Amid strained ties, Ben Gvir won’t extend term of police chief Shabtai

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has decided he will not extend the term of Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai by an extra year, Hebrew media reported Thursday.

The decision, leaked to the media, and not formally announced or conveyed to Shabtai, sparked an outcry, coming with the police chief overseas attending a family medical emergency.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Ben Gvir has been holding a series of meetings with top police commanders, sounding them out as he seeks a new commissioner.

Shabtai has repeatedly clashed with the far-right minister, who has sought to exert greater control over the police force.

National Unity party leader Benny Gantz slammed Ben Gvir for publicizing the move at a time when Shabtai was overseas.

“The leaks from Ben Gvir about his intention to end the term of the police commissioner — a man who actually has contributed dozens of years to the security of the state — at a time when he is overseas for a sensitive family issue, embarrass the state of Israel,” Gantz said.

“Ben Gvir is not fit to oversee the internal security of Israel and is harming the ability of the police to deal with great challenges,” he added, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire the far-right minister “long before the commissioner’s term ends.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir speaks during a rally in support of the government’s judicial overhaul in Tel Aviv on June 1, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid also weighed in on the subject, telling Channel 12 in an interview that Ben Gvir was simply “not a human being.”

Shabtai’s three-year term officially ends in January and Ben Gvir has the option of extending it for a further year. However, Channel 12 reported that given the current situation, it was likely that Shabtai would leave his position in the next few months.

The turmoil comes with police and Ben Gvir under the spotlight for the failure to stop a deadly surging crime wave, particularly in the Arab community, where over 100 people have been killed so far this year.

Ben Gvir’s relationship with Shabtai started off on shaky ground and has deteriorated from there.

Last month, Shabtai said there had been a “breakdown of trust” in his relationship with Ben Gvir, with whom he has repeatedly quarreled over the past five months since the new coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office and handed the police ministry to the far-right politician.

In an interview with Channel 12 news, Shabtai spoke candidly of tough moments in the past few months and disclosed that he had thought about resigning as police commissioner over Ben Gvir’s intervention in police matters. Since taking office, Ben Gvir has sought to exercise more direct control over police operations and personnel, including a botched attempt to remove Tel Aviv District Police Commander Amichai Eshed from his post in March.

Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai (right) and Jerusalem District Commander Doron Turgeman tour the Western Wall plaza in Jerusalem, March 31, 2023. (Israel Police)

In the interview, Shabtai said his working relationship with Ben Gvir was “not simple” following an incident last month in which the far-right minister appeared to have leaked a private conversation to embarrass the police chief.

Ben Gvir and Shabtai have also repeatedly tussled over police response to massive nationwide protests against government plans to rein in the judiciary, with the minister pushing for cops to take more aggressive measures against demonstrators, whom he terms “anarchists.”