Danino officially sworn in as chief of Israel Police

New chief takes over from outgoing Inspector-General Cohen at ceremony in J'lem; Netanyahu: He must protect citizens from organized crime.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Yochanan Danino GOOD 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Yochanan Danino GOOD 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino was appointed the new Israel Police chief in Jerusalem on Sunday morning by Prime Minister Binyamn Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch.
Danino prayed at the Western Wall before the ceremonial appointment, which took place at the Public Security Ministry.
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Netanyahu asked Danino to ensure that civilians were protected from the threat of organized crime – while praising outgoing police chief Insp.-Gen.
David Cohen for leaving behind a police force that “was not frightened of doing its work and confronting criminal elements.”
He added that one of Cohen’s major successes was the war against organized crime.
After the ceremony, Danino made his way to national police headquarters, where he was given his new rank.
“I accept command over the Israel Police with a deep sense of responsibility,” the 51-year-old Danino said in a message sent to all police officers on Sunday.
Danino said he believed service for the police force was a “fundamental building block to our continued existence as a democratic law-abiding society.”
Danino made his name in the police as an investigations specialist. And, as the former commander of the police’s Investigations and Operations Branch, was responsible for high-profile corruption and other criminal investigations into former prime minister Ehud Olmert, former president Moshe Katsav and former finance minister Avraham Hirchson.
He has been an advocate for the use of cutting-edge technology to combat organized crime, and for the need to seize the assets of crime organizations to shut them down effectively.
Danino told his officers on Sunday he believed in a service-oriented police, “one which has the values of personal and organizational discipline, which works with other organizations. And above all, a united police force that represents all the strands of Israeli society...based on the values of justice.”
Danino and Aharnovitch are expected to announce a reshuffling among police brass in the near future.
Meanwhile, Danino thanked his predecessor, adding that Cohen is a “a man who dedicated many years to serving the country.”