Ben Gvir freezes senior police appointments until after election

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has decided to push off senior police appointments until after the October 27 election, reportedly backing away from a deal he cut with Police Commissioner Daniel Levy to promote top officers as soon as this week.

In a statement quoted by Hebrew media, Ben Gvir says he “made clear to the chief commissioner that it’s unseemly to make senior appointments six weeks before the election, because that could strike part of the public as a power grab.”

“All appointments will be frozen until after the election, except urgent cases that will be examined individually,” the statement says.

Though Ben Gvir attributes the appointments freeze to the election, Hebrew media reports his agreement with Levy fell through because of disputes over the positions of the force’s deputy legal adviser and head of the police’s lawsuit division.

Sources close to Ben Gvir are cited by the pro-government Channel 14 as saying he was blocking candidates Levy wants to promote who are considered close to Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who has repeatedly clashed with the government, and whom the government has long sought to oust.

One of those candidates is Assistant Commissioner Tamar Liberty, whom Levy wants to re-appoint to the role of deputy legal adviser, according to Channel 14 and other outlets.

A source in Ben Gvir’s office called Liberty “the attorney general’s pick,” and police confirmed there were “significant discussions” about Liberty’s appointment, the Ynet news site says.

Meanwhile, Channel 12 quotes a senior police official as saying police would proceed today with planned discussions on appointments despite Ben Gvir’s statement, and that “the chief commissioner expects the national security minister to back the organization in the appointments process, as is the case in other organizations within the scope of the National Security Ministry.”