Police chief Alsheikh comes under fire at Knesset discussion
Internal Affairs Committee discussion Alsheikh's claims private investigators targeted police officers working on PM cases erupts into shouting match, with MKs on both sides of the aisle slamming the commissioner; 'Your job is not to hand out grades to the prime minister,' MK Smotrich accuses; Alsheikh 'unlawfully and unjustly using his power,' says MK Swid.
Bayit Yehudi MK Bezalel Smotrich was the first to slam Alsheikh, telling him: "The interview you gave (the investigative TV show) Uvda was completely unacceptable. This interview is like a car accident. Your job is not to hand out grades to the prime minister. You should've apologized."
Likud MK Miki Zohar said he, along with Smotrich, asked for the hearing because he felt "the police's conduct with regards to the investigations of the prime minister is unprofessional, not objective, and improper."
He added, however, "it's important for me to make it clear that the police are doing an excellent job enforcing the law and maintaining public order. Their total failure is in investigating public representatives and celebrities: The police fail time and again."
Opposition members also criticized the police chief. Zionist Union MK Revital Swid told the commissioner he was "unlawfully and unjustly using his power."
"You gave an interview and said some very grave things, and I think it should shake us all," she said. "Are private investigators following (police) investigators in an attempt to sabotage the investigation? I'm asking you, is this being done from London? Is the name Walter Soriano relevant to the comments you made? And do you feel that after you brought this up a year ago, there are still attempts to sabotage your investigation?"
Coalition chairman MK David Amsalem (Likud) went on the offensive, saying "lately, those under investigation, including the prime minister, are being summoned (to the police) via Channel 2 through (Moshe) Nussbaum and (Amnon) Abramovich. How did Abramovich put it? The police have a long memory and vindictiveness. It knows how to settle a score."
MK Miki Zohar backed Amsalem. "There's a concerning collaboration between the media and the police. Investigations of celebrities and public representatives have been systematically leaked," he charged.
Yesh Atid MK Elazar Stern chose to direct his ire at MKs Zohar and Amsalem. "The delusional thing is to tie the police investigation to Rabin's murder," he told Zohar, in response to comments he made on Monday. "Only someone like that can ask for such a discussion as this."
To Amsalem, Stern said, "I think it's even more offensive to say that someone who was called to give testimony to the police is a 'snitch'"—an accusation the coalition chairman made against the leader of Stern's party, Yair Lapid.
"This wasn't an interview about wafers, but about investigations against the prime minister," Amsalem said in response.
Meanwhile, United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni wondered aloud, "If it's true" that private investigators were sent to follow police officers, "then why didn't the police investigate this? Why was there no investigation? And if it's not true - why did the commissioner say this? What is he looking to gain?"
'I didn't edit the Uvda interview'
When finally allowed to respond, Alsheikh addressed claims his investigators leaked information from the investigations to the media.
"The people under investigation in the Netanyahu cases are ridiculing the content of the investigations through the leaks," he accused.
"I know my investigators are not leaking to the media. It hurts the public trust in the police. Once and for all I want to make the public understand how it works," he said.
"I declared war on the leaks," the police chief said. "We cut the police officers' direct contact to the media. There is no such thing for a police officer to turn to the media. I've never spoken on the phone to the media without a spokesperson also on the line. It keeps the police pure."
He noted that "All police officers—past and present—do a polygraph test."
Alsheikh faulted Uvda's editing of the interview. "I didn't edit the interview. A lot of things were said there about the police's work, and I regret the fact this has turned into an interview about the Netanyahu investigations," he said.
The commissioner explained that "because the Israel Police is blamed everywhere of leaking from the investigations, it (Uvda) is a super important stage to explain what the Israel Police does and what it doesn't do."
He also argued that he had already addressed the possibility private investigators were hired against police officers a year ago.
"In the Uvda interview, I didn't add another word that I hadn't already said a year ago," the police chief stressed. "I said there were elements who were in the field and sniffed around the investigators working on these cases. I needed it to stop. The most important thing at that point in time was to prevent that, so it won't interrupt (the investigation). That's why I made a public state, to say it's not legitimate."
Alsheikh stressed the police do not provide updates on ongoing investigations, whether they are covert or open. "There are no investigations conducted with more checks and balances than the investigations of public servants," he insisted.
The police chief also provided clarifications on Case 3000, the investigation into the purchase of submarines and patrol ships from Germany, saying "When we were asked whether the prime minister is going to testify, we said of course. We can't have a situation in which we don't hear the versions of all of those involved, but it doesn't mean (Netanyahu) will be questioned under caution. It doesn't mean he's a suspect."
At the outset of the discussion, committee chairman Yoav Kisch (Likud) removed several opposition MKs from the meeting, including MK Leah Fadida (Zionist Union), who told Kisch, "You're acting like a baby."
Zionist Union MKs Yossi Yonah, Yoel Hasson, Micky Rosenthal and Yael Cohen Paran, Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi and Yesh Atid MK Pnina Tamano-Shata were also removed from the discussion. They were all, Fadida included, allowed to return several minutes later.
After having been removed from the discussion, MK Fadida accused Kisch of "aggressive and well planned" behavior.
"The opposition members had been thrown out one after the other before the discussion even started. Kisch had messages to convey and this was his show. It's a shame he bothered the police commissioner to come and watch an unnecessary horror show," she said.
