(JNi.media) Senior police officials are finding it difficult to accept the appointment of Roni Alsheikh, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan’s new candidate for Police Commissioner, and, according to a report on Israel’s Channel 10 News, the praise they originally voiced at the plan to appoint a Shin Bet deputy chief, has been transformed into concerns. It turns out that Roni Alsheikh has managed to come up in the clandestine security forces on the strength of his personality and remarkable intelligence, despite his skullcap, and despite his close connections to both ultra-Orthodox and national-religious groups.
According to the report, after earlier attempts to crack the mysterious personality of the new candidate for the top job had failed, police brass tried to trace his activity on the social network — and became overwhelmed by a distinct feeling of discomfort.
The report cites the social network message shared by Alsheikh’s wife, Shira, originally posted by an acquaintance of the Alsheikh family. Following stone throwing at the car of the mother of said acquaintance, the latter wrote on Facebook: “Israeli police today received 54 complaints of stone throwing and … you guessed it! Have not done anything about it. The cops must be too hot today. They (the terrorists) bomb with stones and police is bombing with its capabilities.”
Mind you, the post was not written, only shared, and not by Roni Alsheikh but by his wife, and if that’s the worst his opponents at the police have come up with then his glide to the new post seems certain. But then there were photos exposed recently in which Alsheikh is seen speaking with the Grand Rebbe of Modzitz, Rabbi Chaim Shaul Taub, at his study hall in Bnei Brak, and dancing with Torah scrolls at the Chasidic court of Sanz in Netanya.
The police brass, who are still smarting from the scandal involving Rabbi Josiah Pinto, followed by the suicide of a top police officer—in a year that saw the police leadership getting mired in sex and corruption scandals, just aren’t happy to see a potential police officer on such friendly terms with the ultra-Orthodox.
According to the Channel 10 report, Alsheikh’s friends and colleagues understand this concern, explaining that the police leaders who haven’t been caught taking bribes or sexually abusing their female employees have nothing to fear. “Alsheikh is an officer with values,” they promised, assuring Channel 10 that “the good of the state and the police will always be on his mind.”
On Thursday, the Turkel Committee will convene to approve Alsheikh’s appointment. The Channel 10 news report suggested that the committee will inquire about his plans for handling of the ultra-Orthodox sector, although Justice Turkel, renowned for his mild temperament, is not likely to find fault with a police commissioner who genuinely gets along with religious Jews.