The reshuffling currently taking place in the Israeli government may result in the serendipitous appointment of a new police commissioner who, in addition to his impressive background, was literally born to protect the Holy Land.
In the wake of an agreement with political rival Benny Gantz, head of the Blue and White party, rumors currently abound that Prime Minister Netanyahu will appoint the current Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev to replace Gilad Erdan as Internal Security Minister. According to media reports, if appointed, Regev will offer the position of police commissioner to the former Jerusalem District Police Commander Maj. Gen. Yoram Halevi.
Halevi was considered for the position in 2018 but chose to decline the position after his nomination led to a campaign of character assassination by the left-wing.
Halevy, a 40-year veteran of the police, served in most elite units of the Israel Police including the Yamam (Special Police Unit), a force similar to American SWAT teams , and the Border Guard. In 1988, he took part in one of the police’s most daring rescue operations after a group of terrorists seized a bus bound for the Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, taking mostly working mothers hostage. The terrorists killed three passengers during the incident, which would later be known as the “mother’s bus attack.”
In 1989, Halevy was injured in action, effectively ending his operational career and leading to him being placed in charge of training and operations for Yamam. He left the unit in the mid-1990s for the police’s elite Undercover Unit, known as “Yamas,” which is considered one of the most impressive and tactically advanced units in all of Israel’s security forces. Halevy then moved to the Gideon Unit, a similarly elite and secret counterterrorism unit in the Israel Police, before returning to the nation’s capital to serve as head of its central intelligence and investigations unit.
When Erdan was made Internal Security Minister in 2015, he appointed Halevi to guard over Jerusalem, which was no easy task. Under Erdan, Halevi abandoned the policy of routinely responded to Muslim violence by closing the site to Jews. Halevi refused to give in to the violence and took it upon himself as a personal mission to ensure the right of the Jews to ascend to the Temple Mount. The Moribitat, Arab Women hired by the Waqf (Muslim Authority) to harass Jews, were removed and not permitted to return.
This difference helped to significantly boost the number of Jews visiting the Temple Mount. In 2009, 5,658 Jews ascended to the Temple Mount and had doubled by 2015. Just two years later, a total of 25,000 Jews visited the site.
Halevi’s role in helping Jews ascend the Temple Mount is professional but it also reflects his family’s Biblical role in the Temple, one which will only increase after the Temple is built. As his name implies, the police chief is from the tribe of Levi, which was charged with several key roles in the Temple including guarding the complex.
I hereby take your fellow Leviim from among the Israelites; they are assigned to you in dedication to Hashem, to do the work of the Tent of Meeting. Numbers 18:6
Ironically, if Halevi does win the appointment, he will replace Motti Cohen, a member of the priestly caste.
The prophets have also implied that the tribe of Levi will have a leading role in the construction of the Third Temple.
Know, then, that I have sent this charge to you that My covenant with Levi may endure—said God of Hosts. Malachi 2:4
If appointed, there is no doubt that Regev, a former Brigadier-general in the Israel Defense Forces is sufficiently tough to serve as Internal Security Minister. Regev is outspoken and is a popular target for the left-wing media. It has also been suggested that as a descendant of Morrocan Jews, Regev has been targeted by discrimination. She routinely refuses to attend events held on Shabbat and is lambasted for criticizing anti-Israel artistic projects.
