Police Chief Roni Alsheikh
Police Chief Roni AlsheikhPhoto by Avi Dishi/Flash90

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh on Tuesday spoke at the Sderot Conference for Society about the recruitment of numerous state's witnesses in recent police investigations. Discussions on the media have leaned towards seeing state's witnesses as criminals who snitch to save themselves from punishment and cannot be trusted.

The state's witness against former Shas MK Shlomo Benizri admitted last week that he lied to save himself, but Benizri was jailed for three years because of his testimony.

"State's witnesses are one of the most important tools for deterrence, both against crime families and public corruption," he said. “When there is other corroberation for his testimony - it really strengthens the case, the more stable his testimony is and the more corroboration it has.”

"Public corruption offenses are very elusive and difficult to prove, it is very difficult to collect evidence in this area, and therefore people feel protected and and are sure there is no threat. When your closest network can turn on you - everyone will take that factor into account. "

Alsheikh claimed that the remarks were made without explicitly referring to the investigations linked to the prime minister. "I do not intend to leak information from the cases of the prime minister, and I will not relate to any active portfolios. I am speaking in a general sense."