Dozens of guns stolen from IDF armory; soldiers, police search for culprits

Approximately 30 guns were stolen from an armory on a military base in southern Israel, the army discovered Sunday, prompting a search for the weapons and the thieves.

IDF soldiers and Israel Police officers launched a search of the area immediately surrounding the base looking for “the stolen guns and the perpetrators of the crime,” an army spokesperson said.

The head of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, appointed a senior officer — Col. Itai Brinn — to lead a team that will investigate the theft. In addition, the IDF Military Police launched its own investigation into the incident.

As the case is under investigation, the details of the theft — notably which base was involved — are being kept secret, the army says.

It was not immediately clear if the guns were stolen on Sunday or if the army only discovered their theft on Sunday.

According to Walla news, there were no signs of a break-in at the armory, leading to the assumption that the thieves had help from a soldier or soldiers serving on the base.

Guns and other weapons are occasionally stolen from army bases, both by soldiers serving on them and by residents of surrounding communities.

In order to crack down on the phenomenon of stolen military weapons, the army announced last week that soldiers would be allowed to open fire at thieves stealing equipment from army bases and training fields. Soldiers are ordered only to shoot at the thieves’ legs or feet, in order to stop, but not kill them. In the past, soldiers could only call on the burglars to stop or chase after them.

In July, an IDF officer, his driver and his driver’s father were arrested for stealing dozens of grenades and missiles from a military base in the Negev Desert.

The 24-year-old company commander, Cpt. Shadi Bashir, along with the enlisted soldier who acted as his driver, Adi Zoabi, were arrested following an intensive three-month investigation.

According to investigators, Zoabi broke into an armory on the base in late April and stole fragmentation grenades and at least two different types of missiles, the Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW) and the Man-portable Anti-Tank, Anti-DOoR (MATADOR).

The captain was allegedly present at the time of the theft and helped his driver afterwards sell the weapons to his father, Muhammad Zoabi, who has a criminal background, police said.