Yigal Ben Shalom
Yigal Ben ShalomPolice Spokesperson's Unit

Police Commander Yigal Ben Shalom has replaced scandal-ridden Roni Ritman as the head of the elite Lahav 433 investigative unit.

Ben Shalom, 53, married and father of two, had previously commanded the head of the National Unit for International Investigations and has previously served as Lahav 433 deputy commander. Ben Shalom has a long record of successes, including incriminating mafia kingpin Ze'ev Rosenstein in 2006 for drug trafficking and extraditing him to the United States.

Ben Shalom holds a bachelors and masters degree in Middle Eastern studies and has attended the National Security College.

Ben Shalom replaces Roni Ritman, who was forced to step down amid sexual misconduct allegations.

Lahav 433 is known as 'Israel's FBI' and is currently charged with investigating Prime Minister Netanyahu in the cases known colloquially as 'Case 1000', 'Case 2000', and 'Case 4000'.

While Lahav 433 is considered the Israel Police's most elite investigative unit, it has suffered a long string of embarrassing incidents. In late February, former unit commander Menashe Arbiv was convicted for failing to report to his superiors that he had been offered a bribe by Rabbi Pinto, a charismatic and popular rabbi who eventually served a one-year jail sentence in 2017 for his effort to bribe police Brigadier General Ephraim Bracha.

Arbiv was suspected of receiving illicit benefits for years from Pinto in exchange for information about a police investigation into Pinto's charity.