{"id":125254,"date":"2025-10-25T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125254"},"modified":"2025-10-23T12:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T10:34:58","slug":"25-05-109","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=125254","title":{"rendered":"Drone arm-smuggling from Egypt \u2018constitutes a real security threat\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/jns-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"35%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/drone-arms-smuggling-from-egypt-constitutes-a-real-security-threat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Drone arm-smuggling from Egypt \u2018constitutes a real security threat\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Yaakov Lappin<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>A former Mossad official tells JNS that the &#8220;complete helplessness&#8221; of Israel&#8217;s legal system has enabled &#8220;anarchy&#8221; on the Israeli-Egyptian border.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/me.jnsi.org\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Drones-IDF-1-1320x880.png\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>IDF troops display some of the arms smuggled by drones across the Egyptian border to Israel earlier this year. Credit: IDF.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Israel is facing a systemic and rapidly growing security failure on its border with Egypt, where a flood of weapons-smuggling drones is entering the country, which can be used to arm not only criminals but also terrorist organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Oded Ailam, a former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad and currently a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told JNS in a recent interview that the scale of the smuggling is a top-tier security threat.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cThe scope of the phenomenon is severe and constitutes a real security threat. The quantities are large and there is almost no interdiction, and the intelligence is also poor,\u201d Ailam said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cThere is no doubt that the Egyptians can do much more, especially in the intelligence field. On the other hand, in Israel, the complete helplessness of the prosecution and the legal system creates complete anarchy and zero deterrence,\u201d he warned.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The former Mossad official explained that the problem is exacerbated because it does not fall under the clear jurisdiction of any single security branch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cSince this is a criminal-terror nexus, there is no designated body that handles the issue, which falls between the police, the Shin Bet and the army,\u201d he stated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">To counter the threat, Ailam outlined a plan of action. First, he called for the immediate establishment of a \u201cdedicated interdisciplinary body to deal with the phenomenon, which will concentrate all intelligence and coordinate the implementation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Additionally, Ailam said, Israel must \u201cinvest in technological developments that allow monitoring and treatment of drones, including \u2018masking\u2019 [jamming] possibilities in vulnerable areas.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The plan must also address the drone operators\u2019 tactics, he added, noting that the smuggling drones are limited in range, meaning that a dedicated patrol force equipped with sensors and cameras must be established to locate the smugglers on the Israeli side who are collecting the smuggled goods.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Ailam called for Israel to also use its diplomatic leverage, specifically linking the issue to the reconstruction of Gaza. \u201cThe Egyptians have a great interest in taking an active part in the rehabilitation of Gaza, this is about billions [of dollars]. Therefore, Israel must firmly demand that the Egyptians deal with the phenomenon in their territory and stipulate this as part of the \u2018rehabilitation\u2019 of Gaza,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Ailam also called for legislation in the Knesset stipulating severe minimum sentences for smuggling, without giving judges discretion for leniency, and to prevent plea bargains.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">An Oct. 15 report by\u00a0<em>Ynet<\/em>\u00a0detailed a recent stormy session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee during a discussion on the large growth of smuggling activity, revealing that nearly 900 drone-smuggling incidents occurred across the Egyptian border in the last three months alone.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">According to the report, 896 smuggling incidents were recorded in the last three months, a stark increase from the 464 incidents recorded during the same period in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The data, provided by the Ramat Negev Regional Council, which came from the IDF\u2019s southern territorial Division 80, showed how the threat began to spiral out of control in 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">After 104 smuggling incidents in the first half of 2024, the number jumped to 464 in the following three months and then to 559 in the last three months of 2024.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The trend continued to worsen, with 627 smuggling incidents in the first three months of 2025. The report did note, however, that new systems deployed by the IDF in the last month have led to a recent decrease. It did not elaborate on what these systems are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">MK Tzvi Sukkot requested the committee meeting of the Religious Zionism party, who did not mince words.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u201cFor the last two years, there has been a flood from the Egyptian border that does not stop. It\u2019s possible that drones loaded with weapons are passing now and this is happening unhindered. The security bodies are not managing to touch this,\u201d Sukkot said, adding that they caught only \u201ca few.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">\u00a0\u201cWe are in a situation where the sovereign State of Israel, after it experienced the most terrible massacre of all time, allows terror organizations to smuggle quantities of weapons into the borders of the state,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">A\u00a0 Sept. 30 report in\u00a0<em>Israel Hayom<\/em>\u00a0provided a snapshot of the daily intensity of the smuggling operations. During a Cabinet meeting that day, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister\u2019s Office Almog Cohen revealed that there were 138 drone crossings from Egypt into Israel in a single 24-hour period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Cohen stated that these drones are smuggling both narcotics and heavy weapons, including MAG machine guns, M-16s, and Kalashnikovs,\u00a0 some of which arrive at terror organizations in Judea and Samaria.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">In response, Cohen demanded an immediate change in the rules of engagement to \u201cshoot to kill\u201d the smugglers, calling their actions \u201caiding the enemy in wartime.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/me.jnsi.org\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Yaakov-Lappin-cropped-1-480x480.jpg\" width=\"20%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em><strong>Yaakov Lappin<\/strong> is an Israel-based military affairs correspondent and analyst. He is the in-house analyst at the Miryam Institute; a research associate at the Alma Research and Education Center; and a research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. He is a frequent guest commentator on international television news networks, including Sky News and i24 News. Lappin is the author of Virtual Caliphate: Exposing the Islamist State on the Internet. Follow him at: www.patreon.com\/yaakovlappin.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drone arm-smuggling from Egypt \u2018constitutes a real security threat\u2019 Yaakov Lappin A former Mossad official tells JNS that the &#8220;complete helplessness&#8221; of Israel&#8217;s legal system has enabled &#8220;anarchy&#8221; on the Israeli-Egyptian border. IDF troops display some of the arms smuggled by drones across the Egyptian border to Israel earlier this year. Credit: IDF. Israel is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125254"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125254"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125268,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125254\/revisions\/125268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}