Top Disengagement Cop Gets 10 Months on Harassment Charges

A Tel Aviv court on Monday sentenced former Yerushalayim district police commander Niso Shacham to 10 months in prison, and an additional four months suspended sentence, along with a NIS 7,500 fine. Shacham was convicted on charges relating to harassment of police employees, as well as breach of trust.

The sentence came in the appeal of a court decision from last year, when Shacham was convicted on a number of charges against him, while he was acquitted on others. The court on Monday yielded to a request by Shacham’s lawyers, and as a result his sentence will begin only on March 25.

Shacham is best remembered as the commander of police forces stationed outside Kfar Maimon in southern Israel in the summer of 2005 – the police nerve center for forces carrying out the disengagement from Gaza. Shacham was famous for his hardline attitude, and in numerous interviews made it clear that he would not hold back any tactics in dealing with the hundreds of thousands of Israelis who opposed the disengagement. He also denigrated Gush Katif residents, calling them “messianists” who were “endangering normal Israelis,” among other things.