ניצב אמיר כהן
ניצב אמיר כהןצילום: ערוץ 7

Commander of the Israel Police Southern District Deputy Commissioner Amir Cohen spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about the heroism of the police officers on October 7th, 2023, and the way the officers have been treated since.

"There was heroism throughout the Southern District," Deputy Commissioner Cohen stresses. "In dozens and hundreds of locations where Hamas-ISIS terrorists tried to come and massacre civilians and to continue their killing and murder spree, officers ran into the fire. They left their homes, they left their wives and children, and policewomen left their husbands and children, they closed them up in the safe room and ran to scenes on the streets, they fought and looked the terrorists in the eyes. They didn't take even half a step backward, they ran ahead, understanding that behind them there were civilians that they had to save."

The scene to which the officers reported was one that they were not prepared for. "We never experienced a war like this. The day-to-day challenges are totally different. It's in the police officer's DNA to respond every day and anywhere in the country, he gets up and goes when he's called to a lifesaving incident. He puts his life in great danger in the face of the inferno, and unfortunately, on that bloody day of October 7th, 58 Border Police, Police, and Yamam officers paid with their lives. It is an unbearable price," says Cohen.

"We have dozens of wounded who are still recovering from their wounds," he notes and immediately mentions the rehabilitation of the entire nation and society. "We are a nation of hope, and on October 7th we sustained a blow, but we slowly recovered, even during the first hours of the war, and as the months progressed you could see how many residents returned to their homes in the south. We see them walking in the streets and their sense of security is in a totally different place after it was in a very bad place. If there's one thing that we have been very busy with it's our presence in the public space and we are deployed in great numbers with an additional 2000 civilians who have joined the security response teams in the south. They are with us everywhere and in every arena."

Regarding the way the police have been treated over the past year, Cohen says: "(Israel's) national pastime is to beat up on the police and the police officer. You have to understand that the police officer saves civilians, he allows civilians to travel on the roads safely, to walk through the markets safely. We want strong police officers, who will serve the civilians, as well as civilians who are grateful. That doesn't mean that we are above criticism. I am not clearing ourselves of mistakes. There is no one who doesn't make mistakes, myself as well, but this national pastime must be done away with. My request from the public is to stop for a moment and thank a police officer. To be a police officer in our reality is the most important Zionist and ideological act. I am proud of our officers, I am proud to be a police officer, and I also want the civilians to understand that we go out day and night, in all seasons, on holidays and Shabbat when all of Israel is sitting around their tables, the officers are on the street corners. We are there so you can live securely, appreciate them, and say something nice to them. We'll already be criticized."