site of Halamish terror attack
site of Halamish terror attackIDF spokesperson

An internal document from the Samaria Regional Council's security division revealed the existence of serious security failures in many Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

The document presents a series of significant gaps in the security systems of dozens of communities, the cost of which would total tens of millions of shekels.

On Friday night an Arab terrorist broke into the Samaria town of Neve Tzuf (Halamish) and murdered three members of the same family as they sat at the Shabbat table.

"In some of the council's communities, the security aפparatus is in bad shape and continues to deteriorate, due to the lack of a budget," the document states.

The Samaria Regional Council noted that a budget of NIS 43.7 million ($12.25 million) will enable the renewal of the security fences, security roads and security lights in the council's communities.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said that "the security elements in the communities and on the roads in Judea and Samaria are one big failure, although we warn all the responsible parties constantly about the lack of minimum resource allocation to protect the communities in Judea and Samaria. Unfortunately the defense establishment's [response] is not at the level it sets for itself."

Dagan emphasized, "some allocations were drastically cut just recently, and resources have even been diverted from Judea and Samaria to other areas. Even on the roads, despite all the budgetary promises that are supposed to go towards security elements such as lighting and cellular reception on threatened routes, nothing happens.. You would think there are traffic jam that prevent the transfer of life-saving budgets."

He said that promises for increased security funding are made from today to tomorrow after every deadly terrorist attack, but they are never fulfilled.

"When the next attack comes, we hold our heads in our hands and say 'another terrorist attack that could have been avoided.' This is a security omission from A to Z and I demand and beg the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister, and the Finance Minister - Enough! Protect our lives."