Hirsch rebuffs ‘lies intended to foil police chief pick’

Gal Hirsch, the former Israeli army officer tapped as the new head of the Israel Police, hit back Saturday at allegations that a business linked to him was involved in corrupt activities, Channel 2 reported.

According to the report, Hirsch claims the accusations of corruption are intended to scupper his nomination as the new head of the Israel Police.

“My business activities are legal and supervised,” Hirsch reportedly told associates. “They are telling tales about me.”

“Every few hours, interested parties leak false reports and myths to the pressaimed at causing damage and tarnishing my name,” he reportedly said. “It’s serious and alarming behavior trying to interfere with my appointment in any way.”

Channel 2 said Friday that businesses linked to Hirsch had been the subject of a two-year joint undercover investigation by the FBI and Israel Police. After leaving the IDF, Hirsch became the CEO of Defensive Shield Holdings, which describes itself as “provider of strategic, operational and tactical solutions for the defense, security and homeland security sectors around the world.”

Hirsch was named earlier this week by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan as his choice to lead the police, garnering an outcry from senior officers and the families of IDF soldiers who fell in the Second Lebanon War. Hirsch, who commanded the Galilee Division, resigned from the IDF with the rank of brigadier general shortly before the publication of a report that criticized his conduct in the run-up to and during the 2006 conflict.

His nomination this week won support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said he had the skills to lead the scandal-struck police force.

The Haaretz daily reported Friday that details of the police investigation into allegations of misconduct by Hirsch’s security consulting business were passed on to the Justice Ministry weeks before he was considered as a candidate for the role of police commissioner.

According to the report, Erdan did not inform Attorney General Yehuda Weinsten of his decision to nominate Hirsch before announcing his pick.

Hirsch’s nomination will now be presented for approval to the Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments, headed by retired judge Yaakov Turkel. In a letter to the committee this week, retired justice Eliyahu Winograd, who led the investigation into the Second Lebanon War, recommended that Hirsch’s nomination be approved, calling him “a most worthy candidate,” Channel 2 said.