BREAKING NEWS

Erdan to 're-examine' appointment of Gal Hirsch as police chief

By JPOST.COM STAFF

AUGUST 28, 2015 11:57

Following a meeting with bereaved families who lost family members during the Second Lebanon War, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said he would re-examine the appointment of Gal Hirsch as chief of police.

Hirsch, 51, resigned from the IDF amid controversy following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, during which he commanded the Galilee Division.

Zvi Regev – whose son, IDF reservist Eldad Regev, was captured and killed by Hezbollah guerrillas from Lebanon in a cross-border raid along with fellow reservist Ehud Goldwasser in 2006, setting off the Second Lebanon War – told Army Radio that he views Hirsch as responsible for the abductions.

“Gal Hirsch was the commander of the division that operated in the area where my son was kidnapped. He was responsible for allowing the kidnapping, and to this day only he knows what really happened there. We have only received partial reports about what happened.”

Hirsch' appointment has also faced criticism by former police officials who feel he does not have enough experience to take over the position. Five former inspectors-general and more than 30 former assistant-chiefs in the Israel Police mobilized to coordinate their efforts to thwart the appointment.

“A minister who makes this kind of appointment clearly doesn’t understand the work of the police,” former police commissioner Yehuda Wilk said. The group called for State Comptroller Joseph Shapira and the Turkel Committee on Appointments of Senior Civil Service Officials to reconsider the appointment. The Turkel Committee needs to approve Hirsch’s appointment for it to go through.

Daniel K. Eisenbud and Alon Hachmon contributed to this report.

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