By Nosson Shulman: Licensed Tour Guide of VIP Israel Tours & Authentic Virtual Tours (click here to check out his free trailer videos)
In a major game changer for Israel’s public safety of its citizens (both Jewish and Arab alike), the IDF has finally rectified some of its absurd rules of engagement! Beginning immediately, soldiers are now allowed to open fire on suspected thieves of army bases and cross-border drug smugglers. Prior to this new ruling, soldiers were only allowed to shoot if their lives were in danger (a fact well known and exploited by criminals).
This comes after years of public and internal criticism of leniency. It was not uncommon for criminals (predominantly from the Bedouin and Arab sectors) to sneak onto bases and steal weapons, with soldiers being unable to do much to stop it. According to the IDF’s own data, thousands of deadly equipment and ammunition are stolen every year. Shockingly, the weapons stolen included pistols, grenades, machine guns, rockets, mines, and anti-tank weapons. It is estimated that 70% of all illegal weapons in the country are stolen from the police and military. In addition to the theft of weapons, criminals entered bases and stole the personal property of thousands of soldiers and reservists (some of whom have individually lost thousands of shekels). Soldiers are now also permitted to open fire on potential drug and weapon smugglers who illegally cross the borders from Jordan and Egypt. Only last week, millions of shekels worth of drugs were seized at the Egyptian border (although because of the rules of engagement at that time, no arrests were made). Also last week, deadly weapons (smuggled in from Jordan) were seized.
While all Israelis stand to benefit from these new rules, the biggest victors are by far the Arab sector. Although Israel as a whole has one of the OECD’s (“First world countries”) lowest homicides rates (in 2018, the murder rate was 1.4 per 100,000 people vs the OECD rate of 3.7 per 100,000), in the Arab community, violence and murder (often due to family feuds or organized crime) is rampant. Although Arabs make up 20% of the population, they are the largest percentage of victims (84%) of gun violence in the country (almost entirely committed by other Arabs). In the middle of October, the 100th Arab murder victim of 2021 was shot (in the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm). Many, if not the majority, of victims were killed with weapons stolen from bases. Preventing criminals from having access to drugs and weapons will make the streets of Arab communities (who have long complained about the lawlessness reigning in some of their towns) considerably safer!
From Guided tours of Israel, here.