Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan made the right decision in appointing an outsider to head up the national police force after realizing the extent of the disease and rot in the organization. His decision to look for a candidate among the ranks of the military was also correct, given the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) healthier organizational culture. Erdan, one of the smartest and most talented members of the government, displayed independent, out-of-the-box creative thinking and good intentions. Nevertheless, he chose the wrong man for the job.

In the days since the Aug. 24 naming of Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch as the next police commissioner, more and more questions have arisen regarding his suitability and competence for the position at such a complex juncture for the police force.

It is also hard to shake off the sense that the appointment was hasty and reckless. Had Erdan taken a few more days to examine the candidate, he himself might have anticipated the extent of the (justified) storm it would generate and dropped the idea. Erdan would have invariably come in for criticism over the wait for a police chief, but he would have spared himself the questions that he now faces.

The real issue is not the rebellion by former commissioners and senior officers who convened an “emergency session” Aug. 26 to warn that Hirsch was not suitable. They are, of course, the last ones who can protest the appointment, after failing to speak up when seven top officers resigned or were forced to resign in disgrace one after the other after being implicated in sexual harassment cases. Their ridiculous little uprising should not affect Erdan, nor does it have any public impact.