Official Israeli report reveals security gaps at Ben Gurion Airport

An official Israeli report, published on Tuesday, revealed security gaps at the David Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, which it said could allow what he called Israeli and non-Israeli criminals and terrorists to enter Israel.

This conclusion came in a report by State Comptroller Matnyahu Engelman in a report, according to the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz".

The observer said that the Israeli authorities were aware of several cases in which people entered the country taking advantage of these security gaps, although the true dimensions of the phenomenon were unknown.

The report, which remains in part confidential for reasons related to protecting Israel's security, and in the available part of the report did not reveal what these gaps are at Ben Gurion Airport, according to Haaretz, but the report is due to the fact that the airport authorities did not apply the procedures set by the Population and Immigration Authority in order to avoid gaps at the border crossings.

Border Inspector

According to Mtenyahu Engelman, the Border Control Department did not supervise the work of border inspectors at Ben Gurion Airport between 2020 and 2022, which he considered a major weakness.

The observer said it was not possible to know how many people had so far been able to pass through border control, taking advantage of security gaps and what their identity was.

In light of the report's findings, the State Comptroller recommended that cooperation between the Population and Immigration Authority and the Shin Bet security service be included in the legislation, but the latter responded that there was no need for new legislation at this stage, and that clarification of the procedures established by the Authority for Ben Gurion Airport remained sufficient.

It is noteworthy that the task of the State Comptroller in Israel is to monitor the executive branch, local authorities and other public bodies established by law, and the State Comptroller is elected by secret vote by members of the Knesset (parliament) for one term, for a period of 7 years, according to the Knesset website.