On motzei Shabbos YWN reported that a soldier on patrol in the Tzrifin base was assaulted by men who succeeded in infiltrating into the military compound. They beat the soldier, injuring him moderately, and made off with his M16 assault rifle.

As a result of the incident, Yediot Achronot sent a number of reporters to attempt to sneak into army bases from the Golan Heights in the north to southern area bases. Following is the report.

The reporters were told to attempt to sneak into bases without using any special tools or apparatus. The results are quite frightening indeed. They managed to enter 3 of 14 bases, totally undetected, walking around uninhibited. They did report that in some bases the security was appropriate, while in others, they did see holes in the security operation.

In the north, they entered the base housing the 71st regiment of the 188th battalion. This happens to be the unit in which Gilad Shalit served. The northern Golan Heights base does not even give the appearance of being secure. Despite the fact that there is an armed sentry at the gate, a short distance away there is an opening in the perimeter fence. The Yediot crew entered without being noticed, making their way to the parked tanks, reporting they could have easily made off with military equipment.

In the Haifa area, after visiting two naval bases and a Tirat HaCarmel base it appeared the situation was within acceptable parameters. Unfortunately, the situation in an area air force base was far from the same, quite unacceptable. They found a large hole in the perimeter fence and elsewhere, the fence was low, easily scaled for entry. They opted to crawl into the hole and made their way close to a Patriot missile battery, undetected. They pointed out there were many soldiers and officers in the base and they easily got in proximity of many of them without being stopped or questioned, listening into their conversations. They point out that if they were terrorists, they would have had a good time listening in to the conversations or chas ‘v’sholom, the results could have been disastrous.

In the Center of the country, they entered a base near Tel Hashomer Hospital the base of the chief IDF medical officer. Once again, taking advantage of a hole in the perimeter fence they were able to gain access without being detected. One cameraman walked around with a knife, but was ignored except for a second lieutenant who asked who he was. He explained he is a journalist but the junior officer did not even ask to see his press credentials. He did however suggest that he escort him to the sentry post, the entrance of the base.

The cameraman suggested that instead, he permit him to show him the hole in the fence, to which he agreed. When he saw how they entered he appeared quite surprised, unaware of the hole in the fence. Admitting that he is responsible for base security, the junior officer was nonetheless unaware of the cut in the fence.

As they made their way to the entrance a second soldier came by and the two, the soldier and officer went on their way, never even making certain the press crew left the base as promised. An attempt to enter the Beit Lid Base was unsuccessful.

In the Beersheva area, the four bases visited appeared to be under proper security, including the Southern Command, Natan Base, Chatzeirim Fuel Base, and Mishmar HaNegev Base.

In the Jerusalem area, an intelligence base near the capital was found with the gate wide open. The Schneller Base in Geula has two gates but a large enough hole to crawl under was found along the perimeter of the base. In Jerusalem’s N’vei Yaakov neighborhood, security around the Homefront Command Headquarters was quite high indeed.

In response, the Office of the IDF Spokesperson released the following statement; “The level of security on IDF bases and installations varies from base to base. The soldiers guarding bases are generally not from elite units, but run-of-the-mill soldiers. During the past year, the military has been looking into various options to improve base security in general.

“Regarding the report, the bases mentioned have taken immediate steps to correct deficiencies and appropriate action will be taken regarding those responsible….

“The reporters entered the bases on Shabbos, without weapons, and this explains the non-aggressive welcome received when they were detected.”

Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Major-General Dan Harel stated that in light of the numerous reports of civilians entering military bases during the past year, any civilian entering a military base will immediately be placed under arrest.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)