Police chief says force not part of public debate on Netanyahu probes

In his first public response to a speech from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu roundly dismissing the police investigations against him, police chief Roni Alsheich says the criticism will not affect the force’s work.

Netanyahu’s attacks do “not disturb the work” of the investigation, the commissioner says at a ceremony to mark the changing of commanders for the Hof district police.

“[Police] are not part of this dialogue,” Alsheich adds. “We need to do our professional work, that is what we do and that is how we will continue.”

He would not be drawn into commenting on the value of the public debate surrounding the investigations, saying “I leave everything that is connected to the professional police prism to other commentators. The debate that has formed is a public debate and not a police dialogue.”