Will Erdan back down on his police chief pick?

After days of unrelenting reporting on the controversy over the tapped police commissioner, the Hebrew papers on Monday offer conflicting reports on whether Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan will back down on his appointment of ex-IDF commander Gal Hirsch — or whether the battle to justify his choice has only just begun.

The Hebrew newspapers on Monday are also concerned after Egypt announces its “super-giant” offshore gas reserves, and highlight several protests against various educators ahead of the school year.

Haaretz leads its coverage with the 45-day extension of deputy police commissioner Bentzi Sau’s service as acting police chief. The extension “can be interpreted in two ways: Gilad Erdan is determined to approve this appointment, and from his perspective, even if it takes time, it will happen.” Alternatively, Erdan has given up on Hirsch “and he needs time to find another police commissioner. It won’t be simple, and it won’t be easy.”

“Sources close to Erdan got the impression that he is weighing the possibility of retracting the appointment of Gal Hirsch as police commissioner. Erdan has already spoken with some of his people about the ramifications of backing down on the appointment, with sources saying that it seems he’s trying to assess the public relations damage that it would cause him and Hirsch as a result of this decision,” it reports.

If Erdan does move to appoint another candidate, he will likely do so from within the police force, while appointing some outside candidates in high-ranking positions within the Israel Police, setting them up to be the next police commissioner, it reports.

Yedioth Ahronoth reports that with the 45-day extension, Erdan plans to “fight with all his power to [back] the appointment.”

“There is no one more worthy than Hirsch to serve as police commissioner,” Erdan is said to have told his confidants. The sources denied Erdan was considering other candidates for the position.

The daily reports that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said allegations of misconduct against Hirsch came from the Money Laundering Prohibition Authority. It also features a report on the meeting between Erdan and IDF generals, who urged the minister to cancel the appointment, and, separately, comments from Hirsch’s army buddies, who support him.

Israel Hayom on Monday voices concern over the huge Egyptian gas field discovery. “While Israel stalls, Egypt discovers a huge gas field,” its headline reads.

The find means Israel will face a “dramatic increase” in competition in the energy market, it notes.

Over in Haaretz, there is a report that the find “could potentially impair the quick development of the Leviathan field, which was supposed to rely on Egypt as its main customer sponsoring the development.”

Israel Hayom tucks its reports on Hirsch and the gas fields behind a two-page spread on the first day of school, which is Tuesday.

In its school coverage, the daily reports that parents in Ashkelon are protesting a new principal, who in the past has encouraged conscientious objections to the IDF. The parents have threatened to launch an open-ended strike until she is removed from the position, and went to Education Minister Naftali Bennett with their complaint.

Haaretz highlights a separate controversy. The Ramat Gan mayor and some MKs were urging that a teacher present at the Nabi Salah rally over the weekend, during which an IDF soldier clashed with women and children while arresting a 12-year-old rock-thrower, be fired.

Haaretz’s editorial focuses on the West Bank rally, and the IDF soldier’s response.

“The video clearly shows, once again, the truth about a great deal of the IDF’s operational activities: chasing children. What should the soldier have done? The images show him having no idea what to do. His commanders probably didn’t have an answer for the situation in which he found himself, and it’s doubtful if the senior IDF brass would know what the soldier should have done,” it writes. “It’s hard to blame him. An army that fights children and chases them as they flee is an army that has lost its conscience. The only way to change the situation is to change the reality. There is no other way.”