Tel Aviv: Vigilant guards foil attempt by contract worker to enter sensitive IDF base

An Armenian contract worker was arrested last week after trying to enter an IDF intelligence base in central Israel with a fake ID, it has been cleared for publication. 

The man, who is employed by a manpower company providing catering services at a top secret base of the Military Intelligence Directorate (MID), arrived at the base’s entrance and said he was replacing another employee who did not show up for work that day.

The man aroused the suspicion of the guards, who closely examined his ID only to learn it belonged to someone else and that the ID photo had been replaced. 

The guards called the police, and officers arrived at the base to arrest the man and take him for questioning.

The IDF is now investigating whether other outside contract workers were able to infiltrate sensitive intelligence bases in a similar manner.

Following this incident, as well as the theft of weapons from a Givati Brigade base in southern Israel several months ago, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot ordered to reexamine contracts with all manpower contractors working with the IDF and ensue all of their employees get security clearance before being allowed into IDF bases in the future.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in response, “The incident was discovered thanks to the vigilance of the guards in one of the MID’s bases. The police have been entrusted with investigating the incident in order to examine additional cases of fake ID usage.”