Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged Wednesday to secure Israel’s eastern border with Jordan as terrorists escalate efforts to move arms across the border into the Palestinian Authority, aided and abetted by Iran.
During a visit to the area Netanyahu and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich inspected an exhibit of the war materiel and capabilities of the units active in the Jordan Valley sector, as well as weapons seized in various operations.
“We are in a multi-front war. Unfortunately, we lost two fighters in Rafah today. We send heartfelt condolences to their families,” Netanyahu said.
“In this multi-front fight, we also know that we must secure our eastern border with Jordan. This is a border of peace. We are cooperating with the Kingdom of Jordan to make sure it stays that way.
“But the challenges have grown lately. There is an effort to smuggle terrorists and war materiel across the Jordan into Judea and Samaria and into Israel’s cities. We are working here in cooperation with all elements in order to stop this,” Netanyahu said.
Three Israeli civilian guards at the Allenby Crossing between Israel and Jordan were murdered this past Sunday by a terrorist posing as a humanitarian aid truck driver. The terrorist, a Jordanian national, managed to hide a handgun in the cab of his truck and opened fire before a security check could be carried out on the vehicle. The killer was neutralized and security forces scanned the area to rule out the presence of additional threats.
Further south, on Monday Israeli security forces foiled an attempt to transport a cache of 74 Glock handguns and 61 magazines from Jordan into Israel via the Yitzhak Rabin Crossing near Eilat.
IDF soldiers from the Darom District Defense Unit and customs inspectors discovered the arms cache inside a Mitsubishi at the crossing during a routine search prior to allowing the vehicle to enter Israel from Jordan, police said.
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“We will work here to construct a stronger barrier against smuggling attempts,” Netanyahu said.
“We are doing so in coordination with our neighbors. It is important to us to ensure that this border remain a border of peace – peace and security,” he added.
Netanyahu and Smotrich were briefed by IDF Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram, Head of Central Command Maj.-Gen. Avi Bluth and Jordan Valley Brigade Commander Col. Aviv Amir, and met with fighters from the Kfir Brigade Lions of the Jordan Battalion and the Prison Service Masada Unit.
