Ben Gvir wants to purchase vehicles himself - and escalates the confrontation with the police commissioner
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is escalating his confrontation with Police Commissioner Danny Levy. In a letter sent to the commissioner's office, Ben Gvir wrote that "the Israel Police does not belong to the commissioner" and announced that for urgent needs, his ministry will carry out direct procurement without transferring the funds to the police. A senior police official criticized: "He is trying to be a super-commissioner."
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is escalating his confrontation with Police Commissioner, Chief Superintendent Danny Levy. In a letter sent today (Thursday) to Levy's office, Ben Gvir wrote that "the Israel Police does not belong to the commissioner," and announced that for urgent police needs, his ministry will carry out procurement directly "without transferring the money itself" to the police. In doing so, he is attempting to take powers from the police once again. A senior official in the organization criticized the move and said the minister "is trying to be a super-commissioner," criticism that has been leveled at Ben Gvir in the past. In the letter, Ben Gvir addresses the dispute over hundreds of millions of shekels and clarifies that in his view, the money does not belong to the police at all: "The addition of approximately 450 million shekels mentioned in your letter is not the budget of the Israel Police, but rather part of the budget of the Ministry of National Security." Ben Gvir notes that initially he sought to direct the funds to police needs, but after examining the organization's demands, it became clear that the police were seeking to allocate funds also to "non-urgent projects," including renovations at Lahav 433 costing 7 million shekels and replacing vehicles for senior officials. Consequently, he decided "to re-examine the uses." The implication is that Ben Gvir is willing to allow funding for urgent needs for officers, but seeks to keep the procurement execution in his ministry's hands rather than transferring the funds to the police.