Daniel Levy sworn in as new Israel Police chief following government approval
Ben Gvir nominated controversial Coastal District chief after interim commissioner, who had been probed for graft, backed out; Levy says country facing ‘many complex challenges’
Daniel Levy, who served until Sunday as as Police Deputy Commissioner, was officially sworn in on Sunday as the next Israel Police commissioner after his nomination was approved unanimously earlier in the day by the government.
Levy was selected for the job after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s previous nominee withdrew his candidacy to replace former chief Kobi Shabtai, who stepped down in July.
Speaking at a ceremony in the National Security Ministry on Sunday, Levy said he enters the role “with a sense of deep responsibility and great pride.”
Levy said he will work as head of the Israel Police “to strengthen the governance and sovereignty in the State of Israel, fight against anyone who tries to harm and undermine the rule of law, and will ensure that the law is enforced equally on every citizen.”
Addressing the gathered police officers, Levy added that “we are facing many complex challenges, but I am confident that thanks to you, we will be able to meet any task and any challenge.”
Levy was cleared for the role two weeks ago by the Senior Appointments Advisory Committee despite hundreds of complaints about his crackdown on anti-war protesters in Haifa and anti-government protesters outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea.
In a statement on Sunday, Ben Gvir praised Levy as someone who “comes with a Zionist and Jewish agenda, and will lead the police according to the policy I have set for him,” including the minister’s controversial plan for a volunteer national guard to be deployed in potential Arab unrest.
Days before he was nominated, Levy told Ben Gvir he would carry out the minister’s policy to crack down on building violations in the Druze community, despite the security establishment’s opposition to strict enforcement, according to a recording published by Haaretz.
Levy, 60, joined the police in 1985, serving in Tel Aviv. He was deputy chief of the police’s Jerusalem District between 2021 and 2023, when he was promoted to deputy commissioner and made chief of the Coastal District.
Ben Gvir nominated Levy for commissioner after interim police chief Avshalom Peled said on July 29 that he was withdrawing his candidacy.
Peled was a controversial choice because he had been investigated for bribery in 2015. The case was eventually closed, but the Department of Internal Police Investigations recommended not promoting him.
Ben Gvir accused the attorney general and Senior Appointments Advisory Committee, which vets candidates for senior state positions, of thwarting Peled’s appointment “because Minister Ben Gvir chose him.”
Critics have accused Ben Gvir of effectively taking over the police and subjugating the force to his control. The far-right minister has reportedly ordered the police not to prevent extremists from attacking trucks bringing supplies to Gaza amid the war there.
Police officers have also been accused of failing to arrest settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank, and of standing idly by when far-right mobs stormed army bases on July 29 following the arrest of IDF reservists accused of sodomizing a Palestinian inmate.
On Thursday, Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar wrote to Netanyahu that “a secret sense of backing” from the police was emboldening Jewish terrorists. Ben Gvir reportedly stormed out of a cabinet meeting later that day after the government rejected his demand that Bar be fired over the letter. On Sunday, Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party took out ads in Hebrew newspapers denouncing Bar.
At Thursday’s meeting, Netanyahu reportedly asked Bar whether any arrests had been made after a deadly settler rampage in the West Bank village of Jit a week earlier, to which Bar replied, “Two.”
Pressed by Netanyahu on why there had not been more, Bar reportedly responded, “That’s the role of the police. There’s no police in Israel.”
