Tel Aviv police chief resigns, claims government meddling against protesters

The police commander of Tel Aviv on Wednesday claimed that he was resigning from the force because of the political intervention of hard-right cabinet members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who he claimed wished to use excessive force against anti-government protesters.

Tel Aviv District Commander Ami Eshed did not take the name of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who had called for tough action against protesters blocking highways and roads in unprecedented demonstrations against the contentious push of the government to overhaul the judicial system.

Soon after the announcement was made by Eshed, hundreds of protesters marched through Tel Aviv, carrying Israeli flags and chanting "democracy". A main highway was blocked by some protesters, as some lit fires and faced off with police on horseback.

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Eshed, in a televised statement, said that he couldn't live up to the expectations of what he said "the ministerial echelon", which he added had broken all rules and interfered blatantly in professional decision-making.

"I could have easily met these expectations by using unreasonable force that would have filled up the emergency room of Ichilov (Tel Aviv hospital) at the end of every protest," Eshed stated. "For the first time in three decades of service I encountered an absurd reality in which ensuring calm and order was not what was required of me but precisely the opposite," he added.

Slim chances of becoming police chief

Ben-Gvir, who had informed Eshed in March that he will be given a new role on the force, a step which was seen as decreasing his chances of becoming a police chief, in a televised statement said that a dangerous line was crossed by Eshed.

"Politics has seeped into the most senior ranks in Israel and a uniformed officer has caved to senior politicians on the left," he stated.

Ben-Gvir, who is a hardliner with past convictions for support for incitement and terrorism, had appealed for greater authority over the police force when he had to serve as its overseeing minister which raised concerns about police independence.

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Ben-Gvir, having recanted some of his views, joined the new coalition of Netanyahu in December, alarming liberals at home and abroad. The police have since been rebuked by the leader of the Jewish Power party for its treatment of protesters.

Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition's other members have echoed Ben-Gvir, stating that favourable treatment has been shown by the police to the protesters who have been filling the streets of Tel Aviv weekly since January, in comparison with what they see as more harsh treatment of settlers and ultra-Orthodox protesters.

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