Gaza's threat map was often presented at the political level – that is, to the defense minister and the prime minister
The existence of the largest terror tunnel in the Gaza Strip near the Erez border crossing, made public earlier this week, has been known to Israeli leaders for four years, the Ynet website reported on Thursday morning.
“There were many, many discussions about Hamas terror tunnels in the foreign affairs and security committees, but the government refused to address it,” said a former State Department member who took part in discussions on the issue.
According to him, “questions were raised as to why the terror tunnels were not attacked and why they (government members and security officials, editor's note) agreed to reach a ceasefire every time Hamas wanted it. The reason, he says, is that the executive wanted to keep calm above all. The defense establishment, for its part, rejected claims that the existence of the huge offensive tunnel near the Nativ Hathara Moshav and the Erez base was known. The Israeli army admitted that the location of the tunnel had been known for years, but its exact route was not.
The Israeli military also estimated that there are dozens more such tunnels near the fence that have not yet been discovered.
Security officials added that the Gaza Strip threat map was often presented at the political level, i.e. to the defense minister and the prime minister, and that they decided what information would be conveyed to other ministers. “Any situational assessment conducted by the Prime Minister or Minister of Defense of the Southern Command or Gaza Division begins with an update of any evolving threats, including these access tunnels,” they said. “In recent years, information about this tunnel has been communicated to the Prime Minister and the Defense Minister,” he said.