Recruits and staff at the IDF Michve Allon training base located in the Upper Galilee were returned to the base on Sunday despite a severe bedbug outbreak that has caused significant discomfort.
The infestation was identified last week, prompting military officials to send personnel home so the base could be fumigated. However, soldiers were ordered back before the extermination was completed.
A female soldier serving as a basic training commander told Ynet, “At first, the commanders acted logically and released us, but then the logic ran out and they brought us back.
"Not all the buildings were fumigated, and now the soldiers are trying to handle the infestation themselves. We’re wrapping mattresses in plastic so we can sleep on them, and when we wake up in the morning, we see blood stains from the scratching.”
Michve Allon base trains soldiers from special population groups, including many lone soldiers without family support, many of whom immigrated to Israel without knowing Hebrew.
This, the training commander says, makes the situation harder for them. “It’s not like ordinary soldiers who can go home and have their parents help deal with it,” she said. “Some of them don’t even have a washing machine at home to clean their clothes or bedding that’s infested with bedbugs."
Did you tell that to the superiors who ordered you to return?
“They understand the problem, but they say it’s not their decision to send us back or to handle the fumigation."
IDF spokesperson said in response: “Following complaints from soldiers about bedbugs at the Michve Allon base, inspections were carried out last week by military health officials, and pest control teams were deployed to parts of the base.
"In the coming days, fumigation will be completed throughout the base according to an approved plan. Soldiers who were bitten received medical care from the base clinic. Additional fumigation will be carried out to prevent further infestation."