Top cop slams bill that would bar police from recommending charges

Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich on Tuesday criticized a proposal to prevent the force from recommending indictments of public officials, saying it is “impossible” for police to complete investigations without doing so.

With the proposal to make the prime minister immune from criminal investigation shelved over coalition disagreements, Likud MKs are now pushing a bill that would keep police from being able to recommend whether to indict or not at the end of an investigation.

“When we are talking about the decision of the State Prosecution, the police force doesn’t pass on a recommendation as such, but rather summarizes the case and presents whether there is evidence of criminality or not,” Alsheich told reporters outside a Knesset committee session.

“It is impossible to publish the results of the investigation without summarizing it,” he said bluntly. “I don’t know what this new bill is.”

Alsheich’s comments came as a Likud lawmaker said the announcement on Tuesday of the closure of a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual assault against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s former chief of staff was proof of the need for police to stop recommending indictments against public officials.

The Tel Aviv district prosecution announced that the case against Gil Sheffer would be closed due to a lack of evidence despite a police recommendation he stand trial.

Sheffer, who held the top post in the Prime Minister’s Office from May 2012 to July 2013, was named last year as the suspect in a case involving allegations of sexual assault. Police recommended indicting him in January.

“Since then he has been slandered again and again by the media and his innocence has been unfairly taken from him. Today, it became clear that the whole thing ended in nothing,” MK David Amsalem said in a statement.

“This is exactly the reason that I am asking to end the distortion and prevent the police from publishing recommendations that damage the reputations of innocent people even before their cases have been clarified,” he said.

For investigations against public officials, the State Prosecution is tasked with deciding whether to press charges or not, based on the investigation carried out by the police. Amsalem’s bill could keep the police from being able to recommend whether to indict or not at the end of an investigation.