Ben Gvir agrees to court’s request that he reconsider refusal to promote police detective

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir accepts the Jerusalem District Court’s request that he reconsider his refusal to promote Ch. Supt. Ruti Hauslich, a police investigator who deals with incitement-related cases

He is to file a response to the court explaining his position on the matter within 10 days.

Hauslich is the second officer whose promotion Ben Gvir has refused to approve, bucking the counsel of senior brass, amid longstanding criticism that he uses promotions as a means of exerting political pressure on the force, which his ministry oversees.

Ben Gvir’s lawyer claims the reason for his refusal is that Hauslich took a position opposite to that of the Jerusalem District police during a Knesset committee meeting on police incitement probes.

Hauslich’s lawyer, Dov Gilad Cohen, contends that she did what was expected of her at the hearing by presenting the stance of the division she serves in, which is responsible for handling incitement probes.

The judge, unconvinced by Ben Gvir’s argument, holds off on handing down a ruling on the matter and instead gives him 10 days to reevaluate.

This is not the first time the minister has refused to sign off on the promotion of a police investigator, against the advice of senior commanders.

Earlier this year, the Jerusalem District Court determined Ben Gvir was motivated by “extraneous considerations” in his refusal to promote Rinat Saban, who was involved in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial.

After Ben Gvir repeatedly refused to obey the court’s orders to promote Saban, she was given her new rank of chief superintendent by force of a judicial decision, without the minister’s official signature.