More than two and a half years after a retired Israeli police commander accused former police commissioner Kobi Shabtai of stabbing him during an internal meeting, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has decided to officially close the case.

The report was published Wednesday night by journalist Moshe Steinmetz on i24NEWS.

The complaint was submitted to Israel’s Police Internal Investigations Department after retired commander Amnon Alkallai alleged that Shabtai stabbed him in the leg during a June 20, 2023 meeting held at the national police academy.

Shabtai denied intentionally injuring Alkallai and claimed the incident was accidental. According to his account, he had taken out a knife in order to cut fruit when it slipped from his hand and struck Alkallai, who was seated nearby. Alkallai, however, insisted the stabbing was intentional.

Alkallai was later taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment.

According to the report, Alkallai initially chose not to file a complaint because he felt embarrassed by the incident and did not want to harm the reputation of the police force. He later decided to move forward with the complaint because of what he described as Shabtai’s “reckless behavior” during that time period.

The Police Internal Investigations Department reportedly completed its investigation within just ten days and recommended that the case be closed. However, the attorney general’s office did not issue its final decision until more than two years later.

At the same time, Israel’s commissioner for complaints against public officials in the courts sharply criticized the attorney general’s office for the lengthy delay in resolving the matter.

“A case with significant public sensitivity was handled over a period of time that is unacceptable and lacked sufficient justification. It was possible and appropriate to significantly shorten the handling time of the case by the attorney general and her office, thereby preventing a criminal file from remaining open for such an extraordinarily long period against a sitting police commissioner.”

{Matzav.com}