Israel Police may not have the manpower to handle another situation like in Operation Guardian of the Walls, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai said in a meeting on Tuesday.
Shabtai spoke at a meeting of the State Audit Committee in the Knesset on lessons learned during the operation.
"If there is another multi-scene event in the country, we won't be able to handle it," he said. "If the police salary issue is not solved, I don't see the situation improving."
The manpower problem is seemingly because of salaries
According to Shabtai, the situation is catastrophic with every police station in the country suffering from manpower issues.
"The budget has a sum dedicated to this," he added. "I hope it's enough. We'll know in the coming days. But were are not in the ideal situation."
In April, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said that "disgraceful salaries for police officers won't happen on my watch". He later repeated himself when he was promised NIS nine billion for his national guard, although that was not included in the state budget.
During Operation Guardian of the Walls, widespread riots broke out across the country with Arabs and Jews behaving violently against each other including a number of lynches.