New Jerusalem District police chief named

Major General Moshe Edri, currently head of Israel’s Traffic Police, is to take over as commander of the Jerusalem District, after Interior Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch approved the appointment on Monday.

Edri, 47, has 23 years of police service behind him and in 2013 took over as the commander of the Traffic Police.

In a separate appointment, Aharonovitch okayed the nomination of Major General Motti Cohen, deputy commander of the Tel Aviv District, to head the Central District as per Israel Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino’s recommendation. Cohen, brother of a previous police commissioner, Dudi Cohen, has been in the police force for 27 years.

The round of appointments came after the sudden resignation of two top police commanders last month.

Jerusalem District Police chief Yossi Pariente recently announced his intention to leave the force, a move that came as a surprise, as he was considered a front-runner in the race to succeed Danino.

Pariente said the decision stemmed from “a variety of personal reasons,” but primarily that he was “not built for the mudslinging” that’s associated with the campaign for police commissioner.

His resignation came two-and-a-half weeks after Central District Police chief Bruno Stein, another top candidate for the commissioner job, abruptly resigned from office.

Stein resigned shortly after Haaretz reported that he was spotted at a party thrown by Ronel Fisher, an Israeli attorney under investigation for allegedly bribing multiple police officials.

Two weeks ago Aharonovitch said Edri was to take over as Central District commander and Cohen was to replace him in the traffic division. However, when Pariente announced his retirement, the minister changed his mind.

There is no specific date regarding when the two appointments will come into effect, but Ynet reported that Pariente will begin the handover process to Edri in the coming days.