‘Nothing learned from Oct. 7th’: Major security breach at top IDF base

Undercover IDF team infiltrates sensitive military base, easily obtaining classified materials.

By World Israel News Staff

A major security failure at a sensitive army base has sparked criticism of the military’s alleged complacency around security procedures, even in the wake of the October 7th terror onslaught.

In May, an undercover IDF audit team that regularly performs security checks at bases around the country was able to successfully infiltrate a base used by the elite 8200 cyberunit.

According to Hebrew-language media reports, inspectors from the audit team simply claimed that they were senior officers when they reached the gate and were granted entry to the secret compound.

The inspectors were not asked to show any proof of their identities, in direct violation of the IDF’s security procedures.

They were able to wander around the base for some three hours without being questioned, entering areas used by operational teams.

Most seriously, the team was able to access computers containing classified material, which they then collected.

Due to the extent of the security failures, the audit team stopped the inspection and immediately informed senior commanders of what had occurred.

But, according to a report from Yediot Aharonot, the army did not take the incident seriously.

Some 30 soldiers were singled out for their negligence or failure to perform their duties, but punitive measures were mild, including verbal reprimands and shortened vacations.

Notably, only troops that held ranks lower than Major were punished – signaling the army’s unwillingness to hold senior officers and commanders accountable for a lax security culture.

“Six months after the 7th of October, it seems that we have learned nothing,” a source in the Intelligence Corps told Yediot Aharonot.

In a statement, the IDF claimed that “the incident in question was investigated and all relevant parties were tried and punished. The findings of the inspection were passed on to the commanders for learning and improving the level of security at the base.”

Intelligence Corps sources noted that the failures would have had disastrous ramifications for Israel’s security, had it been criminals or terrorists who entered the base rather than an undercover inspection team.

Bad actors could have easily obtained sensitive materials, damaged the unit’s critical infrastructure, or physically harmed soldiers.