A major security breach took place in the Binyamin community of Na’ale late this past Friday night, in the southwestern Samaria Plain, as two masked Arabs managed to infiltrate the hamlet, steal property and escape.
Israel’s Channel 12 aired security footage of the intruders wandering freely between homes, apparently looking for soft targets to burglarize.
Channel 12 claimed the men went undetected for about three hours. The Binyamin Regional Council could not confirm how long the pair were inside the community, but it told JNS that at some point a resident noticed the interlopers and notified local officials.
Na’ale’s emergency security response team was activated, and Israel Defense Forces soldiers were dispatched, but the thieves managed to escape.
In a press statement following the incident, the council said it had pressured the IDF to reinforce its troop presence in the area.
The council said it was also working with the IDF to expedite the strengthening of Na’ale’s advanced technological security components, which it believes will significantly improve the community’s defenses.
According to the statement, “Security officials in the Binyamin Regional Council, along with the local councils and the regional army brigade, are working to draw conclusions from the event, extract lessons learned and improve the security response.”
In addition, a letter was sent by the council to local residents saying: “Protecting the community is our top priority. We are working day and night to improve security, with both visible and covert measures, and are taking steps to prevent further incidents.”
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit told JNS the army viewed the infiltration as a “serious incident.”
According to the spokesperson, “Upon receiving the report, IDF and police forces rushed to the scene and conducted searches together with local security teams until the presence of terrorists in the community was ruled out. As part of procedure, security cameras were reviewed, revealing that the suspects had broken into several homes in the community and stole property.”
The IDF said the event is under review.
A veteran Israeli security chief from the Binyamin area, who asked not to be identified by name, told JNS the infiltration is a stain on the community’s security team and proved it wasn’t on the ball.
He said that Na’ale was lucky this time, as the suspects were just thieves and were not planning on carrying out a major terrorist attack. “But next time could be very different if they don’t get their act together,” he said.
Nevertheless, he was confident that even as the residents of Judea and Samaria have been constantly living with these types of threats for many years, overall they are better prepared today to deal with attempted terrorist attacks, including infiltrations, than they were before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre.
“Before October 7, the simple problem which existed was the lack of various equipment, especially for surveillance. But now we have what we need,” he explained.
The security chief credited the IDF with stepping up in providing the necessary equipment, and thanked donors for answering the call to ramp up security.
He also said the country has learned about the importance of maintaining an Israeli presence in the field, especially through the expansion of communities and agricultural farms, throughout the region.
He added that while an Oct. 7-style attack in Judea and Samaria is not out of the question, it couldn’t be of similar severity.
“A different dynamic exists whereas in Gaza it was an invasion, here we are intertwined within the [Arab] villages,” he said.
He acknowledged that there has been an uptick in the local Arabs’ use of tactics such as drone technology, which they saw was working in Gaza, but nevertheless, “Overall the communities here have been adapting quite well.”
Na’ale is a secular urban-style community with 480 families, located eight miles northeast of Modi’in. Numerous community residents contacted by JNS declined to comment on the security incident.
