In parting shot, senior cop warns self-serving leaders are letting criminals run riot
Deputy Commissioner Sigal Bar Zvi assails decision-makers who serve political interests, as well as too-lenient courts and laws that overly protect individual rights
A top police official set to exit the force has claimed organized crime is infiltrating local governments, criticized elected officials as working for their own interests, and railed against privacy protections and a justice system she described as soft on crime.
Outgoing Deputy Commissioner Sigal Bar Zvi delivered her parting shots in a speech Wednesday as she wrapped up a career in the police spanning over 30 years, during which she became the most senior female officer in the history of the force, rising to become head of the police’s Operations Division.
Bar Zvi, who is one of several top officers to announce they were hanging up their uniforms in recent months, warned in the address marking her departure that authorities had failed to keep crime from metastasizing, particularly in the Arab community.
“In the absence of gatekeepers, crime has become organized,” she said. “The upshot is that criminal actors have taken over legitimate state apparatuses, legally. Local councils headed by mafia bosses — that’s the situation.”
Bar Zvi has in the past called for changes in how police tackle crime in Arab communities, which have been rocked in recent years by a surge in violence largely fueled by criminal enterprises taking advantage of policies that have allowed gray-market loan outfits to flourish.
“The Arab street requires salvation,” she said, lamenting years of “neglect of entire communities by the authorities.”
Without directly implicating the political leadership, Bar Zvi pointed a finger at decision-makers who she said were more committed to their supporters than to the public, accusing them of appointing unqualified individuals to high-ranking positions for political expediency.
“Troubles and calamities befalling us… [are] taking place against the backdrop of criminal amateurism of officials in positions of power.”
She said decisions were being made that were “plagued by ignorance or political interests, or personal interest.”
Bar Zvi, who has served in the force since 1991, also assailed the criminal justice system, accusing courts of acting with “excessive leniency” due to a “progressive” agenda.
She also spoke out against protections enshrined in law meant to protect individuals from police overreach, calling it “legislation that protects the bad guys and abandons the good ones.”
She decried the enshrining of “individual rights over public security.”
Bar Zvi, 54, leaves a police force that has seen several senior departures in recent weeks. These take place as new police chief Daniel Levy, regarded by some as an apparatchik of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, was sworn in to his position.
During her 33 years in the service, she broke the glass ceiling several times, becoming the first woman to serve in various command positions.
She urged the police to “continue being a home” for diverse people, describing it as “not just a matter of decency, but also one of obligation. An obligation to listen, understand and serve all of the country’s citizens.”
