Putting the ‘miss’ in ‘commissioner’

Things go from bad to dire Sunday morning for would-be police commish Gal Hirsch, who is looking more and more like a won’t-be top cop as each day passes.

The scandal du jour surrounding Hirsch in Sunday’s papers is actually a reheating of the weekend’s allegations surrounding his dealings with a private company being investigated by the FBI and Israel Police, with an added sprinkle of Hirsch’s response, as well as some spicy punditry to give it that mmm mmm good appointment-killing flavor.

Coverage of Hirsch is nothing new, as his appointment and opposition to it – until now focused on his less-than-stellar military record – has enthralled the press for almost a full week, but on Sunday there is a definitive shift in the papers from simply criticizing the cooking to now grabbing an apron and dropping some spoiled fish into the stew.

Haaretz reports that information about Hirsch’s possible dirty defense dealings came to the police in 2013, but they declined to investigate and only passed on the info last week to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who will now start a probe.

The broadsheet’s lead editorial does little beating around the bush, calling for Hirsch to be dropped from consideration and also criticizing Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan for even giving him the nod.

“The investigation of Hirsch is far from complete; clearly the presumption of innocence applies and it is possible that no criminal suspicions will be discovered. But the police can’t continue to function without a commissioner until the probe is complete, and an individual who is not as pure as the driven snow cannot be placed at the head of the police force.

“For this reason, Erdan must come to his senses and announce as soon as possible that Hirsch is no longer a candidate,” the paper writes.

Despite the fact that Haaretz notes that Erdan is standing behind Hirsch, Yedioth reports that the minister will meet Sunday with Doron Almog, the author of a report into the 2006 Second Lebanon War that found Hirsch should not be a military commander, a possible sign that Erdan could stop backing the nominee. Almog’s stance, the paper reports, has not softened with time.

“In their meeting today, Almog is expected to tell Erdan that Hirsch is not fit for the commissioner position, and that the war exposed deep failures of leadership,” the paper reports.

Sever Plotzker, who normally saves his ink for economic matters, aims his pen not only at Hirsch but also at Erdan for failing to do any due diligence on the nominee and vetting him.

“Every time I wonder what stops people – aside from those with evil intentions – from checking the things so easy to check. It seems to me that I have an answer: Even the stuff that’s easy to discover brings twittering, starting with the small details and afterward the big stuff. The noise comes from some hidden assumption that wouldn’t pass the smell test, and everyone simply relies on it. And why shouldn’t they? It’s inconceivable that someone who presents himself as reliable on the subject did not check the factuality of the claims, when the check could be done usually with one click.”

Even Israel Hayom is not quite backing Hirsch anymore, with Yoav Limor saying that while he might be a good guy, he should drop out of the race in case he has any more proverbial skeletons in his closet.

“If we use a car analogy, Hirsch has a damaged chassis. More checks in the next few days could bring up more defects; Hirsch can come out of this with even more damage. It would be good for him, then, to not tie his fate to this affair before he’s gotten to the point of a total write-off. That will be for his credit, and the credit of the police,” he writes.

Limor’s position is somewhat surprising considering that one page over, commentator Itzik Saban characterizes the whole campaign against Hirsch as nothing more than a “Trojan horse” from Yedioth publisher Nuni Mozes.

“The man who recruited the newspaper and its website Ynet to bring down a prime minister and failed miserably, the man who tried to get into office a prime minister who was sent to prison for corruption, has been busy the last few weeks in intervening in the appointment of a police commissioner to crown his own man,” Limor accuses.

Media war

The man who probably won’t be police commissioner isn’t the only one under attack in Sunday’s press, though. Yedioth and Haaretz both run dramatic pictures of a soldier wrestling with Palestinians, including kids and women, attempting to stop him from arresting a 12-year-old protester in the West Bank.

Haaretz reports that the soldier was lightly injured in the scuffle as he attempted to arrest the boy, who was allegedly spotted throwing rocks and was eventually let go.

“During the arrest several Palestinians launched a violent provocation, including women and children,” the paper quotes the army saying in a statement. “In light of the violent friction, the commander decided to desist from the arrest.”

In Yedioth, Yoaz Hendel compares the photos to the picture of a Palestinian holding a stone in front an Israeli tank during the First Intifida, and says that just as that became a rallying cry for the world and turned Israel from David into Goliath, the army needs to be cognizant of optics, though not at any cost.

“There’s no incident in the West Bank that isn’t accompanied by cameras. There’s no battle that doesn’t end with a war over competing versions. This is a war over world recognition,” he counsels. “This change has caused Israel to recognize the potential damage from a Palestinian photo and or a video that goes viral within a few hours. But the army cannot forget that behind the picture there is a mission. Sensitivity, understanding, being smart and not right – these are all correct. But unfortunately, the most reliable thing where we live is the use of force.”