State Comptroller clears Danino for police chief race

Associate of Danino to 'Post': He had full faith from start that investigation would vindicate him; new police chief to be named next week.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
Yochanan Danino 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Yochanan Danino 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has found no reason to disqualify southern police chief Cmdr. Yochanan Danino from the race for police chief, it was announced on Thursday evening.
The announcement followed a lengthy investigation by Lindenstrauss into claims by a former police intelligence officer that Danino, along with Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen, whitewashed police incompetence that allegedly led to the murders of two criminals turned police informers in 2006.
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A source close to Danino told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday evening that the southern police chief "had full confidence in the comptroller's investigation from its beginning."
Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch is expected to announce the new police chief in the coming days. 
"The minister received the material... and is expected to announce the next police chief at the start of next week," a spokesman for Aharonovitch said.
In a statement released on Thursday, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who received the results of Lindenstrauss's inquest, said "there was no legal reason to prevent Danino from being appointed police chief at this time, should the minister choose to do so."
The statement added that "no flaws were found in Danino's conduct" during the murders of the police informers, when Danino served as the head of the police's Intelligence and Operations branch.
Earlier this week, Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen testified before the State Comptroller's inquest. Cohen was head of the police's central district in 2006, and was also accused by the former police intelligence officer of misconduct.
Police have repeatedly dismissed the intelligence officer's claims.