"Saturn, you destroyed us": this is how the police leadership collapsed in two years - voila! news

In the video: Shabtai vs. Ben-Gvir: "The National Guard will dismantle the police and harm the security of the citizens" (Shlomi Gabay)

The resignation of Chief Superintendent Natan Bozna, head of the police fencing division, has once again highlighted tensions at the top of the police and instability in the senior command staff, which has worsened over the past two years. Since Kobi Shabtai took over as police commissioner, 11 extras out of a total of 19 have retired.

The retirement of some of them was supposed to herald a refreshment of ranks and the introduction of new blood to the top echelons of the organization, which is dealing with a severe personnel crisis and a negative image that is deteriorating day by day. However, the departure of many others by slamming the door, while harshly criticizing the performance of the police commissioner and the minister, shows the bad blood between them and the head of the organization.

The first of the retiring extras was Chief of the Operations Directorate Amnon Alkalai, who announced his departure the day after the Meron disaster. In his testimony before the commission of inquiry, he strongly criticized the conduct of the police commissioner, who was appointed several months before the disaster, saying that "his decision-making process was wrong, it is not being conducted correctly." About two months later, in July 2021, Commissioner Moshe Barkat, commander of the Central District of the police, announced his retirement after 30 years of service in the organization. This, he said, was due to a "sense of exhaustion."

The top echelons of the organization are collapsing before his eyes. Police Commissioner Saturn (Photo by Photo processing, Jonathan Zindel, Flash 90)

In January 2022, the head of the Seef Division for Combating Crime in Arab Society, Major General Jamal Hakrush, retired from his position, whose appointment was encouraging news as the first Arab-Muslim commissioner in the police. He was filmed leaping over a body at a murder scene without reaching out for help. That same month, Ayelet Alpert Yeruham, head of the logistics support division, also announced her departure after 29 years in the organization.

It wasn't long before the head of the traffic division of the police, Major General Alon Arie, announced his retirement in April 2022 after two years in the position, which he served, among other things, during the Meron disaster. Later, he claimed in the state commission of inquiry that he thought in advance that the traffic department would not be able to limit the number of people on Mount Meron.

The police have not yet had time to recover, and in July 2022 there was another significant departure with the retirement of Northern District Commander Shimon Lavie, against the background of the Meron disaster. Lavi said after the disaster that he "bears overall responsibility" for the incident, and was the only senior police official to claim responsibility for the disaster.

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"If I open my mouth on you, the police will tremble." Commissioner Eli Kazari (Photo: official website, State Commission of Inquiry to Investigate the Mount Meron Disaster)

At the end of that year, Police Commissioner David Bitan announced his retirement after 37 years of service. About a month later, Commissioner Shai Cooperman, head of the Technology and ICT Division, also left the police after 42 years in the organization.

The past three months have also been accompanied by departures of extras in discordant tones. Last April, Eli Kazari, security secretary to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, announced his resignation, strongly criticizing Shabtai's conduct. "If I open my mouth on you, the police will tremble," he told the police commissioner in a conversation between them before his retirement, which was revealed by Channel 13 News. "You appoint officers using the method of friend brings friend," he slammed Saturn. "You destroyed the police, it will take years to rebuild what you did to the organization."

The final nail. Major General Natan Bozna (Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson's Office)

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However, this did not end Shabtai's headache, and only a month later, Commissioner Danny Caribou, head of the Planning Division, also left due to his exclusion from the budget discussions with the Ministry of Finance, led by the Police Commissioner and Ben-Gvir. Although Caribou wrote upon his resignation that "I have reached a sense of exhaustion," his departure was not planned, and occurred due to the decisions of Shabtai and Ben-Gvir.

Yesterday, Bozna, head of the fencing division, hammered another nail in the coffin and announced his retirement after a year and a half in the position. After his departure, the wing is expected to close, and will be remembered in the history books as a stinging failure of Saturn. Bozna stepped down amid tensions with Ben-Gvir, who had announced the previous day that he had appointed a projector to fight crime in Arab society, over Bozna's head. According to Channel 13 News, Bozna strongly criticized the public security minister to his associates, saying that "they established a department without teeth or the ability to influence, Ben-Gvir did not visit it even once."

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• Kobi Shabtai
• Itamar Ben-Gvir