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. yosef burg accused shafir of planting a false story in the press in order to help his investigation of religious affairs minister aharon abuhatzira, who was suspected of taking bribes. yosef burg accused shafir, claiming he was turning israel into a police state and using "a goebbels tactic", referencing joseph goebbels, hitler's propaganda chief.