Candidate to be next police chief: ‘With me they won’t shut down roads’

A leading candidate to be the next Israel Police commissioner indicates he won’t hesitate to adopt a tough stance against anti-overhaul protests, which far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has urged.

“With me they won’t shut down roads. They did, but I dealt with it forcefully,” Coastal Region Police Commander Yoram Sofer says in an interview with Channel 12 news, which is slated to be aired in full tomorrow night.

Asked why he felt a need to react forcefully, Sofer responds, “because thuggery is thuggery.”

“Whoever attacks officers is attacking the State of Israel, not me personally. Whoever spits on officers is spitting on the State of Israel and therefore if we need to arrest them, we’ll arrest them. If we need to disperse them, we’ll disperse them,” he says.

“Why do you need to allow 8 months of the same harm to the public,” Sofer adds, referring to the demonstrations.

He is also asked whether he’ll be able to say “no” to Ben Gvir if gets the post.

“What do you mean? Why do you need to say ‘no?’ You need to understand the minister’s view more or less. Up until now, I’ve never seen a minister tell me once ‘do something,'” he says.