Israeli Border Police on Tuesday detained a Palestinian illegal at a construction site near the home of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir.
The infiltrator, from the terrorist hub of Tulkarem in Samaria, was arrested along with his employer, a resident of the Arab-Israeli city of Qalansawe, located east of Netanya, the Israel Police said.
Officers were called after Zamir’s security detail reported hearing shouting in Arabic from the building site, which is located “especially close” to the chief of staff’s home, according to a report by Channel 12 News.
“The illegal infiltrator and the suspect who employed him were arrested and transferred for questioning at a police station, and their case will continue to be handled in accordance with the law,” police stated.
“Police emphasize that providing assistance to illegal residents, through employment, lodging or transportation, poses a potential security risk and may serve as infrastructure for terrorism; therefore, it is enforced firmly and with zero tolerance, anywhere and at any time,” it added.
Last year, Zamir’s home was briefly declared a closed military zone after an act of vandalism by anti-war protesters exposed “serious security failures” that could have enabled attacks by “hostile elements.”
The move came after activists from the far-left Standing Together NGO, accompanied by members of the Soldiers for Hostages group, doused Zamir’s home with red paint on Aug. 31.
Zamir reportedly had the closure lifted after a day to avoid causing hardship to his neighbors, but security was significantly reinforced.
Approximately 40,000 Arabs living in Palestinian Authority-controlled towns and cities in Judea and Samaria enter pre-1967 Israel via the porous security barrier every month, according to official figures.
While most Palestinians who breach the security fence do so in search of work, others do so seeking to gather intelligence or to carry out terrorist attacks.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Dec. 29 called for upping enforcement against Israelis who employ Palestinians illegally.
Smotrich spoke three days after a Palestinian terrorist murdered two Israeli civilians and wounded two others in a series of attacks in and around the northern city of Beit She’an.
The terrorist—identified as a 37-year-old who was working in pre-1967 Israel illegally—reportedly fled using his employer’s vehicle after the murder spree and was later shot and arrested.
Smotrich urged personal responsibility, warning all Israelis against employing Palestinian infiltrators. Doing so was not only illegal, he stressed, but implicated employers in the case of a terrorist attack.
“Do not employ illegal residents,” he said. “This is the murder of Jews.”
