Yaakov Shabtai, picked to be the next police commissioner, ordered his subordinates to use banned ammunition against settlers during the evacuation of an illegal West Bank outpost in 2011, Channel 13 reports.
The use of plastic bullets — less lethal than regular bullets but more lethal than the more widely accepted rubber-coated bullets — caused a scandal at the time when several teenagers suffered injuries.
While the public security minister at the time, Yitzhak Aharonovich, said the use of plastic bullet was proportional and careful, he later discovered that he had received inaccurate information and that officers fired shots at close range and without them being in any danger, as required.
The Israel Police commented that the report was “empty words by interested parties acting for personal reasons in an attempt to smear Maj. Gen. Shabtai and thwart his appointment. Beyond that, the allegations are unworthy of comment.”
Kobi Shabtai, commander of the Border Police, on September 28, 2017 (Moshe Shai/Flash90)
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