Ibrahim Al-Arjani, a billionaire from the Tarhabin Bedouin tribe, is largely responsible for gun and drug smuggling from Sinai into Israel.
Alarming reports are coming in on an almost daily basis of drones flying in from Sinai loaded with either guns or drugs. There is one man largely responsible for this evil traffic. His name is Ibrahim Al-Arjani, a billionaire from the Tarhabin Bedouin tribe.
The tribe has members on both sides of the border.
Al-Arjani previously controlled all the smuggling from Egypt to Hamas on behalf of a group of Egyptian generals, who reportedly ordered their troops not to interfere in this lucrative traffic, which provided Hamas with the equipment needed for them to invade Gaza envelope communities on October 7.
President Sisi’s son, a general in charge of Egyptian military intelligence, was deeply involved in helping Al-Arjani with his illicit activities and apparently made a fortune doing so. Egyptian President Sisi himself is also very close to Al-Arjani and has done everything he can to help him.
Once Israel took over the Rafa crossing and closed down Al-Arjani’s underground supply lines to Hamas, he shifted his “business” activities to drone deliveries of guns and drugs to his tribal associates in the Negev.
Trucks queue with drivers waiting to break their fast, before Iftar, a fast-breaking meal, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in the North Sinai city of Al Arish, Egypt, March 10, 2025. (credit: Stringer/Reuters)
This has now reached levels that are threatening to undermine the security of Southern Israel.
Why IDF and security services haven’t been able to stop this destabilizing influx of drugs and guns is baffling. It’s clear that the same weapons Al-Arjani is providing his criminal relatives could one day be used against Israeli citizens throughout the Negev, further undermining Israel’s hold on the region.
What’s equally troubling is what the Egyptian Army is learning from all this. After all, if Al-Arjani’s supply drones can penetrate the Negev frontier with impunity, what could Egyptian suicide drones do to military forces guarding the border should war erupt?
Egyptian attack drones could suddenly pour across the frontier targeting security vehicles, sensors, and logistical facilities. In spite of this potential threat, Southern Command has yet to mount an effective response to this growing problem.
Al-Arjani works with the Egyptian army
Yet another aspect to Al-Arjani’s operations, which should be raising alarm bells, is the fact that he operates a Wagner- type group within the Egyptian army, which takes its orders directly from him.
This may explain why Al-Arjani has been able to operate heavily armed military type convoys in Sinai without any interference from the Egyptian Army. These convoys are equipped with heavy machine guns, RPGs and sophisticated communications equipment. These units provide protection for Al-Arjani’s smuggling operations all along our southern border.
What should Israel do to stop this threat before it becomes totally unmanageable?
First of all, Israel has to establish a line of mobile surveillance systems along the border based around tethered drones.These systems can hover persistently at altitude and provide 360-degree optical coverage at least 10 kilometers into Sinai and the Negev.
The drones should therefore be able to provide accurate targeting intelligence for attached teams operating small suicide drones capable of taking out both Al-Arjani’s security convoys and Israeli Bedouin all-terrain vehicles used to transport the drugs and guns back to their communities.
Second, if heavier firepower were needed, mobile mortar batteries firing precision rounds could be made available to the frontier defense units.
Third, to interdict Al-Arjani’s drones, Israel should deploy vehicles armed with radars, gatling guns, and multiple small
missiles. Some of these vehicles could also be equipped with high-power microwaves capable of taking down drone swarms with one shot.
Lastly, high flying drones with light weight radars could patrol the border looking deep into Sinai for Al-Arjani’s drones.
This arrangement would be capable of stopping Al-Arjani’s drone shipments and eliminating his security detachments in Sinai. Of course, it’s probable that Al-Arjani might ask the Egyptian Army for help, but it’s doubtful that President Sisi would risk a confrontation with us before his military modernization program is completed.
Should Al-Arjani foolishly decide to take on the IDF by himself, the flat, exposed terrain of Eastern Sinai will become his army’s graveyard.
The importace of protecting the southern border
While touring the southern border, I saw amazing communities of Israeli citizens transforming the barren landscape into agricultural wonders.
We have an absolute obligation to protect these communities of hardworking pioneers as they guard our border with Sinai.
Drug and gun smugglers like Al Arjani, who threaten both their livelihood and our national security, must be defeated before the threat they pose reaches crisis levels.
We have the troops and equipment to accomplish this objective. We just need the government and military to get on with it.
The writer spent 30 years in American prisons after being convicted for spying for Israel. Now living in Jerusalem, he is an investor and cofounder in a handful of technology companies. He also writes and speaks about Israel’s need to be militarily self-sufficient.