Gaza shakes the Shin Bet: a staggering sum found in the possession of an officer accused of smuggling

A senior official in Israel’s Shin Bet has been accused of smuggling goods into Gaza after a massive sum of money was found in his possession.

A senior member of the Israeli General Security Service (Shin Bet) has been charged with smuggling goods into the Gaza Strip after authorities discovered 6.5 million Israeli shekels (2.1 million US dollars) in his possession.

The newspaper Haaretz, citing a police source, reported that the officer, whose name has not been disclosed, is suspected of having smuggled equipment worth millions of shekels through trucks headed to the enclave. He faces a serious charge of aiding Hamas during wartime.

Earlier this month, similar charges were brought against Bezalel Zini, the brother of the head of the Shin Bet, who is accused of abusing his authorization to enter Gaza in order to smuggle cigarettes into the territory on three occasions, receiving a total of 365,000 shekels (117,405 US dollars).

In addition to Bezalel Zini, charges were also filed against Aviel Ben David, a reservist in the same unit, and Amir Dov Halperin, an associate of Ben David. Both are alleged to have smuggled cigarettes into the enclave five times.

Investigators began probing Zini after uncovering a broader smuggling network connected to his case, involving 12 individuals, including reserve soldiers in the Israeli army.