The current chief of police, Kobe Shabtai, is about to end his term soon. Shabtai took office in early 2021 and was due to finish its position at the beginning of this year, after Minister of Public Security Itamar Ben-Gvir refused to extend his term. However, the term was extended due to the war (with more police killed on October 7 than in all the past decades combined); this also allowed Shabtai to pass the conclusions of the Naor Committee for the Study of the Meron Disaster during his term—which called for the dismissal of Shabtai, but not proactively due to the war and the approach of his term to its end.
As a substitute, Ben-Gvir planned to appoint the current commissioner, Avshalom Peled. Peled served in the police force for decades and gained extensive operational and administrative experience – but the decision to appoint him was still problematic, because only a few years ago, Peled was interrogated in the DCO in the fields of breach of trust and abuse of police force (due to recordings in which Peled expressed his intention to promote illegal construction in a community in the Shfela’h). Ben-Gvir decided on the appointment, and had not consulted the legal frameworks beforehand, which led to a wave of media and public complaints.
On Wednesday night, the Attorney General, Gali Bharav-Miyara, gave her opinion regarding Peled’s appointment: The attorney general did not veto the idea, but required a hearing by Peled before the Committee to Examine Senior Appointments (the Grunis Committee), in which he would have to answer questions raised regarding the various cases. The committee’s hearing on Peled’s case will take place on Sunday, and will decide on the possibilities of its advancement; many in the police system and the political system (including Ben-Gvir himself), treat the matter as closed, and, to Feld’s detriment, new options have already begun to be raised for the appointment of the police chief. Ben-Gvir attacked the attorney general with harsh words due to her opinion, but his parallel actions indicate acceptance of the decisions of the Israeli legal system.
