Israeli army admits to operational failures in deadly Egypt incident

The Israeli army published on Tuesday its investigation into the June 3 shooting incident at the Egyptian border, where an Egyptian border policeman killed three IDF soldiers on the Israeli side, revealing a series of operational errors on the part of the military units stationed at the scene.

According to the IDF probe, the Egyptian policeman was probably familiar with the movements of the Israeli forces and knew about a small emergency opening in the fence that was sealed with only plastic handcuffs. The two Israeli soldiers stationed near the fence at the time — Lia Ben Nun and Uri Itzhak Ilouz — apparently did not know about the small opening. Only the fighters of IDF units specialized in thwarting drug smuggling from Egypt were informed about it. The Egyptian assailant entered Israeli territory and marched a few kilometers until reaching the isolated post of Ben Nun and Ilouz, where he shot and killed both.

The bodies of Ben Nun and Ilouz were discovered by other IDF soldiers only two hours later, prompting them to go out on a manhunt after the policeman. The investigation by the army revealed that some of the soldiers tracking the assailant did not wear helmets. One of the soldiers — Ohad Dahan — was shot and killed by the assailant in an exchange of fire. The probe found that the IDF soldiers operated correctly. 

The probe criticized the procedure of assigning two soldiers (Ben Nun and Ilouz) to an isolated post for a long period of 12 hours. It also criticized the decision banning the use of phones in operational isolated posts and found some of the communication procedures between the different units deployed in the area were faulty.

The probe recommended not only changes in operational procedures but also personal punishments. Commander of the Faran Brigade Col. Ido Saad will be removed from his position and transferred to another. Commander of the 80th Division — which is responsible for the section with the Egyptian border — Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen will be reprimanded for his overall responsibility for the incident. The Cheetah Battalion commander, Lt. Col. Ivan Cohn, will be reprimanded for his responsibility for implementing operational concepts. His promotion will be delayed for five years. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi accepted the conclusions of the investigation in full, including the personal punishments.

The IDF now waits for the Egyptian army to clarify how the Egyptian policeman knew about the opening in the fence. Shortly after the incident, Egyptian authorities claimed the policeman entered Israeli territory chasing drug smugglers, but later on Egyptian security officials said that the assailant operated on his own. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke on the phone three days after the incident. Both leaders agreed to work together to clarify the circumstances of the incident.