Several military and police officers charged with corruption in multiple cases

State prosecutors filed indictments in the Central-Lod District Court on Monday against seven military and police officers on charges of taking bribes, theft by a public servant, money laundering, obstruction of justice, tax offenses, and other crimes.

The defendants, members of “operational units” in the IDF and police, “abused their office and their authorities” over the course of several months and pocketed sums of money and property amounting to tens of millions of shekels, the State Attorney’s Office said.

Most of the defendants laundered the money through cryptocurrency. State law enforcement agencies seized over NIS 50 million during the course of the investigation.

According to the indictment, three of the defendants sought to destroy evidence of their crimes after they discovered that an investigation was underway, and that one of the suspects had been arrested.

The indictment was based on a joint investigation by the Shin Bet, the Israel Police, IDF Military Police, and the Department for Internal Police Investigations in the State Attorney’s Office. The exact details of the criminal activity committed by the seven defendants were barred from publication by the court.

The State Attorney’s Office requested that the court keep four of the defendants in detention until the end of legal proceedings against them, and requested restricted release conditions against the other three.

Separately, multiple people were indicted for smuggling goods into the Gaza Strip on Monday.

In one case, a lieutenant in the IDF was indicted for smuggling contraband into the Gaza Strip in exchange for millions of shekels, the military announced.

Military prosecutors charged the officer, who served as a deputy company commander, with “aiding the enemy,” taking a bribe, smuggling goods under aggravated circumstances, and other offenses, following an investigation by the Military Police.

According to the indictment, in September 2025, the junior officer and others planned to smuggle a truck containing contraband into Gaza.

The lieutenant, who was stationed at the Kerem Shalom border crossing at the time, agreed to “exploit his military position, familiarity with procedures, and operational authority to allow the truck’s entry into the Strip, in exchange for payment of millions of shekels,” the military said.

On the evening of September 19, the truck arrived at Kerem Shalom. The lieutenant, who arrived in an army jeep, ordered soldiers at the crossing to allow the truck through as he escorted it into Gaza.

The military said the truck contained mobile phones, cigarettes, tobacco, silicone, solar panels, and “large quantities” of electric bicycles, all of which Israel currently bans from entering Gaza. Israel bans so-called “dual use” items, which have both civilian and military uses, from entering the Strip.

Those involved in the smuggling “received significant sums of money,” which was divided among them, with the lieutenant receiving approximately NIS 5 million, according to the IDF.

The military said it views the phenomenon of smuggling into Gaza “gravely, as it poses a risk to state security in general, and especially in cases where IDF personnel in the standing army or reserves are involved.”

In addition, a man from Kafr Kasim, Mundar Badir, 48, was indicted for being part of a Gaza smuggling operation, according to Hebrew media reports. Badir was alleged to have worked to procure the contraband and act as a liaison with people in Gaza. He was accused of helping smuggle cigarettes, and of attempting to smuggle generators, voltage converters, gas fittings, and SIM cards, with the aim of making millions of shekels per truck of stolen goods.

He was also charged with aiding the enemy during wartime and fraudulently obtaining goods in aggravating circumstances.

In February, state prosecutors filed charges against 15 suspects, among them IDF reservists, accused of taking part in a major smuggling ring that trafficked goods into the Gaza Strip.

That alleged smuggling ring is linked to Bezalel Zini, the brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini, who is thought to have helped the network’s members smuggle cigarettes, taking advantage of his IDF reserve service in Gaza.