"Such theft sets us back in the fight against the phenomenon of illegal weapons," warns a senior police officer in a conversation with Israel Hayom, referring to the huge theft of weapons last week from an IDF base in the south. According to the senior officer, the fear based on previous cases is that this time These weapons will be given to terrorist organizations for attacks.
The IDF's statement over the weekend indicates that the break-in took place on Wednesday, and from the bunker at the "Yeman Field" base, ammunition boxes containing tens of thousands of rifle rounds were stolen. According to various publications, in the break-in, approximately 20 thousand 5.56 mm rifle rounds, 690 7.62 mag rounds were stolen and 8,740 5.56 Negev bullets.
The IDF stated that the circumstances of the theft are being investigated by the investigating military police, and upon completion of the investigation, the findings will be forwarded to the military attorney's office for examination. the case
The base in the south will be strengthened, photo: Dodo Greenspan
"Every ball is sold in the market"
It was also decided to reinforce the base with an additional team of fighters, and to improve the defense measures around it.
The theft of the IDF also surprised senior police officers, since in recent times following cooperation between the police and the IDF it seemed that the loopholes to the IDF bases regarding the theft of IDF had been blocked.
Israel Hayom has learned that since the beginning of 2022, the police have seized more than 75,000 illegal IDF items. A significant portion of these IDF items - guns, weapon parts and bullets - were stolen from IDF bases, as happened last weekend.
"Each single bullet of a gun or rifle is sold on the criminals' black market for amounts ranging from NIS to 10," said a senior police officer. It can be seen that stolen weapons and ammunition are used by terrorists and terrorist squads."
RPG was caught in a trap
During the "Safe Route" enforcement operation, South District police officers seized IDF shells and grenades in Segev Shalom. In Brahat, an RPG missile and grenades were seized, and in a girl, an M-16 rifle. In an activity against the phenomenon of violence and crime in Arab Street, thousands of bullets and stolen ammunition were seized from IDF bases.
Concern: the weapons may reach terrorists in Yosh,
Suffice it to mention the shooting attack in Hadera carried out by two Arab-Israeli terrorists on March 27, in which two MGB policemen were killed. About a thousand bullets stolen from the IDF were found in the weapons of the terrorists who were eliminated by the force.
In Tel Sheva, for example, the police seized ten guns, some belonging to the IDF.
A senior police officer: "The theft from the base in the south takes us back in the fight against the phenomenon of illegal illegal drugs, but this time the concern is twofold in view of the security situation and the many warnings.
There is a greater fear that this weapon will end up in the hands of terrorist elements. All the shooting incidents you see on social media at weddings in the south or just wild display shooting in the air, which is intimidation shooting or flamboyant shooting by criminals from the Arab street, is a shooting in which the criminals use IDF bullets and cartridges To".
The officer added: "We also identify stolen IDF equipment with the criminals, such as vests, binoculars, weapon handles and grenades of various types.
This time the amount that was stolen will, unfortunately, support quite a few criminals, and God forbid, terrorists as well."
Responsibility of commanders
As early as January 2021, a discussion was held on the theft of military equipment from IDF bases in the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee.
Major General Aharon Haliva, head of the Operations Division at the time, said that no IDF weapon that finds its way to the public is not a certificate of honor for the security establishment. Haliva emphasized that the Chief of Staff put the issue in the focus of the General Staff and assumed that in any camp that fails the inspection - the failure will be the responsibility of the commanders. More A year has passed and the phenomenon of weapon theft still challenges the security system.
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