Israeli Border Police officers have arrested a suspect who allegedly impersonated a member of the security forces to smuggle 21 Palestinians from Judea and Samaria across the Jewish state’s pre-1967 lines, the Israel Police said on Thursday.
The suspect, an Israeli in his 30s from the Arab-majority Beit Hanina neighborhood in northern Jerusalem, is accused of operating a network that transported Palestinian infiltrators.
An investigation found that the suspect wore security-force uniforms and modified a commercial van with flashing identification lights to resemble an official security vehicle. The suspect would approach checkpoints at high speed, creating the impression that he was on an urgent security mission, in an effort to avoid inspection.
The suspect was arrested earlier this week following intelligence provided by the Border Police Central District’s Major Crimes Unit, police said.
Officers ordered the driver to stop at a checkpoint in Judea and Samaria, but he fled, triggering a pursuit that ended with a foot chase.
A search of the vehicle uncovered 21 Palestinians without permits concealed behind a false wall that had been installed to facilitate the smuggling operation.
The suspect and the 21 Palestinians were transferred to the Border Police Central Major Crimes Unit for questioning.
Earlier this week, the Israel Defense Forces arrested about 30 Palestinians suspected of smuggling infiltrators into Israeli cities during a large-scale operation in northern Samaria, the military said on Tuesday.
Soldiers operating under the IDF’s Ephraim Brigade conducted raids in villages along the Samaria security barrier and targeted infrastructure used to facilitate illegal crossings into Israel’s pre-1967 borders, it stated.
The operation took place in and around Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Shuweika and nearby Palestinian Authority cities and villages.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich last year called for tougher enforcement against Israelis who employ Palestinians illegally.
Smotrich spoke three days after a Palestinian infiltrator murdered two Israeli civilians and wounded two others in a series of attacks in and around the northern city of Beit She’an.
“Do not employ illegal residents,” Smotrich said. “This is the murder of Jews.”
He also called for action at the state level. “This is partly the IDF, but mainly the Israel Police, regarding the phenomenon of illegal residents. All of these measures together reduce the risks,” he said.
