The director general of the Public Security Ministry has left his position even before the ceremonial handover to newly-appointed National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, it was announced Friday.
Ben Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, tweeted that he met with Tomer Lotan “and we agreed on the termination of his position.”
Lotan said in a statement that he was “grateful for having the privilege to serve as head of the ministry, despite its complexity and challenges.”
The move was not unexpected — Lotan was a confidant of former public security minister Omer Barlev from the center-left Labor Party, and Ben Gvir had made it clear he would bring in an ally to head up the expanded ministry.
Additionally, Ben Gvir and Lotan publicly clashed earlier this month during a Knesset committee meeting on the police force’s acquisition of Black Hawk helicopters for firefighting.
The speed with which the decision was made for Lotan to leave the ministry — just hours after the new government was sworn in on Thursday afternoon — surprised some, coming ahead of Sunday’s formal handover ceremony.
Tomer Lotan, former director-general of the Public Security Ministry, attends a meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on November 8, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
However, former Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich tweeted that Lotan was “an ideological person who would not for one second agree to work with Ben Gvir.”
Until a replacement is found, the deputy director of the ministry Eliezer Rosenbaum will serve as acting head.
According to Hebrew-language reports, Ben Gvir is expected to nominate Shlomo Ben Eliyahu to fill the position on a permanent basis.
Ben Eliyahu previously headed up the Housing Ministry as well as leading the Israel Land Authority and the Jewish Agency’s settlement department.
File: Shlomo Ben Eliyahu (L) attends a meeting at Knesset with then-housing minister Uri Ariel, November 27, 2013. (Flash90)
In a coalition deal struck with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, Ben Gvir secured unprecedented control over law enforcement as part of his newly formed National Security Ministry.
Repackaging it and expanding it from the existing Public Security Ministry, Ben Gvir drew additional powers to himself in both passed and planned legislation, and has secured a staggering coalition promise to be given control of the Border Police.
The deal means far-right Ben Gvir, who has multiple convictions for supporting a Jewish terror group and for incitement to racism, will be in charge of the force that carries out sensitive operations in the West Bank, is in charge of quelling Palestinian riots and protests, and is responsible for policing demonstrations within Israel as well.
Israeli border police officers in the West Bank city of Hebron, October 12, 2022. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)
A law passed last week at Ben Gvir’s behest gave the Otzma Yehudit leader broad political control over the Israel Police including the ability to direct general police policy, and increased the minister’s influence over policy on investigations policy.
The ultra-nationalist party also obtained commitments to advance legislation to change the legal liability of soldiers and security personnel for actions they take in the line of duty, institute a death penalty for convicted terrorists, strip other attackers of their nationality and deport them, review the possibility of downgrading prison conditions for Palestinian terror inmates, and ban the Palestinian flag from state-funded institutions and local municipal authorities.
"general" - Google News
December 31, 2022 at 04:19PM
https://ift.tt/r59sCbI
Director-general of police ministry leaves hours after Ben Gvir takes over - The Times of Israel
"general" - Google News
https://ift.tt/kvKeZPT
https://ift.tt/Qq4pURJ
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Director-general of police ministry leaves hours after Ben Gvir takes over - The Times of Israel"
Post a Comment