IDF to punish several officers for negligence after mass theft of ammo from base
Commander of Givati Brigade formally cautioned; several more officers jailed or dismissed from roles after 30,000 rounds stolen from Sde Teiman in October
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday said it would be punishing several officers for “several errors and faults” surrounding the theft of thousands of rounds of ammunition from an army base in southern Israel in October.
Some 30,000 bullets — mostly 5.56-millimeter rounds — were stolen from the Sde Teiman base on October 21. Eight Bedouin Israeli men were arrested last month over the robbery, and some of the ammunition was recovered.
The IDF wrapped up its final probe into the theft on Thursday, and said it would be punishing several officers for their negligence that led to the theft at the base, which also houses the Givati Brigade headquarters.
The commander of the Givati Brigade, Col. Eliad Maor was formally cautioned by the commander of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano.
Meanwhile, the commander of the ammunition storage complex, an officer with the rank of major, was sentenced to five days in military jail; the chief security officer of the base, a lieutenant, was dismissed from his position; the commander of the security team during the incident, another lieutenant, was to be jailed for 18 days; and the commander of the security team when the break-in was later identified, also a lieutenant, was sentenced to remain 35 days on base.
Another soldier on the security team, a staff sergeant, was sentenced to remain on his base for 28 days over the theft.
A panel of experts who investigated the case issued a list of recommendations to prevent such thefts from recurring, the IDF added.
The panel said the officers had “acted in an unprofessional manner and did not fulfill their responsibilities, which enabled the theft of the ammunition.”
For years, the military has struggled with thefts from its bases, both by soldiers — who have stolen everything from bullets and missiles to army jeeps — and by criminal gangs.
Security officials fear that stolen ammunition could be used in terror attacks. In March, almost a thousand stolen IDF bullets were found on Islamic State-inspired gunmen who killed two Border Police officers in a terror attack in Hadera.
Thousands of stolen army bullets have also been seized at checkpoints from people heading from Israel into the West Bank in recent months.
