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.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 16, 2017
