There is a political storm surrounding remarks made on Tuesday 26 Menachem Av by Israel Police Commissioner Roni Alsheich in his address to an Israel Bar Association conference in Eilat. Not too much time passed before Alsheich issued a clarification amid an awareness his remarks had offended Israel’s Ethiopian community.

Alsheich was asked to respond to a question of alleged police violence against Israel’s Ethiopian community following a number of high profile cases this year in which police are accused of using unjustifiable brutality against Ethiopians.

Alsheich stated that “worldwide statistics show that migrants and the young are more involved in crime”, extrapolating when one brings these two factors together, then a particular community is statistically more involved in crime than others and therefore, a policeman is more likely to view a person from this community as a suspect and view these people with a suspicion and concern.

Representatives of the Ethiopian and Arab communities both accuse Alsheich of racism, stating clearly his remarks reflect his true position and that of Israel Police and this is why there is a disproportionate number of cases of police brutality involving Ethiopians and Arabs. There are calls for the commissioner’s resignation.

The clarification on behalf of the commissioner stated he was simply quoting facts and studies regarding crime and migrant communities, nothing more, and by no means was he pointing an accusing finger at any community in Israel.

The statement added that since Alsheich assumed his post several months ago, the department has conducted a self-examination and revealed that there was over-policing when it comes to the Ethiopian community and corrective actions are being taken including sensitivity training.

Despite the outcry, Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan gave his commissioner total backing, explaining he was not justifying over-policing of any community but simply stating facts. Erdan rejected the attacks against Alsheich as being unjustified, emphasizing Ethiopian Israelis are an integral component of Israeli society today.

Erdan added that in cases in which there is fear of ‘over-policing’ the case is investigated and appropriate actions taken

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)