Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi has yet to approve the deployment of Navy boats in the Dead Sea to patrol the border with Jordan. According to a a report in The Jerusalem Post, plans to deploy the Navy in the Dead Sea is the brainchild of Col. Yigal Slovik, commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade, and would be the first time that there is a permanent naval presence in the salty waters since the late 1970s.

In the event that Ashkenazi approves of the move the Navy intends to deploy two fast Hornet patrol boats. Currently, the IDF watches over the sea with radars and small rubber boats that can be used to quickly intercept infiltrators. 07/02/07