Herzl Shafir

Herzl Shafir was born in Tel Aviv in 1929. His parents were Tzvi and Miriam (née Friedman) Shekhterman; Tzvi was originally from Stara Syniava in present-day Ukraine. Herzl was the younger brother of Avraham Shekhterman, a former member of the Knesset for Gahal and Likud between 1969 and 1977. Shafir attended the Tachkemoni School at Mikveh Israel and the Maritime School at the Technion in Haifa. In 1947 Shafir enlisted in the Palmach and took part in numerous activities with its third battalion, including the assault on Metzudat Koach. After joining the Israel Defense Forces, Shafir completed an officers' course and served as an instructor at the officers academy. In 1972 he was given the emergency posting of commander of the 143rd Division. In September of the same year he was appointed head of the Manpower Directorate and was promoted to Major General. He served in that role during the Yom Kippur War. In April 1974 he was appointed head of the General Staff Department, and in March 1976 the commander of the Southern Command. In 1978, towards the end of his military service, Shafir want on study leave in the United States. == Israeli police commissioner office ==

On January 1, 1980, Shafir was appointed General Commissioner of the Israel Police. As commissioner, Shafir introduced various policies and protocols that were widely used in the IDF in order to improve the quality of serving police. On December 31, 1980, Shafir was dismissed from his job by the Interior Minister Yosef Burg after allegations of misconduct. According to Shafir, the layoffs were made against the police handling of corruption of elected officials from his party's Minister of the Interior and the police. The case became known as "Peach Bag". "Peach Bag" never matured into specific charges and attribute this to the dismissal of police commissioner Shafir. == Public duties ==

Since retiring from the police, Shafir served as chairman and member of several public committees, including: • Shafir Committee – appointed by the Chief of Staff Ehud Barak in 1992, to examine the optimal utilization of military personnel and recommend ways to reduce the active reserve duty days and shortening of compulsory service in the future. • Shafir Committee – appointed by the Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra to examine the preparation and processing of hazardous materials during emergencies. == References ==