State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman's latest report, released on Tuesday, outlined a troubling gap in the security measures used in communities in Judea and Samaria.
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The IDF regional divisions are responsible for protecting some 900,000 Israelis living in 399 communities in Judea and Samaria and the so-called "seam zone" – a term used to refer to areas east of the Green Line and west of the Jerusalem-adjacent security fence.
East community also has its own civilian security squad, which works in tandem with the military and serves as the first-response team in case of terrorist infiltration, keeping assailants until IDF troops arrive.
The Defense Ministry allocates these squads the infrastructure and gear required to operate, from paving roads and setting up installations, to self-defense equipment.
The state comptroller's audit of these measures took place between January 2020 and October 2021. It included a review of malfunctions discovered in the previous report on the issue.
The review included the IDF's Northern, Central, Southern, and Home Front commands, as well as GOC Army Headquarters and the Operations Directorate, the Settlement Division at the Defense Ministry, the Israel Police, and the Mateh Binyamin and Mount Hebron regional councils.
The report found that 17 communities that qualified to have their own security fence do not have one, and of 104 communities that do have welded fences. Fourteen were declared faulty by a military security coordinator and another 28 said their fences were substandard.
Other communities possess patrol routes inadequate for security vehicles, as well as inadequate security lighting and guard posts.
In addition, the Israeli military's Home Front Command was supposed to have received a budget of 54 million shekels ($15.8 million) for a program to improve security for Israeli communities in northern Israel, but it only received 34 million shekels ($9.9 million), the report found.
The plan to address security gaps for communities in Judea and Samaria was not discussed by the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet and received no budget at all, the audit found, despite the area being under the highest threat and requiring 470 million shekels- ($137.6 million-) worth of investment in security projects.
The report also highlighted a problem with the emergency communications systems that link civilian security organizations in Judea and Samaria to the military. The faults, the report warned, could delay the response of security forces during an infiltration incident, and harm coordination between them "to the point of endangering human lives."
The report stated the IDF also had not provided a sufficient number of encrypted radio devices to civilian security guards in the communities, meaning that they will not be able to coordinate their movements with security forces during emergencies.
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The IDF said it would study the findings.
The Israel Police said that they "lend great importance to equipping, strengthening and force-building efforts with the aim of improving the quality of the manpower and upgrading equipment. The Israel Police seek to ensure solid policing services for the Israeli public while maintaining the safety and security of the police personnel."
Efrat Regional Council Head Oded Revivi called the findings "a failure by the state – not one that should be attributed to the police and IDF officers, who are doing everything they can with the little they are given.
"The state has to assume responsibility for the residents of Judea and Samaria," he continued. "We pay taxes, serve in the reserves, and rally to help in any state challenge. Population growth requires the state to allocate resources respectively.
"It is sad and painful to repeatedly find that there are still those who see us as second-class citizens – the time has come to recognize us as equal-rights citizens."
JNS.org contributed to this report.
