Israelis in the South fear for their safety after Egyptian border attack

Concerns in the Negev are rising following the terror attack on the Egyptian border that killed three IDF soldiers, Ramat Ganev Council head Eran Doron told Maariv on Tuesday.

"The fear is that, God forbid, something like this could happen inside our towns," Doron said. "I trust the IDF though and the terrorist never made it near our towns. Despite the painful price, a greater disaster was averted by not letting the terrorist infiltrate into residential areas."

He continued: "You'd expect an ISIS terrorist, but you don't expect our allies, the Egyptians, to shoot us.

"This isn't the first time an Egyptian police officer turned on us. On Hanukkah of 2016, the Egyptians shot a biker. It's scary. They are less than 200 meters as the crow flies from residential areas."

Crime and shooting are frequent in Israel's South

The council head said that "Crime happens here every night. There's always smuggling and similar issues, so it isn't just this incident. The residents here are afraid and feel that people don't understand the sheer magnitude of what happened. And it isn't a one-off event either – there are shootings almost every night over there. Now, you don't know if it's a drug smuggler or an Egyptian police officer who wants to hurt you.

Doron said he is in close contact with the IDF.

"Our problem is that the state needs to strengthen towns, boost the population, and create jobs," he said. "If people move here, it will improve our level of governance and it can also solve Israel's housing problems. There's no reason why our residents shouldn't have tax benefits like in other areas. We need the help of the state in developing more jobs, agriculture, tourism, and even innovation. And of course, we need to strengthen social support services."