Israeli woman who crossed border claims Syrians tried to use her in plot against IDF

The woman jumped the fence in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria in February.

By World Israel News Staff

The still-unidentified Israeli woman who crossed the Israeli border into Syria said that the Syrians wanted her to lead them back to an IDF outpost so that they could capture Israeli soldiers, she claims, according to Saturday reports.

She refused their demand and was sent to a prison in Damascus where she was held for 16 days before Israel negotiated a prisoner exchange with Russia as meditators.

Her statement was included as part of charges filed against her on March 7 at the Magistrate’s Court in Nazareth for leaving the country illegally. The indictment’s contents was published this week.

The woman, 25, is said to suffer from mental-health issues and appears to have an obsession with crossing the border into an enemy country. She had previously tried to cross the borders to the Gaza Strip and Jordan.

She was returned from Syria last month as part of a deal that is said to have included Israel paying Russia $1.2 million to supply Syria with coronavirus vaccines.

Israel also released two Syrian prisoners and commuted the sentence of a third person from the Druze town of Majdal Shams on the Syrian border, who had been convicted of anti-Israel incitement.

The woman jumped the fence in the demilitarized zone between Israel and Syria in February. She walked through the steep mountain area near Mount Hermon where there is no border fence.

After arriving in a Syrian village near the border with Israel, the locals discovered that she was Israeli and handed her over to the Syrian security forces. Israel found out about the incident via the Russian government.

After being interrogated by the Syrians, they soon realized that she was not a spy and decided to reach a deal brokered by Moscow.

The IDF reevaluated their border security following the incident. It was determined that she was able to evade IDF detection as soldiers are trained to look for people coming into Israel and not the other way around.