A senior IDF source referred to the massive theft of ammunition that took place last night (between Monday and Tuesday) in the area of the Tze'elim base in the south. During the morning patrol of the base, a breach was discovered, and a huge theft of weapons - 26,000 bullets - was revealed. "The current event is a failure, the responsibility is on me and there are people under me. Anyone who needs to be disciplined is taken care of."
According to the senior source, the chief of staff and deputy chief of staff arrived at the field for a debriefing and the issue on the IDF's agenda, "I cannot comment on the debriefing itself, but there is undoubtedly an issue here that we set ourselves an expectation in the ability to prevent. It's not just theft but governance on the ground and how much we exercise our sovereignty."
"It's not just theft but governance on the ground." Tze'elim Base (archive), photo: IDF Spokesperson
"Since there is a forehead investigation and the Shin Bet, it is not possible to go into the details. It was a criminal infiltration of the IIC bunker in the middle of the night, in which a number of suspects cut fences and passed obstacles. They came to one of the warehouses, broke it down, took crates of 5.56 ammunition in several waves and left," the source added, "On the last night we reached the suspects and returned all the stolen ammunition. It is unacceptable that the ammunition ends up in the hands of terrorism. into criminal hands. Israeli civilians are injured by this ammunition. And our expectation is to stand at zero thefts."
The source added that in the past two months there has been an increase in thefts, "I don't know the reason, but for every failure like this there are a lot of successes that we don't publicize. One of the indicators of our effectiveness in the face of the fighting is the price of weapons and ammunition manned, and today it is insane. Demand is high, we look at trends with open eyes. I am responsible and will do whatever is necessary to prevent future incidents. We aim for zero theft and look at the long term as well."
Aerial footage: This is how the suspects suspected of stealing weapons were arrested at the Tze'elim base Police Spokesperson's Office
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