T. Belman. Gantz said “the interference of the political echelon in the operational work of the police in the context of the demonstrations damages the deepest foundations of our democracy and is intended to terrorize it.” He is so wrong. It is for the political echelon to establish the rules of engagement or to decide to appease the enemy or to fight it. In America, only Congress can declare war, not the army nor the President.
It is for the government to decide whether to enforce the law, not the Police Commissioner.
National Security Minister summons commander of the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police to reprimand him following left-wing protest.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Thursday evening summoned the commander of the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police to reprimand him in the wake of what he described as “the loss of control of the police in the capital city to a group of anarchists”, during a protest of left-wing activists led by the Crime Minister movement.
“The Jerusalem Police lost control over the anarchists. An incident in which burning tires were set on fire near the Prime Minister’s Residence, Highway 1 was blocked, and light rail traffic was blocked – these are all extremely serious incidents in which police and security forces were on the scene, but were explicitly instructed not to enforce the law and not to confront the rioters,” said Ben Gvir.
In response, Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai issued a statement in which he said, “The Commissioner backs the Jerusalem District, its commanders and its chief, Superintendent Doron Turgeman, for standing firm and exercising discretion in dealing with the protest and the subsequent breach of order. In addition, the Commissioner regrets the fact that the investigation of the matter is carried out in a public manner while the police forces are operating in the field, and not through an operational investigation which is carried out at the end of the activity, as is customary.”
National Unity Party chairman MK Benny Gantz said in response that “the interference of the political echelon in the operational work of the police in the context of the demonstrations damages the deepest foundations of our democracy and is intended to terrorize it. The responsibility lies with Netanyahu who sold respectability to irresponsible people and continues to support harm to the powers of the professional ranks.”
MK Mickey Levy from Yesh Atid added, “The summons of the Jerusalem District Commander to Minister Ben Gvir’s office indicates a complete lack of understanding of the minister’s role vis-à-vis the operational level and is a blatant and ugly attempt to introduce political considerations into the work of the police. It is not the minister’s role to give operational instructions to officers in the field under fluorescent lights and to summon senior officers for inquiries, as if he were the police commissioner. Time and time again, the TikTok minister, who pulls out guns, proves that he has no clue about the use of force and the meaning of operational command in the field.”
The “Black Flags” demonstration movement stated, “We expect the Commissioner to refuse Ben Gvir’s request to call the commander of the Jerusalem District for a reprimand. We are talking about a criminal who got confused and thinks he is responsible for the freedom of demonstration. The minister is prohibited by law from interfering with the work of the police. Israel is a democracy and we will keep it as such.”
The “Crime Minister” movement said, “Once again it has been proven that the pyromaniac Ben Gvir is looking for blood. Instead of dealing with the violence against protesters and with ‘treacherous leftist signs’, he seeks to sic the police on the protesters, who are legally protesting and fighting for democracy. It would be better if the district commander acts responsibly and simply ignore him. If the coup d’état goes through, the police will be Ben Gvir’s militia and freedom of speech will be trampled. This must not be allowed to happen.”
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Can’t these clowns be fired and replaced?