Public Security Minister Avi Dichter has come out in support of his chief, announcing in an Ashdod press event that Southern District Commander Uri Bar-Lev was placed on one-month forced leave after he refused an offer to be reassigned for continued studies. Hearings regarding his future will be conducted during the leave period.

Police Chief Dudi Cohen announced Bar-Lev is being dismissed after he refused to take an educational leave. Bar-Lev, a 19-year veteran of the force, views himself as among the top candidates as the next police chief. He explained he refuses to take educational leave and demanded a field assignment.

While there was hesitation when Cohen’s announcement came last week, Dichter has now come out in support of his police chief.

Bar-Lev on the other hand is not taking the firing without a fight, and has hired prominent attorney Yaakov Ne’eman, a former senior government minister. Some senior officers in the department expressed outrage over his dismissal, while in the right-wing camp of the country, there is a resounding “you deserve it” attitude since it was Bar-Lev who oversaw the expulsion operation in Gush Katif in 2005.

Bar-Lev is threatening that if the minister does not back down from his decision, he will petition the Supreme Court, calling his dismissal illegal and unjustifiable.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)