Terkel C'tee concludes hearing on police chief appointment

Advisory committee has two weeks to determine whether Genot is qualified to succeed Karadi.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Genot 298.88 AJ (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Genot 298.88 AJ
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Outgoing Police Chief Insp.-Gen. Moshe Karadi, Prison Service Chief Warden Ya'acov Genot and deputy police chief Benny Kaniak appeared before the Terkel Committee on senior civil service appointments on Friday as part of the committee's efforts to determine whether Genot is qualified to succeed Karadi. Karadi listed the necessary qualifications for a police chief, while Genot provided details on his responsibilities as chief warden, and argued the case for appointing him chief of the Israel Police. Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter named Genot as the replacement for Karadi after Karadi resigned following the harshly critical Zeiler report. However, Genot's appointment raised eyebrows due to a number of corruption charges, including bribery, which he faced 13 years ago. Genot was acquitted of the charges in the district court, and the Supreme Court upheld the rulings. The Terkel Committee has two weeks to decide on the issue. Nevertheless, Israel Radio reported Friday afternoon that the decision was likely to be published next week. The High Court of Justice has also been petitioned against Genot's appointment. Two of the petitions asked the court to reject Genot's nomination because he had been indicted on charges of corruption while serving as commander of the northern police district. The third, submitted by the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, petitioned against Turkel's decision last week to postpone his committee's deliberations until the High Court ruled on the petitions against Genot's appointment. In its response to the petitions, the state had said the earliest that should happen would be the moment Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter, after considering the advisory committee's opinion, decides to go ahead and present Genot's nomination to the cabinet. Rebecca Anna Stoil and Dan Izenberg contributed to this report.