BICOM

The nominee to become Israel’s 18^th Commissioner of Police is facing a firestorm of public criticism and his conduct both as a brigadier general and a private citizen is being called into question.

Gal Hirsch, the former general who was in charge of securing Israel’s border with Lebanon in 2006, fell from grace in following the Second Lebanon War and was recently plucked from obscurity by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to try and rehabilitate a police force, many of whose senior officers have been involved in scandals in recent years.

This morning, Yediot Ahronot reports that the Almog Commission, which the IDF established to investigate the abduction of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev – the event which began the 2006 Lebanon War – found that the abduction could have been prevented and recommended that Hirsch be relieved of his duties and not be promoted any further in the IDF. Shortly before the commission’s findings were announced in November 2006, Hirsch resigned his command. According to Haaretz, Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is examining claims that Hirsch was involved in questionable, possibly illegal, defense contract dealings as part of the security consulting business he established after resigning from the IDF. This information has been in the possession of law enforcement officials since before Hirsch’s nomination was announced but now the inquiry will be fast-tracked.

In an effort to quell the public uproar, Minister Erdan will meet this morning with representatives of bereaved families who lost soldiers in the Second Lebanon war and who have been some of the most outspoken critics of Hirsch’s appointment. Despite the public pressure, which is likely only to grow in light of this morning’s revelations, Hirsch is slated to appear before the Advisory Committee on Senior Appointments in the Civil Service headed by former Supreme Court Justice Jacob Turkel on Tuesday. If approved by the committee, his nomination will have to be voted on by the Israeli Government.