In a controversial move, Public Security Minister Gideon Ezra fired Police Investigations Department Chief Moshe Mizrachi yesterday, and General Security Services (Shabak) head Avi Dichter will step down six months from now.
Ezra adopted the recommendations made almost a year ago by former Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to remove Mizrachi from his post. Mizrachi had been found to be "overly enthusiastic" in carrying out his job, with some 70% of the conversations he wiretapped - and made sure to preserve in written format - found to be irrelevant. Another position will be found for him in the police department, however.
Among those whose personal phone conversations were wiretapped under Mizrachi were President Moshe Katzav, Aryeh Deri, Avigdor Lieberman, Dudi Appel, and others. The police unit for the investigation of police officers recommended that Mizrachi be tried, while then-Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishki was willing to settle for only a negative comment in his file. Ezra adopted Rubenstein's approach of removing Mizrachi from his post.
The dismissal took on a political nature, with many opposition MKs accusing Ezra of merely currying favor among his Likud colleagues and other party hacks. Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan, however, praised Ezra, saying that this move was the "minimum that could have been accepted in light of the illegal wiretappings carried out under Mizrachi's auspices." Likud MK Gilad Erdan said that Mizrachi's wiretappings had been a "blow to the rule of law," and that his dismissal would "restore the public's faith in the investigations department."
Coincidentally, the Knesset Law Committee received a report yesterday showing that only 6 of 1,031 police requests to tap phones in the past year were rejected by the courts. In the end, only 850 phones were actually tapped, of which almost half were related to murder cases. Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan said that it's possible the judges are too quick to approve police requests to tap phones.
The departure of Dichter from the GSS will be much smoother move than that of Mizrachi. Though Dichter and Prime Minister Sharon enjoy a good working relationship, his five-year term is due to expire six months from now. Neither he nor Sharon see a dire need to take advantage of the clause in the new GSS law stipulating that the term of the GSS chief can be extended under extenuating circumstances.
Ezra adopted the recommendations made almost a year ago by former Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to remove Mizrachi from his post. Mizrachi had been found to be "overly enthusiastic" in carrying out his job, with some 70% of the conversations he wiretapped - and made sure to preserve in written format - found to be irrelevant. Another position will be found for him in the police department, however.
Among those whose personal phone conversations were wiretapped under Mizrachi were President Moshe Katzav, Aryeh Deri, Avigdor Lieberman, Dudi Appel, and others. The police unit for the investigation of police officers recommended that Mizrachi be tried, while then-Police Chief Shlomo Aharonishki was willing to settle for only a negative comment in his file. Ezra adopted Rubenstein's approach of removing Mizrachi from his post.
The dismissal took on a political nature, with many opposition MKs accusing Ezra of merely currying favor among his Likud colleagues and other party hacks. Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan, however, praised Ezra, saying that this move was the "minimum that could have been accepted in light of the illegal wiretappings carried out under Mizrachi's auspices." Likud MK Gilad Erdan said that Mizrachi's wiretappings had been a "blow to the rule of law," and that his dismissal would "restore the public's faith in the investigations department."
Coincidentally, the Knesset Law Committee received a report yesterday showing that only 6 of 1,031 police requests to tap phones in the past year were rejected by the courts. In the end, only 850 phones were actually tapped, of which almost half were related to murder cases. Knesset Law Committee Chairman Michael Eitan said that it's possible the judges are too quick to approve police requests to tap phones.
The departure of Dichter from the GSS will be much smoother move than that of Mizrachi. Though Dichter and Prime Minister Sharon enjoy a good working relationship, his five-year term is due to expire six months from now. Neither he nor Sharon see a dire need to take advantage of the clause in the new GSS law stipulating that the term of the GSS chief can be extended under extenuating circumstances.