Israel accidentally reveals location of secret military bases
Israel accidentally reveals location of secret military bases online as it publishes online map of coronavirus testing facilities
- Map showed not just civilian testing cites but bases where soldiers get tested
- It included names, locations and exact perimeters of the sensitive military sites
- Details would not normally be revealed due to fears of possible rocket attacks
Israel’s military has made a major security blunder by publishing a map of coronavirus testing sites that gave away the location of secretive bases.
The map showed not only civilian testing sites but military bases where soldiers from Israel’s Defence Forces might be screened for Covid-19.
It included the names, locations and exact perimeters of numerous bases, including facilities belonging to the Israeli air force and military intelligence services.
The sensitive details were only taken down by Israel’s Defence Forces after newspaper Haaretz alerted them to the error.
A man gets a swab at one of Israel’s testing sites, namely Ben Gurion International Airport – which would have appeared on the offending map along with secretive military bases
The Israeli military’s Home Front Command is believed to have made the blunder, posting the map to the country’s National Emergency Portal.
A military spokesman said the map had been copied from a civilian website that ‘provides global public services around the world and in Israel’.
They said that ‘marking the IDF camps and bases was not done by the military, but copied from the existing map on the website’.
Haaretz suggested that this could have been because of the military’s co-operation with civilian agencies fighting the pandemic, meaning civilians might have been involved in making the map.
The locations of the bases in question would not normally be revealed because of fears of rocket attacks by Israel’s enemies.
The security risk previously prompted Israeli defence chiefs to ban their troops from playing Pokemon Go over fears that army base locations would be revealed.
An Israeli military medic prepares to administer a vaccine in Rishon Lezion – with military personnel working with civilian agencies fighting the pandemic
Soldiers were warned in 2016 that the game activates cameras and location services which could be used by Israel’s enemies to extract sensitive information.
Military chiefs also feared that soldiers would download a fake version of Pokemon Go that would hack information from their phones.
Israel has also brought down drones belonging to Iran-backed Hezbollah after they allegedly strayed into Israeli airspace.
Some military personnel have been involved in Israel’s world-leading vaccine roll-out which has supplied around 60 per cent of the population with a first dose.
More than half of the country has been fully vaccinated, giving millions of people access to a ‘green pass’ in a scheme being closely watched abroad.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had hoped the vaccine drive would propel him to victory in snap elections after years of political deadlock.
But the election appears to have produced another stalemate, with Netanyahu winning the most seats but his path to a majority coalition uncertain.
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