IOF accidentally reveals secret bases in online map
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) Home Front Command posted on its website recently a map with precise locations of most of Israel’s bases, Israeli Haaretz revealed on Tuesday.
The map was posted to the National Emergency Portal site as part of the command’s involvement in Israel’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Haaretz.
The map showed not only COVID-19 testing centers in residential communities across ‘Israel’, but also, until the additional information was removed after the newspaper alerted the forces to the error, IOF facilities including bases of the Israel Air Force and of Military Intelligence.
The map was detailed enough to include boundaries and names of the bases.
When Haaretz reached out to the IOF Spokesperson’s Unit for comment, the IOF admitted to the mistake, and said that it was removed from the site and replaced with a version without the sensitive information.
In a statement, it added the map is from “a civilian website that provides global public services for making maps accessible around the world and in Israel. Marking the IDF camps and bases was not done by the military, but copied from the existing map on the website.”
Apparently, the locations of the coronavirus testing sites at the secret bases were not placed on the map by military officials.
The IOF usually does not publish the locations or boundaries of its bases out of caution that they may be targeted, Haaretz pointed out.
Further, providing details of secret bases can create operational security concerns for the soldiers on base, as the additional information can be used by foreign intelligence services to target them, it added.
