Israel Police sat on FBI file on Hirsch for 2 years — report

Would-be police chief decries ‘witchhunt’ as details emerge of US probe into corruption at company linked to him

ed note–pay attention to the ‘Georgia’ angle to this story and recall the role that this tiny country has played in previous attempted agitations against Russia on behalf of NATO and the West.

Times of Israel

The Israel Police refrained from pursuing an investigation into former IDF officer Gal Hirsch, who was recently tapped to become the next chief of police, for two years after receiving files from the FBI about alleged corruption, the Haaretz daily reported Sunday.

Details of the investigation, which apparently centers on a business linked to Hirsch, only came to light after his candidacy was presented to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein last week.

Weinstein is set to review the information and then form a legal opinion on Hirsch’s nomination by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan.

Hirsch insists he is innocent of wrongdoing, and claims the accusations of corruption are intended to scupper his nomination as the new head of the Israel Police. The pick has been criticized by former top police officers who decried Erdan’s intention to bring in someone from outside the force.

“My business activities are legal and supervised,” Hirsch reportedly told associates. “They are telling tales about me.”

The investigation reportedly involves dealings by Hirsch’s Defensive Shield Holdings company with the Georgian government, and a British court’s request for information in a corruption case involving former Georgian defense minister Davit Kezerashvili.

Documents and audio recordings provided by the FBI point to possible tax evasion and bribery by Israeli businessmen as they put together arms deals in Africa, Europe and South America.

Defensive Shield Holdings, of which Hirsch is the CEO, is an “internationally recognized provider of strategic, operational and tactical solutions for the defense, security, and homeland security sectors around the world,” according to its website.

Haaretz reported that although Erdan still backs Hirsch to be police commissioner, he is preparing for a turn of events in which the alleged dubious nature of deals conducted by Hirsch’s company force him to find another candidate.

The material surrounding the investigation and the time needed to review the material Hirsch’s appointment is likely to delay a formal appointment as chief of police, Haaretz said.

The announcement of Hirsch’s nomination was met by an outcry from senior officers and the families of IDF soldiers who fell in the Second Lebanon War. Hirsch, who commanded the Galilee Division, resigned from the IDF with the rank of brigadier general shortly before the publication of a report that criticized his conduct in the run-up to and during the 2006 conflict.

His nomination as police chief won support from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who said he had the skills to lead the scandal-struck police force.