Scandal forces Israeli police commander to resign

Israeli police commander Moshe Karadi resigned from his post today after a government commission found he should not continue because of involvement in a scandal involving underworld figures.

Karadi announced his intention to resign at a news conference at police headquarters in Jerusalem. He said the government would determine when he would step down.

Earlier today, commission chairman Vardi Zeiler, a retired judge, told a news conference Karadi must be fired for failing to ensure police thoroughly investigated the 1999 murder of a suspected crime boss and for ignoring ties between senior police officers and top organised crime figures.

Karadi was not police commissioner at the time of the killing, but a departmental head.

The two other members of the panel wrote in the findings that Karadi's tenure should not be extended after it expires this summer. The commissioner's term is three years, but the Public Security minister has an option to extend it for another year.

Terminating Karadi's appointment would "highlight a clear norm for generations to come that someone who behaves like Karadi would be unable to complete his term as police commissioner," Zeiler told reporters.

"If the (panel's) suspicions are correct, this is the beginning of a very corrupt police force, and the infiltration of underworld figures to the police, which corrupts the police and the regime," Zeiler added.

Karadi insisted the allegations against him were untrue, but said he was resigning to "set a personal example" and spare the police the harm of a scandal swirling around it.

The Zeiler commission was formed to examine whether police properly closed the case of the murder, in which a rogue police officer confessed to shooting a suspected crime boss under police guard in hospital after an assassination attempt.

The officer, who said he operated at the behest of a well-known Israeli crime family, was later murdered in Mexico, allegedly by members of the crime family because of his confession. The case was later closed after police concluded there wasn't enough evidence.

Karadi was a top official in southern Israel at the time of the 1999 killing, and the commission rebuked him for promoting a police commander suspected in hushing up the case on behalf of the crime family that allegedly hired the murdered officer.

The Karadi case is just the latest in a string of scandals and controversies involving Israel's top leadership.

Lt Gen Dan Halutz recently resigned as the military chief of staff after coming under withering fire for the flawed summer war against Lebanese guerrillas.

President Moshe Katsav, now on a leave of absence, has been accused of preying on women who worked for him, and faces allegations of rape, sexual assault and abuse of power.

Former Justice Minister Haim Ramon was recently convicted in a separate sexual misconduct case, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is under investigation for his role in the sale of a government-controlled bank, and accused of improprieties in a string of real estate deals.

Top tax officials, along with a long-standing Olmert aide, are embroiled in an influence-peddling investigation, and Avraham Hirchson has come under scrutiny for his conduct in connection with an embezzlement scheme at a not-for-profit organisation before he became finance minister.