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Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg
Moshe 'Chico' Edri
Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

The saga of Edri's appointment as police commissioner

Op-ed: The Goldberg Committee decided Moshe 'Chico' Edri must undergo a lie detector test before assuming the position of the police commissioner, which is a surrender to the populist demand. The committee's endless righteousness reduces the chances to appoint good people to senior positions.

Is it only me, or is Moshe "Chico" Edri's appointment as the new police commissioner a farce, a circus with no beginning and no end, a parade of those covering their backsides, which accompanies the process of selecting senior officials in our country? Repulsive acrobatics in which the right hand, even while knowing what the left hand is doing, refuses to confirm its actions until it is completely clear both hands are clean.

 

 

There is no need to be an obsessive law abiding citizen to agree that the senior official appointment process should ensure the promotion of people who are worthy to hold key positions, and save us from disturbing revelations a minute after those senior officials get comfortable in their new offices.

 

Moshe 'Chico' Edri (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)
Moshe 'Chico' Edri (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

 

And yet, the saga of the police commissioner appointment is not just one of many on a long list. It is persistently climbing to the top of the list.

 

At the beginning of December, the outgoing Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh will conclude his three-year tenure—which he tried to extend by another year through a high-profile campaign—during which he embarrassingly emphasized that he will not renounce his values for a fourth year that he was never offered to begin with.

 

And so, at the beginning of September, as opposed to standard procedure, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan gave the Advisory Committee for the Appointment of Senior Officials in the Civil Service, also known as the Goldberg Committee, the names of three deputy commissioners as possible candidate to replace Alsheikh—Yoram Halevy, David Bitan, and Moshe "Chico" Edri.

 

The Public Security Ministry explained the reason that three names were given instead of one, is to prevent what had happened with Gal Hirsch (who was set to be the next police commissioner in 2017) from reoccurring. As one of the ministry's officials told me off the record back then, "(three names were given) to deceive the enemy, since it is harder to direct the fire when three candidates are being considered, instead of one."

 

However, two months after the Goldberg Committee had received the candidates' names, even though Erdan was asked to give only one name, Alsheikh sent Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit a document, which according to the media, contained slandering information and embarrassing details on all three possible candidates for the police commissioner position.

 

According to the document, each and every one of the candidates had its own Pandora's box. In response, the police said they do not deal with gossip, but a satisfying explanation was hardly provided, concerning this strange, not to mention disturbing timing chosen by Alsheikh to send the document. The timing was particularly disturbing in relation to Edri, who retired from the police force with a written summary of his service, in which Alshich did nothing but praise him.

 

Moshe Edri, right, with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, center, and outgoing Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh (file photo)  (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
Moshe Edri, right, with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, center, and outgoing Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh (file photo) (Photo: Motti Kimchi)

 

The outgoing police commissioner described Edri as "inquisitive," adding he "desires to learn," and is "open to revolutions," as well as stating that "his achievement in the Tel Aviv District are superior to all others in all the fields of police work." There was no trace of any suspicions against him that might prevent his appointment as the police commissioner.

 

Mandeblit having examined the document, ruled there is no legal reason preventing any of the three candidates from getting the appointment. The attorney general's decision could have ended all the insanity and terminated the process.

 

However, in Israel, like always, a minute before Alsheikh's retirement, the Goldberg Committee decides Edri must undergo a lie detector test, which the two additional candidates underwent as part of their police service in accordance with the new policy the outgoing police commissioner set after Edri had already retired from the force. Edri has already agreed to take the test.

 

Moshe Edri, the newly appointed police commissioner (Photo: Yariv Katz)
Moshe Edri, the newly appointed police commissioner (Photo: Yariv Katz)

 

Regardless of Edri's willingness, all that is left is to summarize by stressing three things, the first of which is that past experience teaches us that it is better to ignore—as much as possible—the opinions of those concluding their tenure about their successors, who will never be worthy enough in their eyes.

 

The second thing is that the questionable, in my opinion, assumption that a lie detector test is a must for all candidates up for senior positions—should be implemented on everyone, including the incoming chief of staff or the Bank of Israel governor, two posts that were manned recently without performing the test.

 

The third issue concerns the Goldberg Committee's crooked conduct. The committee is not an alternative police to investigating emotions. Its latest decision regarding Edri is a surrender to the populist demand, the hidden message of which—is that not all those who appoint are corrupt, but those appointed as well. Therefore, the filtration process has to be absurdly stricter. This is a bad message, which stems from endless righteousness, reducing the chances to appoint good people to senior positions.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.23.18, 00:14
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