Last update - 00:00 26/03/2007
Prisons Service head Ganot withdraws candidacy for police commissioner
By Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Staff
Israel Prisons Service Commissioner Yaakov Ganot announced Monday that he is withdrawing his candidacy for police commissioner, following ongoing criticism due to 13-year-old fraud and bribery allegations.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter, who frequently reiterated his support for Ganot over the past few weeks, came under harsh criticism from police brass for the appointment and for aspects of his performance as minister.
Ganot wrote in a letter to Dichter that he had decided to decline the post because he does not want the police force to be affected by the criticism he has drawn.
"From the first day my candidacy was up for discussion, some chose to focus on one point in my past, a note in the margins of a decision by the High Court, which at the end of the day acquitted me," said Ganot. "Decorations for valor and [years] of service did not prevent that focus on a 13-year-old note."
"I know many good people welcomed my expected appointment, not just out of hope but out of belief that I could lead the Israel Police to a new era through skill, fairness and integrity.
"Despite the fact that I did not and do not agree with the Supreme Court's note, as I and only I know the truth and the whole truth, I accepted the judgment as a police officer and a civilian," he continued. "I did not criticize the note, nor did I argue with those who wrote it. Even now I didn't argue with those who saw it fit after so many years to throw that note at me."
"Despite my great belief in my truth," added Ganot, "and my desire to devote more than 40 years of service to the advancement of the Israel Police, I do not want the criticism that has adhered to me to adhere to the institution."
In 1996, the Supreme Court overturned Ganot's conviction on charges of fraud and bribery in connection to incidents that occurred while he was a district commander. Ganot was suspended for three years as a result of the charges, and he admitted to committing disciplinary transgressions during a police hearing on the matter.
Commenting on Dicher's performance as public security minister, one senior officer said Dichter was ruining the police and had "failed utterly," adding, "You can't make revolutions without funding, and in this he has not helped,¬ on the contrary. Funding has been cut by NIS 12 million, and 450 police personnel have to be fired."
Former police commissioner Assaf Hefetz said the police's main problem was Dichter himself.
"There is no alternative to our police, and the minister responsible for it is damaging its human resources and morale. I believe he doesn't know the police at all. I have no explanation for what he does. The police has an excellent command level of a caliber it has never had before. But for some reason, Dichter expresses a lack of faith and casts aspersions with careless statements. He doesn't have to bring anyone in from the outside. He has excellent people in the police."
MK Ophir Pines-Paz, chair of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee, said it was good that public pressure had made Dichter correct his error in appointing Ganot. "The public is no longer willing to agree to appointments of individuals with stained reputations," he said, "especially not someone who is to head the law enforcement system."
Dichter will now have to find a nominee to replace Ganot. The public security minister has committed himself several times in the past to nominate a candidate from outside of the police force.
Karadi, who was supposed to hand over the post on May 1, will continue to serve as police commissioner until a replacement is found.
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