Kish (L) and Alsheikh
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky, Motti Kimchi
Police chief to defend his claims at Knesset
The police commissioner is summoned to clarify his claim that 'powerful' elements involved in the investigations against the prime minister tried to collect information about police officers; police: Alsheikh may not attend to do timetable constraints; Interior Ministry: discussion will take place with or without Alsheikh.
MK Yoav Kish (Likud) will convene the Internal Affairs and Environment Committee of the Knesset on Sunday to discuss claims made by Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh regarding police investigators involved in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cases being tailed.
The session will also deal a complaint submitted by Attorney Pinchas Fishler to the Police Internal Investigations Department ("Machash") Alsheikh, which alleges that the police commissioner leaked sensitive information on the investigation of PM Netanyahu during the same interview in which he made his contentious claims.
It is not clear yet if Alsheikh will attend the meeting due to timetable constraints.
MK Kish (L) and police chief Alsheikh (Photo: Motti Kimchi, Yoav Dudkevitch)
The committee was originally planned to be held Thursday, but was postponed as Alsheikh already had a scheduled work tour in the north.
According to sources in the committee, the coordination of the date for Sunday were approved by the commissioner, but are now meeting resistance nonetheless, with the police stressing that Alsheikh's arrival had not yet been finalized.
Sources in the Interior Ministry responded by saying that the discussion will take place on Sunday with or without Alsheikh.
PM Netanyahu (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)
Earlier this month, Alsheikh accused "powerful" elements involved in the investigations against the prime minister of trying to collect information about police officers.
In an interview with the Uvda TV show, Alsheikh said that "at the end of the day, we know who these elements are, and someone apparently has to pay them. So it really bothered us."
"I felt an investigator shouldn’t be subject to external pressure through his family. So I responded publicly, and it stopped. I'm talking about facts, not rumors. That's why I went public. I thought it would be enough to say it was unacceptable, and it stopped," he added.
The interview and the commissioner's claims led Prime Minister Netanyahu to launch a harsh attack against Alsheikh, posting on Facebook: "It's shocking to discover that the police commissioner is repeating the delusional and false insinuation that the prime minister sent private investigators against police officers who are investigating him."
