Site of Beit Horon stabbings
Site of Beit Horon stabbingsHezki Ezra

In the wake of the recent stabbing attack in Beit Horon which claimed the life of 23-year-old Shlomit Krigman, Israel Police and the IDF investigated the circumstances of the attack.

In the report which followed the investigation, the IDF proposed that the security of the town be given over to the authority of the IDF. 

According to Army Radio, the IDF submitted the report and suggested they be entrusted with the security of the town which is strategically located on Highway 443. The decision however does not belong to the IDF alone, and the police have to sign off on it. The proposal is not only for the town of Beit Horon itself but for protecting the entire highway which connects Jerusalem to the Modi'in area. 

The highway has become a terrorist hot spot over the past few months, especially the area between Beit Horon and Jerusalem. Currently, the Border Police have been entrusted with protecting Beit Horon, and are under the authority of the police. The IDF prefers the force to be working under their authority.  

While the investigation is currently under the auspices of the Israel Security Agency, and is still ongoing, from what has been revealed, the entry point of the terrorists was an open and unwatched water drain in the security fence.

The terrorists apparently infiltrated through the drain, came through an olive field to the town and then carried out the attack after scaling a simple fence. 

The lack of coordination between the police force and the IDF may have caused this series of events to occur. The division of labor of security along the highway from the Ofer military base until the Maccabim checkpoint is split between the IDF and the police.