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.
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.
“The 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,” Ailam said.
“There 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,” he warned.
The former Mossad official explained that the problem is exacerbated because it does not fall under the clear jurisdiction of any single security branch.
“Since 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,” he stated.
To counter the threat, Ailam outlined a plan of action. First, he called for the immediate establishment of a “dedicated interdisciplinary body to deal with the phenomenon, which will concentrate all intelligence and coordinate the implementation.”
Additionally, Ailam said, Israel must “invest in technological developments that allow monitoring and treatment of drones, including ‘masking’ [jamming] possibilities in vulnerable areas.”
The plan must also address the drone operators’ 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.
Ailam called for Israel to also use its diplomatic leverage, specifically linking the issue to the reconstruction of Gaza. “The 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 ‘rehabilitation’ of Gaza,” he said.
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.
An Oct. 15 report by Ynet detailed 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.
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.
The data, provided by the Ramat Negev Regional Council, which came from the IDF’s southern territorial Division 80, showed how the threat began to spiral out of control in 2024.
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.
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.
MK Tzvi Sukkot requested the committee meeting of the Religious Zionism party, who did not mince words.
“For the last two years, there has been a flood from the Egyptian border that does not stop. It’s possible that drones loaded with weapons are passing now and this is happening unhindered. The security bodies are not managing to touch this,” Sukkot said, adding that they caught only “a few.”
“We 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,” he said.
A Sept. 30 report in Israel Hayom provided a snapshot of the daily intensity of the smuggling operations. During a Cabinet meeting that day, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Almog Cohen revealed that there were 138 drone crossings from Egypt into Israel in a single 24-hour period.
Cohen stated that these drones are smuggling both narcotics and heavy weapons, including MAG machine guns, M-16s, and Kalashnikovs, some of which arrive at terror organizations in Judea and Samaria.
In response, Cohen demanded an immediate change in the rules of engagement to “shoot to kill” the smugglers, calling their actions “aiding the enemy in wartime.”
