IDF fighters currently serving in the Judea and Samaria sector claim to have been called to an operational event without life-saving ceramic vests due to a severe shortage in the army, Israel Hayom has learned. After an examination, it became clear that the shortage of ceramic vests does not exist only in Judea and Samaria, but also in many units in the army.
According to sources familiar with the details, those who are supposed to provide the fighters with their personal combat equipment, including ceramic vests, are their parent brigades, i.e., the Golani Brigade, the paratroopers, armored vehicles, etc. However, even in the combat brigades, which are supposed to cross enemy lines in time of war, there are reports of a severe shortage of
Vest// Photo: IDF Spokesperson,
In order to deal with the problem, even if partially, the Judea and Samaria Division has equipped itself with ceramic vests, which it lends to its brigades that change once every few months. However, apparently even this is not enough, since fighters report that more than once they have been called up for operational activity when only some of them wear life-saving vests.
The fighters also report that although the vest is supposed to be personal combat equipment for each and every fighter, due to the shortage, the vests pass between soldiers who come off guard duty and those who replace them.
"It's like sending a soldier to an ambush and giving him a plastic rifle," a source involved in the matter told Israel Hayom, "We just heard that the ultra-Orthodox and Torah study have a budget – but our fighters don't have a budget for life-saving equipment? It drives me crazy."
The IDF does not recognize the situation
It is no secret that over the past year the operational situation in Judea and Samaria has not been calm, to say the least, and shooting incidents or occasional attacks have become routine. Many forces are assigned to each such event, and it now turns out that not all soldiers who arrive at the scene of the incident have appropriate protective equipment that is supposed to protect their lives.
Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Officially, the IDF notes that it is not familiar with situations in which soldiers are called up to operational events without a ceramic vest, but the fighters in the field, as mentioned, claim otherwise.
This is particularly disturbing and indicates the lack of readiness of the IDF's brigades to enter Lebanon or Gaza on the day of an order. The ceramic vests often saved lives. What will these paratroopers or Golani do when they are required to cross into Lebanon? Someone in the IDF needs to pay attention to this, and well one hour earlier.
An IDF spokesperson said in response: "The claim of gaps in some of the equipment that makes up the ceramic vests is familiar. Their completion is in the process of procurement, and they are issued according to operational needs. The Judea and Samaria sector has been reinforced with a large number of ceramic vests in the past month. We emphasize that combatants do not embark on operational activities that require protection without full protective equipment."
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