The Israel Police filed an indictment on Wednesday with the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court against a 19-year-old female IDF soldier and her 21-year-old partner, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Karnei Shomron, for smuggling Palestinians into Israel without permits.
The smuggling occurred via the Maccabim West Bank checkpoint, and among those smuggled was a former Palestinian prisoner released as part of an agreement for the release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity in 2011.
The indictment includes 28 counts detailing how the soldier transported West Bank Palestinians in a private vehicle over several months into Israel alongside her partner. On one occasion, she smuggled them while wearing her IDF uniform. In return, she charged between 200 and 400 shekels from each, depending on the number of Palestinians she delivered each time, even on days when entry for West Bank residents was prohibited for security reasons during the war in Gaza.
The soldier, who still in her mandatory service, worked at a restaurant in Rishon Lezion which employed a West Bank Palestinian cook who also didn’t have a permit to enter the country. She and her partner drove the cook from his home to the restaurant and back. During these trips, they passed through the Maccabim checkpoint, hiding the cook and other Palestinians in the back seats of their vehicle.
Over time, the cook suggested that the accused transport other West Bank Palestinians in exchange for money, to which the soldier agreed. To execute this plan, the accused, her partner, and the Palestinians agreed on a meeting point, schedule, and destination. According to police investigators, the soldier and her partner earned tens of thousands of shekels from these smuggling activities.
Superintendent Avi Stern, head of the Border Police’s Jerusalem Division Investigative Department, told Ynet, "a few weeks ago, we received intelligence saying a female soldier was transporting Palestinians into Israel illegally. It was very surprising, as she didn’t fit the profile of someone involved in smuggling activities. We realized the soldier was engaging in criminal activity that posed a risk to public security. This is highly unusual."
According to him, the police arrested the West Bank residents after the suspects dropped them off of their vehicle. "During their interrogation, they revealed that they paid the soldier and her partner to smuggle them into Israel to work. They didn’t have entry or residency permits."
He explained, "We realized the soldier and her partner were using their Jewish identities to smuggle Palestinians into Israel." He added, "We decided to arrest them in their next trip along with the West Bank Palestinians as they attempted to infiltrate Israel. The arrest took place two and a half weeks ago when we started to recall the suspect’s steps using her phone location data and messages, which raised suspicions many such smuggling operations occurred.”
“We took footage from cameras at the checkpoint and on the nearby routes, uncovering many additional incidents. The suspects confessed to the crimes during her investigation,” he added.
The prosecution requested to detain the soldier and her partner until the end of the legal proceedings against them due to the severity of the offenses. The request noted the soldier and her partner were unaware of the Palestinians’ backgrounds before they smuggled them to Israel.
"The defendants risked the state's security during wartime when security guidelines required the state to halt the entry of West Bank Palestinians into Israel. They organized transportation into the state for many people whose nature is unknown for the sake of financial gain," the charges read.