IDF inspectors posing as thieves succeeded in infiltrating a sensitive Air Force site and simulating the theft of ammunition and weapons.
Military officials criticized the facility’s lapse in security and the lack of discipline of the soldiers stationed there, saying that the lessons of Oct. 7 have not been learned.
“We all learned that adherence to routine procedures is important. You never know when the tide will turn,” an IDF spokesman said.
The inspection took place as part of a general audit of the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Division.
“The camp defense system regularly conducts surprise inspections of the security of the camps. An audit was carried out in the camp, the findings of which were forwarded to the commanders,” the IDF spokesman said.
“The determination that the camp failed the audit will only be accepted after a thorough investigation of commanders and examination of the findings,” he added.
Once completed, the findings of the camp’s audit will be presented to OC Air Force Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar.
A routine inspection of Israel Defense Forces posts along the Gaza border carried out 72 hours before Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught showed a severe lack of preparedness.
Only one IDF base received a passing mark, the Yiftah outpost near the seaside Zikim training base. All other positions failed the Oct. 4 audit, Channel 12 reported.
The report detailed the results of an assessment of the Nahal Oz base, where Hamas terrorists on Oct. 7 killed 66 soldiers and kidnapped six.
Troops failed to prevent unauthorized people from entering the base on foot or by car, entering the operations rooms, taking sensitive materials, stealing the keys to the armory and leaving with weapons.
The IDF in response to the report said the inspection was a “routine defense inspection that was carried out with the aim of improving the security of the bases, and not an examination of a scenario simulating a sudden attack of thousands of terrorists, as had occurred on October 7.
“The IDF has started the investigation into the events of October 7 and what preceded them, and when this is concluded, the findings will be presented in a transparent way to the public,” added the statement.
The army is concerned about camp infiltrations and the theft of ammunition and weapons, which can find their way into the hands of terrorist and criminal organizations.
In a particularly embarrassing event, the IDF in June 2011 discovered the theft of eight F-15 and F-16 fighter engines from the Tel Nof Air Base south of Rehovot.