Head of the Samaria Council, Yossi Dagan, points out details from the latest State Comptroller's report, and says that the red flags revealed in the report pose a danger to public safety and likely led to the murderous attack in Holon, due to the ability of terrorists to move about freely.
"The State Comptroller's report, published only ten days ago, has proven that the claims we raise time and time again are just and correct. The report points to serious red flags, including the fact that a significant percentage of the checkpoints are open and are not used as permanent facilities, according to an assessment, while the IDF General Staff and Security Cabinet do not know about this. The immediate meaning of these findings is that terrorists are able to move freely in the areas of Judea and Samaria without any checks, and from there the path to an attack in the center of the country is much easier," says Dagan.
"If the State Comptroller’s conclusions regarding the way that the General Staff and Security Cabinet ignore the situation are in fact correct, things are much more serious, because they show a disconnect between the performance of the IDF command in the field and the political level that should be trusted with these types of decisions."
"If the terrorist who left a few days ago from Salfit, near Ariel, would have been checked at the checkpoint, as he should have been, Rina Daniv and Avraham Somechi would have been with us today and the murderous attack in Holon could have been prevented. This should not happen. All the checkpoints must be closed, as we have already demanded in the past."
Dagan thanked State Comptroller, Matanyahu Engelman, for his hard work and emphasized that his statements and those of the heads of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria regarding the security checkpoints have been proven to be true. He also thanked his friends, heads of the local councils and cities for the joint struggle to bring the security checkpoints back:
"I want to thank the State Comptroller who worked night and day to bring this report to a close, and has proven that the claims of the heads of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are correct. This is thanks my friends, Mayor of Ariel, Yair Chetboun, Mayor of Kedumim, Ozel Vatik and Mayor of Karnei Shomron, Yonatan Kuznitz, who are fighting together every day to bring back the security checkpoints and to save human lives here," said Dagan.
The State Comptroller's report, published last month and conducted from December 2022 to September 2023, examined the level of protection on the roads in Judea and Samaria and the response to residents following security incidents.
The report found that the IDF did not meet all the defense tasks it had set for itself, and about 14-57% of them had not been carried out according to plan. Most of the terrorists came from Jenin, Nablus and Ramallah, which do not have permanent checkpoints at the exits from these cities.
In addition, the report refers to other security issues in Judea and Samaria, such as the long wait for roads, such as the Hawara Bypass (32 years!), and that the response of the Shai Police District does not provide a quick and effective response to citizens, in addition to the fact that cellular coverage in Judea and Samaria is impaired.