Yaakov ‘Kobi’ Shabtai (
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: יעקב (קובי) שבתאי) (born November 11, 1964) is an Israeli police officer, and the 19th Commissioner of
Israel Police
The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...
since January 17, 2021. Prior to that, he served as Commander of the
Border Police.
Biography
Kobi Shabtai was born on November 11, 1964, in
Ashkelon
Ashkelon or Ashqelon (; Hebrew: , , ; Philistine: ), also known as Ascalon (; Ancient Greek: , ; Arabic: , ), is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with ...
,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, to
Iraqi Jewish
The history of the Jews in Iraq ( he, יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים, ', ; ar, اليهود العراقيون, ) is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and mos ...
immigrants. He is married with three daughters, including one who serves as a patrol officer in the police and another who enlisted in the
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַגְּבוּל, Mišmar Ha-Gvul) is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border g ...
for her national service.
Career
Shabtai was enlisted in the 202nd Battalion of the
Paratroopers Brigade
The 35th Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת הַצַּנְחָנִים, ''Hativat HaTzanhanim''), also known as the Paratroopers Brigade, is an infantry brigade unit of paratroopers within the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and forms a major part of ...
in 1982.
He was discharged in 1987 at the end of his service at the rank of
''Sgan aluf''.
Shabtai joined the
Israel Border Police
The Israel Border Police ( he, מִשְׁמַר הַגְּבוּל, Mišmar Ha-Gvul) is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border g ...
in 1991.
In July 2020, Shabtai was diagnosed with
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
Commissioner of Israel Police
Shabtai was appointed the Commissioner of Israel Police on January 17, 2021, succeeding
Motti Cohen.
On 25 April 2021, Shabtai ordered the removal of barricades preventing access to the
Damascus Gate
The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...
in
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separat ...
after violent protests.
Following the
2021 Mount Meron crowd crush, Shabtai said that he would not allow the police to be
scapegoated for the incident.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shabtai, Kobi
1964 births
Living people
Israeli police chiefs
Israeli Jews
Israeli people of Iraqi-Jewish descent
People from Ashkelon