drug use. As police commanders are
required to reach their arrest targets, they invest less in the quality of the
cases than in the quantity.
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