From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Nationwide campaign falls short of recruiting 3,000 police officers this year, only 1,300 hired
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Despite a nationwide recruitment campaign, only 1,300 new police officers were hired over the past year, far less than the 3,000 authorized by the Finance Ministry, a ministry representative tells the Knesset Finance Committee.
“At the end of May 2024, the permanent police force stood at 27,300 policemen, while during the corresponding period of the previous year (May 2023) it stood at 26,000 policemen,” a ministry representative says during a hearing. “The Finance Ministry budgeted for 3,000 positions but the employment rate was lower than that.”
The ministry says that salary expenditures were lowered and the money saved was used for procurement and other needs related to the ongoing war.
