A number of Israeli police officers have been charged with taking bribes to allow truckers to bring smuggled goods from the West Bank into Israel, according to the Israeli Ministry of Justice.According to the indictments, Israeli border police officers would charge bribes of between NIS 1,000 and NIS 2,000 (around $300 – $500 USD) to allow trucks from the West Bank to enter Israel without being examined. These incidents, according to the Israeli government, are on the rise.
Although Israeli officials have claimed that the massive Wall and border-crossing style checkpoints that they have constructed in the West Bank are for ‘security reasons’, the wide-scale smuggling operations have not resulted in any attacks inside Israel.
Moshe Saada, the Police Department head, stated, ‘We have seen that there are officers who can be bribed to enable trucks and people to enter without checks, supervision or controls. This could also be used to bring terrorists into the country.’ No incidents of that type have been reported.
Among the smuggled items are tens of thousands of eggs which were brought into Israel through the Atarot checkpoint. The commander of that checkpoint was charged last month for taking bribes to allow the eggs and other products to enter Israel without inspection.
Three officers and two security guards have been charged, after a month-long investigation by the Justice Department.
