Israel Police Commissioner resigns over alleged misconduct

Last update - 18:41 18/02/2007
Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi resigns over alleged misconduct
By Jonathan Lis and Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz Correspondents

Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi resigned Sunday in the wake of damning findings by the Zeiler Commission, which investigated alleged police misconduct during a probe of a 1999 murder.

Karadi said the government would determine the exact date on which he will hand over his position, and that he will continue to serve as police commissioner until a replacement is found.

"This is a difficult hour for me and for the police," Karadi told a press conference in Jerusalem. "The Israel Police is in need of revolution and reform."

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"He who wants to lead a revolution in the national priorities must double the [police] budget, dramatically increase police salaries, and integrate within the police the world's best technologies," he added.

The panel's chairman, retired judge Vardi Zeiler, recommended in his report that Karadi's term as police commissioner be curtailed, rather than allowing his contract to expire in August.

The commission investigated the handling of the probe into the murder by a policeman of suspected crime boss Pinhas Buhbut, while he was under guard in hospital. The report found deficiencies in the performance of several senior police officers, including Karadi.

The police chief was surprised to learn of the commission's findings. Information relayed to him regarding the probe over recent days had suggested that there would be no recommendation for him to step down. Until the findings were released, Karadi had hoped his term would even have been extended.

Terminating Karadi's appointment would "set a clear standard - that someone who behaves like Karadi will be unable to complete his term as police commissioner," said Zeiler.

Zeiler urged Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to select a date to dismiss Karadi "taking into consideration the relatively short period until the end of his appointment."

Despite Zeiler's recommendation, the other members of the committee, attorney Nurit Shnit and former police major general Uzi Berger, said it would be sufficient to recommend that Karadi's term is not extended, rather than bringing it to a premature end.

Dichter received the report of the committee's findings just before noon Sunday. He will present his decision to senior police staff in the afternoon, and will hold a press conference on the matter at 7:30 P.M.

The committee also recommended the immediate dismissal of Police Commander Yoram Levy and Superintendent Ruby Gilboa for their roles in the "battery affair."

Gilboa is suspected of accepting hundreds of thousands of shekels from an insurance investigator to transfer to murder suspect Oded Parinyan, in exchange for the return of thousands of military-issue batteries stolen from the Israel Defense Forces.

The committee ruled that Karadi, who headed the Israel Police Southern District at the time, was aware of the affair when it occurred.

The panel said, however, that Karadi "did not investigate its essence and did not concern himself with supervising or investigating this irregular expose."

On the appointment of Levy as commander of the Southern District Central Unit, despite suspicions of criminal connections between him and the criminal Parinyan family, the panel ruled that Karadi "ignored the basic rule of judgement that must be implemented in police appointment, ignored the danger of bringing someone suspected of inappropriate criminal connections into a central junction of police activities, and ignored the problematic behavior of Yoram Levy during a polygraph test."

The retired justice said that the police ignored the general rules designed "to prevent the transfer of people from one side of the barricade to the other."

Zeiler told reporters during a press conference Sunday that Yoram Levy met with criminals in his home over the course of years, "under family and social circumstances," in order to gather information in a manner inappropriate for his position.

He said that Levy had continued with the meetings even after instructed by Karadi to terminate them.

The panel also recommended opening criminal proceedings against Major General Aharon Zargarov over his decision to close the Buhbut case. Sargarov had decided to close the case because the "criminal was unknown," though in actuality, the criminal was known.

Dichter backtracks on Mitzna
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter made but then retracted a proposal that former Labor prime ministerial candidate Amram Mitzna be named as the next police commissioner.

Dichter made the offer in light of the Sunday publication of a report into police and prosecution conduct during a murder investigation.

A spokesman for Dichter confirmed that the minister had offered the job to Mitzna, who is currently mayor of Yeruham, but said that he later rescinded the offer, due to Mitzna's clear political affiliation.

Mitzna refused to confirm or deny the offer, and he has apparently not yet responded to it.

The report does not unequivocally recommend Karadi's dismissal, but his term as commissioner is due to end in August. In light of the committee's expected conclusions, Dichter decided not to extend it.

For the past few months, Dichter has been trying to find a candidate who is outside the police's ranks and could help to rehabilitate the force's image. This is due not only to the Zeiler Commission's investigation whose potential damage to Karadi has been clear ever since it warned him a few months ago that he might be harmed by its findings but also to several other embarrassing affairs in which the police have recently been involved, such as the escape of serial rapist Benny Sela.

Among other potential candidates, Dichter has met with two former army major generals, Amiram Levine and Yisrael Ziv. He has also considered Israel Prisons Service Commissioner Ya'akov Ganot.

It is possible that Dichter may still change his mind and extend Karadi's term. Should he stick to his decision to replace the commissioner, he will have to announce his choice of a successor in about a month, in order to allow time for an orderly handover.

It is also not clear whether an outsider would accept the job: Several previous ministers have tried to persuade outsiders to take the post, but the candidates have always refused, citing their unfamiliarity with the police profession.

Sources: Karadi won't resign unless panel calls for ouster
Associates of Karadi said Saturday that the commissioner would not resign if the committee does not demand his ouster. They added that he would not seek an extension of his term, but would not refuse to stay if Dichter asks him to do so.

Sources connected to the commission said the report is "severe," and will result in both a personal and an institutional shake-up of the police. Among other things, it will recommend major changes in the way the police investigates serious crimes and a comprehensive reform of police procedures for gathering intelligence; it will also recommend improved coordination between the police, the prosecution and the Justice Ministry's Police Investigations Department (PID).

In addition to Karadi, other senior officials criticized in the report include former police commissioner Shlomo Aharonishky; former commander of the police's Southern District Amir Gur; Commander Yoram Levy; State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, who was head of the PID at the time of the events investigated by the commission; and current PID head Herzl Sbiro, who was then Shendar's deputy.

The report's main message is that the murder of Pinhas Buhbut in Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer was far more than just another murder: The fact that the murderer was a policeman in uniform, acting at the behest of an alleged crime family, made it unique.

As a result, the numerous senior police officers and prosecutors who failed to make the case a high priority were guilty of flawed judgment and serious professional lapses.

The 250-page report was made public at 11:30 A.M. Sunday, which is also when it was handed over to attorneys representing the 13 officials who were earlier warned that the commission's findings could harm them.

In contrast to Dichter, Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann has not yet offered any indications as to how he plans to respond to the report. Friedmann's office said that first he intends to read it, and then he will decide what to do.

The commission is hoping that the government will not only formally adopt its recommendations, but also implement them in full. However, sources connected to the commission said they are not optimistic about the latter, particularly in light of Dichter's attempt to promote police Brigadier General Bentzi Sau even after the Or Commission, which investigated the Arab riots of October 2000, slammed Sau's handling of the riots.

Only intervention by the High Court of Justice prevented the promotion. The Knesset Interior Committee plans to discuss the report Monday. Dichter and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz have been asked to attend.