Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai is making clear that he has no intentions of stepping down, amid calls by associates of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir for Shabtai to be fired.
Shabtai made the comments in an interview with Channel 12 News, which will air in full on Saturday night and of which excerpts were published on Friday.
Ben Gvir and Shabtai have regularly clashed, most recently over Ben Gvir's demand that the police assign additional officers to conduct demolition operations in eastern Jerusalem.
Before that, the two clashed when Ben Gvir summoned the commander of the Jerusalem District of the Israel Police to reprimand him over police conduct during a protest of left-wing activists in Jerusalem. Shabtai, for his part, issued a statement clarifying that he backs the commander of the Jerusalem District.
Commenting on the disagreements with the minister, Shabtai told Channel 12 News, "I say this in the clearest way: We operate according to the law. The law, there are things it grants, powers to the commanders of the Israel Police, to the Commissioner and to the district commanders. No one can replace, neither the commissioner nor the district commander, in judgment in one matter or another, or in investigations."
Minister Ben Gvir, explained Shabtai, "sets the policy. Within the framework of the policy, the commander in the field has discretion. [The minister] does not replace the commander in the field."
The interview with Shabtai was recorded hours after MK Tzvika Fogel, from Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit Party, said that there is a possibility that the Minister will fire Shabtai if he does not toe the line of Ben Gvir.
Speaking to Reshet Bet radio, Fogel said, "We didn't come here to oust or kick people out, but if ultimately he doesn't get used to the new style - then there will be no choice. In such cases, you say goodbye."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)
