Jet ski intruder in Eilat
Jet ski enters Israeli territorial waters off of southern town of Eilat; navy gives chase but can’t catch intruder; security source calls mishap ‘worrying’
EILAT - A jet ski from Jordan penetrated on Saturday the territorial waters off the coast of the southern town of Eilat and was motoring about for 10 minutes until the intruder realized that the navy was giving chase.
The uninvited guest then returned to Jordanian waters where he was nabbed by that country’s coast guard.
The Eilat and Aqaba Coasts are separated by two and a half kilometers (about 1.5 miles) of water – a distance that a jet ski can cross in two minutes.
Residents alarmed
One of the scenarios that security forces in Eilat train for is a terrorist crossing over from Jordan on a boat. The fact that someone could motor around in a jet ski and not get caught “raises a lot of worries,” said a security source.
“I don’t know if it was a mishap because navy lookouts saw him as soon as he crossed into territorial waters,” said the source, “but the bottom line is that he was not caught.”
Residents of Eilat were also alarmed.
“What if he was a terrorist,” asked on resident. “What if he came to gather intelligence? How did Israel not catch him?”
An IDF spokesman issued the following response: “Navy forces spotted a jet sky crossing into Israeli territory from the East. A navy boat and a police boat approached the area and noticed it was an innocent jet sky.”
However, the IDF refused to elaborate on how soldiers and police officers realized the jet sky was innocent and why the boats were unable to detain the intruder.
