Police Commissioner Alsheikh
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Study finds worsening campaign of online incitement, violence against Alsheikh
On the eve of the publication of police's recommendations to indict PM Netanyahu for bribery, new study released that monitored half a million statuses, talkbacks and tweets; study points to increase in violent, inciting discourse in past 5 months against Police Commissioner Alsheikh.
A new study published Tuesday pointed to an increasing campaign of online incitement and violence against Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh, from the moment he entered office in October 2015 and until the present day, on the backdrop of police's bombshell recommendations
to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery.
The report, put together by the Berl Katznelson Foundation in conjunction with the Vigo research firm, was based on data collected through monitoring half a million online conversations—including statuses, comments, talkbacks and tweets.
From the moment Netanyahu began speaking out against Alsheikh in October 2017, the study showed, blasting police on leaks surrounding the employment of former media adviser Lior Horev, and until the airing of the commissioner's interview for the Uvda program last week, comments directed at Alsheikh online have become more violent, racist and inciting.
Most of the fire directed at the commissioner, the study further elaborated, came from supporters of the Right.
A study showed that an ever-growing campaign of online incitement was being directed at Police Commissioner Alsheikh (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
The data collected showed that from the moment Alsheikh entered the public consciousness and until today, more than 50,000 postings of a violent, racist or inciting character were written against him, comprising 18 percent of the total volume of discourse surrounding the commissioner.
A surge in anti-Alsheikh comments following the Horev affair
The study further pointed to the fact that 45 percent of the vitriol directed at the police chief was published in the past five months—since a public outcry surrounding alleged police leaks to the media began—with Netanyahu claiming the police was orchestrating a "witch-hunt" against him.
"Ever since political adviser Lior Horev became the police's external consigliore—at a cost of millions to the taxpayer and without a tender—illegal leaks have turned into a tsunami," the prime minister said then.
The police hiring adviser Lior Horev was a high-water mark in the campaign of violence (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
In September of 2017, the report said, 800 violent comments and tweets were directed at Alsheikh. After Netanyahu's remarks, however, the number surged to 5,500 a month on average.
For comparison's sake, since his Uvda interview was aired—in which Alsheikh claimed that private investigators collected information on police investigators managing the Netanyahu affairs—some 2,500 violent comments were directed at the police chief.
The study showed that 75 percent of the comments directed at Alsheikh online were swearwords, such as "retarded," "lazy" and "cowardly," with half of said comments referring to Alsheikh's professional abilities and the other half accusing him of being a "traitorous Leftist."
In addition, 10 percent of the ant-Alsheikh sentiment called for physical violence again him—with phrases such as "Deal with him" and "Throw him away" bandied about—while 15 percent of posts commented on his outward appearance.
The study examined commenters' political orientation and found that 63 percent could be associated with the Right, whereas only 37 percent belonged to the Left. In addition, there has been a marked increase in the past few months in the volume of violent posts directed at Alsheikh, 81 percent of which came from the Right and 19 percent from the Left.
PM Netanyahu was orchestrating the campaign, one of the study's originators said (Photo: Emil Salman)
'Increase in volume of hate against commissioner a direct result of commander's spirit'
Director of Public Outreach for the Berl Katznelson Foundation Anat Rosilio said that, "The increase in the volume of hate speech against the police commissioner was a direct result of the commander's spirit coming in from Jerusalem, which has marked Alsheikh as someone who wants to topple the prime minister due to non-professional motives."
"The Israel Police in general and its commander in particular are certainly not exempt from public criticism," Rosilio added, "but in any civilized society they would be afforded protection against the campaign of delegitimization and incitement orchestrated by government officials."
"Chipping away at the legitimacy of police work and the person heading it does not only hobble the standing of the commissioner and his senior officers, but undermines the very institution of police as the qualified law enforcement body in Israel and causes severe damage to the public's trust in the rule of law," Rosilio expounded.
"This is a very slippery slope for a country priding itself on being the only democracy in the Middle East," she concluded.
