Case of Niso Shacham
Former Police Commander - Jerusalem, Israel
Former Police Commander in the Jerusalem district was indicted on charges of sexual assault, sexual harassment, fraud and breach of trust.
8 different female officers accused Nisso Shaham of exploiting his senior position to carry out sexual relations with them.
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Table of Contents:
2005
- 'No pullout for you!' (07/24/2005)
- Trial for Police commander who urged violence against unarmed demonstrators (07/24/2005)
2012
- J'lem police chief accused of sexual assault (07/26/2012)
- Nisso Shacham Under Investigation for Sexual Misconduct and Worse (07/26/2012)
- 7 Years Later to the Day, Gush Katif Foulmouthed Policeman Removed –– Again (07/26/2012)
2013
- Former Jerusalem Police Chief indited on sex crimes charges (10/14/2013)
- Attorneys for former Jerusalem police chief issue complaint over alleged leaks to the press on sex crimes case (10/16/2013)
- Niso Shacham Quitting Police Following Sexual Assault Indictment (10/18/2013)
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'No pullout for you!'
YNet News - July 24, 2005
TEL AVIV – Police Commander Nisso Shacham will face disciplinary action and will not be serving as a regional commander during the upcoming disengagement after being caught on film cursing at pullout objectors.
The decision to strip Shacham of his pullout duties was taken by Police Chief Moshe Karadi Sunday following a meeting called to discuss the matter.
Shacham’s remarks, made during a police “siege” on anti-pullout marchers at Kfar Maimon, stirred harsh reactions.
‘I’m not a whore’
Among other things, Shacham told his forces “If needed, beat them with bats, low…,” and “I’m not a whore who spreads her legs…let them pay,” while also using some foul language.
Earlier Sunday, he discussed the matter with Southern District Police Commander Uri Bar-Lev, who later relayed his conclusions to Karadi.
Shacham’s remarks were captured by Channel 10 photographer Yisrael Rosner.
The officer, considered a highly esteemed commander after a successful service term in Jerusalem, apologized for his remarks later, saying they were not characteristic and claiming they were a result of three sleepless days.
‘Serious error’
Meanwhile, Knesset Member Shaul Yaalom slammed what he termed an inadequate punishment.
“The police chief’s decision sends a message of…forgiveness in the face of violence, which is contradictory to democracy and the law,” he said. “The fact Shacham was not kicked out of the police proves the police disregard the standards of democracy and maintaining the rule of law in Israel.”
Meretz-Yachad party Chairman Yossi Beilin also slammed the decision and characterized it as a “serious error.”
According to Beilin, “the decision characterizes an organizational culture of backing members of the organization when they transgress.”
“Sacham’s place is not in the police. The things he said have no explanation and should not be forgiven,” Beilin said.
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Trial for Police commander who urged violence against unarmed demonstrators
By Esther Ruth
Israel Insider - July 24, 2005
Trial for Police commander who urged violence against unarmed demonstators By Israel Insider staff and partners July 24, 2005
Negev police commander Brigadier-General Nisso Shacham was summoned for a disciplinary hearing this afternoon, after Israel's Channel 10 on Friday night showed video footage depicting Shacham instructing border police to beat any anti-pullout protestors who broke away from the Kfar Maimon group in an attempt to sneak into Gush Katif.
At the end of the meeting, Channel Ten reported, Shacham will face a disciplinary trial and will be transferred away from involvement in "disengagement" activities. He is likely to be demoted, political analysts reported.
The footage includes a fair share of vulgarities and explicit instructions to inflict pain on those persons apprehended trying to enter Gush Katif.
Shacham was shown telling a Border Police chief Deputy-Commander Roni Ohana on Wednesday: "I want arrests and I am telling you to use water cannons without holding back. Don't call me, just use the cannons. Sh** on them. Let them burn. Use the cannons and batons. Hit them on their lower body and work the way you know how."
Learning of the footage and the Channel 10 program, Shacham explained his statements were made in a closed conversation with a senior officer following a number of days without sleep, expressing remorse for his harsh words. He said that this was not his usual style of speech, and that he was "tired" when the recording was made.
The Yesha Council did not accept this, releasing the following statement:
"Shacham's barbaric words were not said out of tiredness, as he claimed, but rather represent the dominant trend in the police since the struggle against the expulsion started. The farm family [the Sharons] are directly controlling the police... While we call on Gush Katif supporters to refrain from violence, the police are acting with violence and provocations."
The Council called upon the police to "get rid of the wild weeds before a calamity happens."
Israel Police officials have requested the tape from Channel 10 to review the conversation as well as the context in which the remarks were made.
In the meantime, MK Yisrael Katz (Likud) during the Sunday morning weekly cabinet meeting called for Shoham's suspension.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud), Chairman of the Knesset Law Committee, told PM Ariel Sharon he was disgusted with Shoham's "vulgar and primitive remarks" in favor of police brutality against protestors.
"Several days ago," Eitan wrote in a letter to Sharon, "during a Likud Knesset faction meeting in which you participated, I reported that the Knesset Law Committee had received much evidence of police violence against anti-disengagement protestors -- not only in the dispersal of demonstrations, but also in situations in which the protestors were beaten by policemen even when they [the victims] were already apprehended, handcuffed and helpless."
MK Eitan, who supports the expulsion, noted that he had asked that the legal proceedings against policemen accused of violence be sped up and that the suspects be suspended. He further wrote that he had asked Sharon to incorporate in his remarks of support for the police a warning not to use undue violence. "Unfortunately," Eitan wrote, "the investigations were not hurried up, and your voice on this matter was not heard."
Shacham's "vulgar and primitive remarks" are a "mark of shame for Israel Police," wrote Eitan, "and strengthen the sensation that there is a phenomenon of breaking the law within the police. If this is how senior and 'good' police officers think and talk publicly to the cameras, what are we to expect from junior officers and regular policemen in the police department halls and in the jails?"
"The fact that not one government minister went to the trouble of condemning or taking steps to correct this corruption is even more shocking."
Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz addressed Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi at today's Cabinet session, and said that Shacham must be suspended -- "especially at this sensitive time, when sensitivity and patience are required," he said.
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J'lem police chief accused of sexual assault
By Melanie Lidman
Jerusalem Post - July 26, 2012
Jerusalem police head Asst.- Ch. Nisso Shaham was forced to go on leave beginning Thursday morning, following reports of sexual assault against a policewoman.
The Justice Ministry’s Police Investigations Department said Shaham was questioned on Wednesday on suspicion of sexual harassment, indecent assault and improper sexual relations, after an undercover investigation.
Cmdr. Nissim Edri, the head of the capital’s Zion precinct, was also placed on administrative leave due to the suspicion that he was aware of Shaham’s actions and did not take appropriate action as required by law.
The details of the investigation are under a partial media gag order. Police Insp.-Gen. Yohanan Danino appointed Manny Yitzhaki to the position of temporary head of the Jerusalem district. Yitzhaki was Shaham’s deputy until he left about a week ago to oversee the Lahav 443 special investigative unit. Shaham did not appoint a new deputy in the interim.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby declined to comment on the issue.
In a statement released by his office, Danino said he had “full faith” in the Jerusalem Police, and urged officers to concentrate on the issues at hand such as security during Ramadan and the annual gay pride parade rather than the ongoing investigation.
Shaham was appointed Jerusalem district head in May 2011, and during the past year he has focused his efforts on haredi neighborhoods. Some of his major victories include ensuring that Egged buses can drive through Mea She’arim and that sidewalks are not separated by gender during Succot.
Shaham captured headlines in 2005, when he was the deputy head of the northern Negev district during the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Shaham was filmed while briefing subordinates about the evacuation of protesters from Moshav Kfar Maimon, during which he told police officers to use batons against anyone refusing to evacuate and said “let them all burn, those [expletive] settlers.”
Shaham was fined for the incident but did not issue a formal apology until 2007.
Since 2005, right-wing activists have considered Shaham an enemy of the settlement enterprise. When he was tapped to be deputy head of the Jerusalem district in 2007, the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel petitioned the High Court of Justice against the promotion based on his comments during the disengagement.
“We said the public wouldn’t have any belief in him, and we thought that if someone acts this way it is clear that he’s not suitable to be a commander,” Legal Forum spokesman Shmuel Klein said on Thursday.
Far-right activist Itamar Ben- Gvir said it was “symbolic” that Shaham was forced to take leave on the eve of the anniversary of the 2005 disengagement, which is on Sunday.
“Only the police and the public security minister didn’t internalize the fact that they’re talking about a rude man who is involved in crime and should not be a candidate for inspector- general,” MK Michael Ben- Ari (National Union) said.
MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) praised the police for “sending a message of zero tolerance for sexual harassment, even if it involves senior officials.”
The 54-year-old Shaham is married to Asst.-Ch. Varda Shaham, the deputy head of the police’s Investigation and Intelligence Unit. The couple have three children.
Shaham grew up in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood and started his career as an undercover police officer in his own backyard. He has been in the police force for 30 years.
Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.
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Nisso Shacham Under Investigation for Sexual Misconduct and Worse
Jewish Press - July 26, 2012
The charges against Jerusalem District Major General Nisso Shacham have just been releases from the gag order. Among the charges are sexual harassment, sexual misconduct, indecent assault and illicit sexual relations with women under his command. Nissim Edri, an officer under his command is under suspicion of ignoring the complaints against Shacham, and is now on leave.
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7 Years Later to the Day, Gush Katif Foulmouthed Policeman Removed –– Again
Jewish Press - July 26, 2012
The condemning video: then Police Commander Nisso Shacham instructing his men during a police siege on anti-evacuation marchers at Kfar Maimon. His gem in this frame: "No problem whatsoever – batons, lower body if necessary. – OK." Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino has decided to suspend from office the Jerusalem District Major General Nisso Shacham until further notice, due to an ongoing investigation against him and another senior officer in the district for sexual assault, harassment and misconduct. Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch has been briefed on the case. Now to the poetic justice business: Nisso Shacham has become the face of the Gush Katif evacuation with this highly watched video, shot by Channel 10 photographer Yisrael Rosner, in which he is depicted giving instructions to his men using the most vile and violent language (don’t watch in a room with Hebrew speaking children). Shacham is seen telling his troops: “No problem whatsoever – batons, lower body if necessary. – OK,” and a line we can’t quote here in which he says he isn’t some lady of the night and then adds a sordid description which included himself and a proverbial mother of the demonstrators. The ranking officer’s vulgar language and obvious violent attitude towards the “Haredim” as he refers to the settlers (“I’m an expert on Haredim,” he tells his men in the video), peppered with gutter sexual imageries, brought before the Israeli public an image of Israel’s police force as they all had known from personal encounters – and remains to this day an extreme symbol of the way the establishment felt at the time about the vermin-like settlers that stood in its way. The storm that erupted following the broadcast on Channel 10 (the most hated news channel by government of all stripes) forced the police brass’ hand. On July 24, Police Chief Moshe Karadi suspended Shacham for his behavior, removing him from the senior role he had been assigned in uprooting and transferring some 8,500 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif, Gaza strip. Then NRP MK Shaul Yahalom slammed what he termed an inadequate punishment. “The police chief’s decision sends a message of forgiveness in the face of violence, which is contradictory to democracy and the law,” he said. “The fact that Shacham was not kicked out of the police proves the police disregard the standards of democracy and maintaining the rule of law in Israel.” Even Oslo architect, former Meretz Chairman MK Yossi Beilin was offended by the video, calling it a “serious error.” “Sacham’s place is not in the police. The things he said have no explanation and should not be forgiven,” Beilin said. It turns out both men, on the right and on the left, were absolutely correct. Exactly seven years later to day (it works if you allow for two leap years), foul mouthed Jerusalem police chief Nisso Shacham was given a forced vacation again. He will be replaced by Inspector Manny Yitzhaki, who only eight days ago received an appointment as head of Lahav 433, a new Israeli crime-fighting unit with an FBI-like status regarding local police operations. Another Jerusalem senior police officer was suspended, Brigadier General Nissim Edery, commander of the Zion police station. There is a gag order on both suspensions. Rumors suggest Shacham and his buddy concealed evidence about an ongoing investigation. One thing is certain, if finally given the boot, the Memoir by disgraced policeman Nisso Shacham will be a local hit.
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Former Jerusalem Police Chief indited on sex crimes charges
By Ben Hartman
Jerusalem Post - October 14, 2013
8 different female officers accused Nisso Shaham of exploiting his senior position to carry out sexual relations with them.
The Justice Ministry’s police investigatory committee on Monday indicted former Jerusalem police chief Asst.-Ch. Nisso Shaham on charges of sexual assault, sexual harassment, fraud and breach of trust.
The case deals with allegations made by eight different female police officers, who accused Shaham of exploiting his senior position to carry out sexual relations with them – including acts that were against their will – and that he also sexually harassed a number of them.
The indictment says that while he was a senior officer, Shaham “formed intimate connections of a sexual nature with young female officers who worked under him, most of them low-ranking and much younger than him, in violation of his obligations as a public employee and a senior police officer.”
The indictment also states that at the same time, Shaham made decisions relating to the promotion or career status of the same eight women, which it called a direct conflict of interest. Some of these decisions included granting them leaves of absence to study and transfers to better or more desirable jobs in the organization. Some of the women who came to Shaham were in economic distress at the time, the indictment said.
The sexual incidents took place in Shaham’s car and at police buildings, as well as at his house and his mother’s house, in addition to other locations.
In July 2012, following an undercover operation by the Justice Ministry, Shaham was questioned under caution, and in November 2012 he was informed that the ministry was weighing an indictment against him.
In August 2012, Shaham resigned from his post as head of Jerusalem police and went on forced administrative leave, when the allegations were first made public, following a request by National police chief Insp.-Gen. Yochanan Danino. He was replaced by then Southern District chief Asst.-Ch. Yossi Prienti.
The national police spokesman’s department said Monday they had received the indictment and had transferred it to their legal department.
They added that when they come to a conclusion, Danino will make a decision on the matter.
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Attorneys for former Jerusalem police chief issue complaint over alleged leaks to the press on sex crimes case
By Ben Hartman
Jerusalem Post - October 16, 2013
Complaint alleges that the leaks were carried out as payback for Shaham's refusal to sign a plea bargain.
Lawyers for former Jerusalem police head Asst.-Ch. Nisso Shaham issued a complaint to the attorney-general on Wednesday against what they said has been a recent series of Justice Ministry leaks meant to smear their client.
The complaint alleges that the leaks were a sort of payback for Shaham’s refusal to sign a plea bargain in the sexual assault and harassment case, which involves allegations made against him by eight subordinate female officers.
“On this matter [the Justice Ministry] crossed all lines – and furthermore this wasn’t a single leak that could be dismissed, it was a wave of directed and deliberate leaks,” attorney Boaz Ben-Tzur’s office said in the complaint.
The move came in response to a report in the Israeli media this week saying that Shaham’s attorneys at the time, Navit Negev and Iris Niv-Sabag, had told two Justice Ministry disciplinary hearings earlier this year that sexual relations between police brass and lowerranking women were commonplace and even normal in the Israel Police. They added that prosecuting Shaham would thus constitute selective enforcement.
Ben-Tzur said the leak had been made in part to bring ridicule on his client.
“This leak was especially severe,” Ben-Tzur’s office said. “It was a lie down to the core and constitutes an attempt to present my client’s legal defense in a ridiculous light.”
Negev told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that the reports about her and Niv-Sabag’s testimony were not accurate. She would not elaborate.
Ben-Tzur said that this line of defense would not be used in court, and that Shaham’s attorneys would instead base their case solely on whether or not a crime took place.
He expanded on this by saying that not all instances of sexual relations lead criminal charges.
On Monday the Justice Ministry’s police investigatory committee indicted Shaham on charges of sexual assault, sexual harassment, fraud and breach of trust. Its case is based on allegations made by eight low-ranking female officers who accused the ex-chief of exploiting his position to carry out sexual relations – including acts that were carried out against their will – and that he also sexually harassed several of them.
These acts allegedly took place in Shaham’s car, police buildings, his home and his mother’s home, in addition to other locations.
They occurred while he was in a position of influence regarding the women’s promotions or other aspects of their police careers.
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Niso Shacham Quitting Police Following Sexual Assault Indictment
Jewish Press - October 18, 2013
The former police commander for the Jerusalem district, Niso Shacham, told Police Commission Yochanan Danino that he will be quitting the police force. If he didn’t quit,, it was expected that he would have been fired in the coming weeks.
An indictment was filed against Shacham a few days ago, for sexual harassment of his subordinates, indecent assault, fraud and breach of trust, following an investigation and charges against him that began last year.
Shacham had relations with at least eight significantly younger and lower ranking female police officers. He was indicted for indecent acts on 2 officers, and sexual harassment of a third.
Shacham first came into the general public’s eye eight years ago, after he was caught on video, vulgarly giving orders to his policeman to use excessive force on the non-violent, unarmed civilians who had gathered in Kfar Maimom to protest the upcoming expulsion from Gush Katif. He was not punished then for his actions, and was eventually promoted to be the Jerusalem Police Commander.
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