The IDF has widened its Personal Security Branch's remit to protect troops and senior officials in Israel and abroad from terrorism, espionage, cyberattacks and doxxing. The branch says its app lets soldiers check routes and get real-time threat guidance.
The branch was established after a passenger's medical emergency forced a commercial flight carrying an Israeli soldier to land in Shiraz, Iran, in 2022. The soldier alerted her family and commanders; the Mossad monitored the situation as the plane flew on to the UAE and then returned to Israel. The branch later assessed global routes and, with the National Security Council, set rules identifying flights off-limits because of possible emergency landings or stopovers in hostile countries.
Attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam in November 2024 exposed tracking gaps: the branch found active-duty soldiers it had not recorded because they had entered the Netherlands overland or traveled between cities. The head said the unit can now quickly check whether soldiers are in a location during a crisis. Reservists who have completed service are not required to report their whereabouts; in one case, the branch said naval reservists accused by a fund of intercepting a protest flotilla had not taken part and were targeted because their LinkedIn profiles listed Navy service.
