Outgoing police chief Shabtai: I’m leaving role with ‘uneasy feeling’ over politicization

Outgoing Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai urges during his farewell ceremony against making the law enforcement body a political one, alluding to the behavior of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir without directly naming him.

Ben Gvir, whose ministry oversees the police, was not invited to the ceremony. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chose to send prerecorded video comments.

“It is forbidden to turn the police political — that is how we lose public legitimacy and lose our right to exist,” Shabtai says in his speech, addressing it to the officers in attendance, Netanyahu, and President Isaac Herzog, who made similar comments earlier at the ceremony. “We are a professional body whose job is to protect citizens’ wellbeing and safety. Don’t harm the police, and leave it outside of the political dialogue. This dialogue weakens the organization and will harm its ability to accomplish its goals.”

Shabtai says he has served in the police for 39 years, including the last 3.5 as commissioner. His period leading the organization “was characterized by great tension” on the political front, “certainly for me, as the one who leads the Israel Police.”

The outgoing chief says he is stepping down from his role “with an uneasy feeling. The fight against the politicization of the police and its deviation from its professional path is in full swing.”

Shabtai and Ben Gvir clashed repeatedly since the minister took up his position and attempted to exert much greater control over the police, including the way officers responded to different types of demonstrations.

The attorney general has raised concerns over Ben Gvir’s pick for the next chief of police, Avshalom Peled.