Police Inspector-General Ya’acov Terner announced Tuesday he would resign at the end of the month, due to a bitter controversy with his boss, Police Minister Moshe Shahal.
In an appearance on Israel Television, Terner, the nation’s top uniformed policeman, insisted he had been treated unfairly by Shahal.
Terner did not go into details, but said he would speak out on the affair after quitting his job.
The dispute arose following newspaper reports than Terner had been actively discussing his political future, possibly as a Labor Party candidate for mayor of Beersheba or Tel Aviv.
Shahal said it was inappropriate for Terner to be discussing politics while still wearing the uniform of a police officer.
It was apparently the Labor Party’s secretary-general, Nissim Zvilli, who suggested to Terner that he run in the coming municipal elections for mayor of Tel Aviv.
After the media got wind of the story, Shahal demanded that Terner, who was scheduled to complete his term in office in April 1994, cut his term short and leave next September.
Terner was unhappy when the Cabinet accepted Shahal’s demand but kept quiet until last Sunday, when the Cabinet took another step by announcing the appointment of a new police chief, Rafi Peled, who had been recently appointed as commander of the Jerusalem police district.
Terner then charged that Shahal made “irrelevant considerations” when he demanded that he cut his term in office short.
Terner also claimed that Shahal himself had suggested several weeks before the meeting with Zvilli that Terner run for mayor of Beersheba.
Shahal denied the charge.
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