On Tuesday, January 1st, the Ministry of Public Security and the Israel Police inaugurated the new National Crime Unit, commanded by Major General Yoav Segalovitch. The new unit will include 950 police officers combined of five existing national units and will act as the spearhead in the battle against national crime organizations.

During the ceremony, the unit's name was announced: "Lahav 433". 'Lahav' is 'Blade" in Hebrew, and 433 symbolizes the 4 national units which assemble the new unit, and 33 is the symbol of the fifth unit, the "Gidonim" unit.

The ceremony was held in the presence of the Minister of Public Security, Avi Dicter; the Commissioner of the Israel Police, Inspector General Dudi Cohen; the Israel Attorney General, Menahem Mazuz; the Israel State Prosecutor, Moshe Lador; the Director General of the Ministry of Public Security, Rani Falk; the Commander of the new National Crime Unit, Major General Yoav Segalovitch; the Commander of the Department of Investigations and Intelligence; the Mayor of Modiin and the top brass of the Israel Police.

The new unit will combine five nation units which specialize in crime:
• The national unit for international crime
• The national unit for economic investigations
• The nation unit for car theft
• The national unit for fraud
• The 'Gidonim' unit

The new National Crime Unit will be responsible for complex investigations and its police officers will be equipped with state of the art intelligence and technological tools which will give it a big boost in its battle against severe crime. The establishment of the new unit is yet another step in the implementation of the Minister's policy set for the Israel Police.

Minister Dicter spoke at the ceremony and congratulated the new unit and surveyed the crime situation in Israel over the past year: "Despite the significant and important decrease in murder cases and auto theft, there was a painful increase in violence against senior citizens and knife stabbings throughout 2007". Minister Dicter also pointed out the decrease in road accidents in 2007 compared to 2006 and said that they will continue to work towards minimizing road accidents.

"The Israel Police completed a few strategic changes over 2007. Firstly, we completed the transfer of all correction responsibilities from the Israel Police to the Israel Prison Service and have transferred the police officers from those positions to positions aimed at strengthening the personal security of our citizens.
Secondly, we strengthened the police's intelligence capabilities by passing the Communication Data Bill in the Israeli Parliament. The law received the unjustifiable nickname of 'the big brother law'. I call it the 'good brother law'. This law will empower the police with effective tools in its battle against crime. We are also constantly working towards strengthening our technological and forensic capabilities".

"Today we are inaugurating the new unit which will be operational throughout the country. This step, combining five already operational units is a required one. The five units are the five fingers on an iron fist.  I am positive that this united fist will be stronger than the total sum of the five units. The soul of the unit will be the intelligence it produces along with its operational independence and professional link to the Department of Investigations and Intelligence in the Israel Police. The Israel Police will be a deterring police force and criminals will now know that crime doesn't pay and criminals will pay the price".

Major General Yoav Segalovitch, Commander of "Lahav 433" said that the force, power, strength and size of the new unit, along with its resources and thinking will bring great achievements in the minimization of sever crime and public corruption, which will bring a change in the general atmosphere".

"It is a great privilege for me to serve as commander of this unit, a privilege which also holds in store great responsibility. My mission is to on one hand maintain the individual success of each unit but also add another aspect of success which will be the product of the united force".