Border Police officers stopped a private ambulance overnight Motzei Shabbos at the Ofer checkpoint near Ramallah on Highway 443 and asked the driver, who was wearing an ambulance uniform, to show them his license.

The ambulance driver and his assistant asserted that they don’t have time for a security check as there was “a terrible accident and they’re saving lives.”

When the officers opened the back of the ambulance, they found eight Palestinians who were trying to enter Israel illegally.

The ambulance driver, a Druze-Israeli, and the eight Palestinians were arrested and transferred for questioning.

The driver was also a active volunteer for United Hatzalah.

United Hatzalah stated: “United Hatzalah takes very seriously the incident publicized this morning in which an ambulance driver from the Hadera Ambulance Company was seen allegedly transporting illegal workers under the guise of saving lives.”

“We would like to clarify that the person in question committed the offense as part of his work at the Hadera Ambulance Company without any connection to United Hatzalah. It was found that the driver is a Hatzalah volunteer. He was immediately suspended from all activities in the organization.”

The Hadera Ambulance Company responded: “To the shock of Hadera Ambulance Company, an employee of its services violated the company’s trust…and illegally used the ambulance that was in his possession to drive his shift – and acted in violation of the law and drove illegal aliens while impersonating a driver on shift.”

“This employee only worked at the company for a few days…and was immediately terminated. The company views the employee’s actions very seriously and is cooperating with the investigative bodies.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr stated: “Our enemy breaks a record low in not ruling out any means to infiltrate into Israeli territory – even via ambulance. Congratulations on the vigilance of the forces in the field and the thwarting of the smuggling attempt. The entry of illegal workers is a vehicle for acts of terror – we will use all our means to prevent their entry.”

Since the beginning of the war, over 6,100 illegal migrants have been arrested by Border Police officers – of which 687 were caught in the last week alone.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)