Netanyahu’s strategy of chaos
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mistakenly thought that by appointing his associates to key positions in the police and the judicial system, he could protect himself from investigations.
Roni Alsheikh, the general commissioner of the Israel Police, was hand-picked for his position by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December 2015. Alsheikh was deputy director of the Shin Bet and a leading candidate to eventually head the security service when Netanyahu steamrolled him into becoming Israel’s “No. 1 Policeman.” Netanyahu’s strategy is to nominate his own people to key positions, especially those positions connected to law enforcement. These appointees are expected to be grateful for their high status and then deliver the goods: keeping things quiet while avoiding pesky inquiries against the prime minister and his family, such as the investigations that Netanyahu was subject to after losing the 1999 elections.
Gen. (Res.) Avichai Mandelblit is the current attorney general. Mandelblit, exactly like Alsheikh, was also pressed into his position by Netanyahu (in February 2016). Mandelblit, formerly Israel's military advocate general, had served as Netanyahu’s Cabinet secretary. This is an overt role of trust, and Mandelblit was a key player in Netanyahu’s intimate bureau. He was also viewed as one of “Netanyahu’s Boys,” those who would enter the tiny shoes of former Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein and others, who succeeded in softening, subverting and rejecting any negative information received by the enforcement authorities regarding the prime minister or his wife.
