Kobi Shabtai has been approved by the Israeli government as chief of Israel Police on Friday. Additionally, Katy Perry has been approved to head the Israel Prisons Service, the Public Security Ministry stated.These positions are meant to be permanent. The appointment officially begins on Friday, and will last until June 30, or until the appointment is made permanent, whichever comes sooner.Earlier today, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana asked for their appointments to be approved, in a phone call with a ministerial committee."Since I became [Public Security] Minister over six months ago, I worked hard to find the right people to lead these two government bodies," Ohana said on the call."Shabtai carries with him 30 years of experience in the police in a variety of positions," he iterated. "He has, in multiple instances, put his own life at risk, even injuring himself, to carry out his job fully."Shabtai joined the Border Police in 1991 and served, among other roles, in an undercover unit in Gaza.Perry as well, he added, has three decades worth of experiences in different positions. "She has shown," he said, "time and again, her initiative, courage and incredible ability to balance the different government bodies under her care."The Advisory Committee for the Appointment of Senior Civil Service Officials (the Goldberg Committee) approved the nominees on Wednesday already.Ohana nominated Shabtai and Perry for their positions earlier this month after the High Court of Justice ordered the government to act promptly to appoint a new permanent police chief.Ohana attacked Blue and White leader Benny Gantz for attempting to prevent the permanent nominations.
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"Benny was the one who was supposed to bring up the issue on the government's agenda ... and he avoided doing so," Ohana wrote.
"Gantz and his people have been demanding the nomination of a permanent police commissioner for months, so did the president, the High Court and many others. Now, that we have two excellent nominees from within those organizations, who were approved by the relevant factors - Benny Gantz and Blue and White are preventing it because they want to nominate ambassadors.
"We won't give in to Blue and White's unrealistic demands. I believe that the nominations will be completed as permanent ones soon without caving in to extortion."
Shabtai was the Likud's pick for the position. In order to get him approved permanently by Blue-and-White, Likud had to approve prior Blue-and-White picks, including one for the next state attorney, Amit Aisman.Since December 2019, there has been no permanent state attorney.Yonah Jeremy Bob and Tobias Siegal contributed to this report.
