Al-Hayeb. 'Got off very easy'
Photo: Yaron Brenner
IDF sensitivity
IDF brass has known about drug smuggling for years, but have chosen to ignore it so as not to offend the Bedouin community
Lieutenant Colonel Omar al-Hayeb has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for espionage and drug trafficking. Given the severity of the crimes, the blow to national security, human life and Israeli society through the cynical, ongoing misuse use of the IDF uniform and his senior rank, al-Hayeb got off very easy.
Espionage
Hanan Greenberg
Decorated Bedouin officer, who was found guilty of severe espionage, drug trafficking, sentenced to 15 years in Jail, to be dismissed from army
Since the early 1980s the IDF's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) has made a great effort to fight drug trafficking by IDF soldiers. In the framework of this effort, every year the division redefines its "human targets" – central figures the keeps a particularly close eye on. The names change all the time, but one name has consistently appeared as the biggest drug smuggler of them all: al-Hayeb.
Hundreds of pages of top-secret intelligence suggest that al-Hayeb used both the IDF and his sappers' unit as his own private property. According to the intelligence information, every time al-Hayeb wanted to smuggle drugs across the border, he or one of his men would sound the alarm of a suspected infiltration at another point along the border. While IDF forces were searching for the fictitious infiltrator, hundreds of kilograms of drugs found their way to Israel.
Two battles
But every time the CID tried to turn the information into legal evidence, they were forced to fight a war on two fronts. One was against the tribal loyalty to al-Hayeb felt by many sappers, and the great respect they felt for him individually. It didn't matter what tricks they used – al-Hayeb was always one step ahead.
The second battle was much more frustrating and demoralizing. The CID passed their findings many times to senior IDF brass, but due to concerns about offending the Bedouin community, support was given to the most serious of crimes. There is no question that one day will strike a blow at our national security, that would flow from the will of drug smugglers to fulfil the demands of their real boss – Hizbullah.
Things reached such a level that in 1993 several CID soldiers sent an angry letter to the head of the IDF northern command about the matter and pointed out al-Hayeb's activities. There was simply no one to talk to. Reports may say that el-Hayeb's arrest in 2002 "was a shock to the IDF," but it is pure nonsense. Everyone – from the defense minister down – knew full well about the difficult problem of the sappers' units, and chose to turn a blind eye.
Only when a Hizbullah terrorist was caught with a mobile phone that had been purchased in Israel did the CID, the police and the Shin Bet open a joint investigation that finally led to al-Hayeb's arrest and eventual conviction.
David's harp
After this episode the CID conducted another two-pronged investigation, called "David's Harp." That investigation led to the arrests of many sappers and their drug smuggling partners, Jews and Bedouins alike. But here, too, these incidents are dealt with hesitantly, with a great effort made to show sensitivity for the honor of the Bedouin community.
Despite several successes here and there, make no mistake about it: The problem is far from being solved. The disease of drug smuggling across the northern and southern borers is a real danger to the security of the State of Israel – both because of the reality of drug smuggling itself, but also because of the ties between drug smugglers and terrorist elements.
Cultural sensitivity stopped the IDF from publicizing information about the drastic drop in smuggling after the troublesome unit was removed from Gaza following last year's disengagement. This sensitivity also prevents the IDF from taking steps to excise the problem from its very roots- for example, the right of the sappers' unit to choose its members, assign them, and determine their length of service.
Ronen Bergman served in the IDF Criminal Investigation Unit during the 1990s
