Controversial police media adviser steps down

Lior Horev steps down as media adviser to the Israel Police amid allegations of bias leveled at him by Likud lawmakers, who also accused him of attempting to sway the corruption investigations against the prime minister.

A police spokesperson says that Horev “asked to remove himself from the list of advisers from the Goldfinger Media firm providing services to the Israel Police.

“The head of the police media department approved the request and thanked him for his enormous contribution to the police in the range of fields he dealt with,” the statement adds.

Horev was targeted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a Facebook post last month criticizing the leaks from the ongoing investigations he is facing.

“Since Lior Horev was appointed to be the police’s external political adviser at the cost of millions [of shekels] of taxpayer money and without a public tender for the position, the illegal leaks have become a tsunami, and the decision to avoid recommendations [for indictment] disappeared as a result,” Netanyahu wrote.

Horev is a veteran political operative who has served as media adviser to a number of high-profile politicians, including Netanyahu’s former ally Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon during the 2015 elections. He was hired by the police as a media adviser in March 2016, a few months after Roni Alsheich was appointed commissioner, to the tune of NIS 800,000 ($228,000) a year.

Despite public outcry at the high salary, including a hearing on the appointment in the Knesset’s Interior Affairs Committee, Horev’s contract was extended by a further three years this March.

At a separate committee meeting two weeks ago, Netanyahu ally MK David Amsalem (Likud) called for Horev to be fired due to a series of tweets criticizing lawmakers on a range of issues.

— Raoul Wootliff