Police chief Roni Alsheich backs law enforcement personnel, responding publicly for the first time since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a scathing attack on him and the force for allegedly leaking details of graft investigations.
Alsheich tells a meeting of police officials that he has “complete faith in the way they are carrying out sensitive police work,” and says he backs them 100 percent, according to Channel 2 news.
On Saturday night, Netanyahu accused Alsheich of being behind leaks of information regarding two separate police investigations into possible corruption by the prime minister.
Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich speaking during a Rosh Hashanah reception at police headquarters in Jerusalem, September 18, 2017. (Israel Police)
“The illegal leaks have become a tsunami,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The attack came after Channel 2 news reported that Netanyahu would be called to testify to investigators again regarding the two cases. Alsheich said the fact was not secret and expressed bafflement at Netanyahu’s move.
“The information had been previously reported and so the attack on the police is not clear. There’s no body dealing with law enforcement that is doing what the police have done to deal with leaks. We will protect the sterility of the investigations and keep our hands clean, do our work … without bias and give full backing to whoever is doing fieldwork,” he says.
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 16, 2017
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
