Police chief, interior minister publicly at odds

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino traded snipes at each other on Monday in a sharp round of comments over how the next commissioner should be chosen.

Aharanovitch was irked after Danino made suggestions regarding the way to select a candidate for the next chief of police during an interview with Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

“It was an unfortunate statement by the current commissioner, who was giving me hints,” Aharanovitch retorted, speaking during a tour of the Western Wall Plaza. “That’s not the way things should be, and so I reject them and don’t accept them. It would be better if he dealt with his own affairs and not those of the next commissioner.

During the newspaper interview, Danino, who took up his current position in 2011, made it clear that he supports finding a candidate from within the ranks of the police to succeed him — an approach the minister may not share.

“The chances that the candidate will come from outside [the police] and learn the job of police commissioner without any police background are not high,” he said. “I can testify on that: The experience that I gather in previous positions was a great influence in my work as commissioner.”

The police issued a statement shrugging off Aharanovitch’s comments. “The commissioner doesn’t intend to address the minister’s statements, and has said that they are not worthy of media attention,” the statement said.

Aharanovitch and Danino recently agreed on a reshuffling of top police positions, including a new commander for the Jerusalem district, brought on by the sudden resignation of two senior policemen amid of wave of reports alleging corruption and misdoings in the force’s upper ranks.