According to terrorist organizations, the main advantages of illegal aliens are:
• Knowledge of Israel
• Ability to easily assimilate into the Israeli population
• Ties to smugglers and drivers

Thus, terrorist organizations have better chances to succeed in their attacks; thereby, increasing the risks for Israel. Illegal aliens' involvement in attacks, including suicide attacks in which many Israelis were injured or killed is a known fact since the Second Intifadah (end of September 2000). The obstacles posed to terrorist infrastructures, mainly in Samaria, since the buffer zone's construction was completed (August 2003) have lead to the intensive involvement of illegal aliens in smuggling perpetrators into Israel.

Throughout the last years, the number of illegal aliens arrested by the Israeli authorities for their involvement in terrorist activity was about 60-100 detainees a year.

Illegal aliens – a preferred target for recruitment
Making a living is number one priority of Palestinian illegal aliens who infiltrate into Israel. They plan to stay in Israel for long periods of time (months and / or years) enabling them to get acquainted with the Israeli way of life and the area.

In addition, illegal aliens tend to adopt physical characteristics such as dress and hair to make it easy for them to live in Israel without arousing suspicion.

The abovementioned characteristics and their way of life in Israel consist of a constant experience eschewing the authorities, thus, turning them into a preferred target for recruitment for terrorist organizations.

The use of illegal aliens enables terrorist organizations to set the stage for an attack in Israel since illegal aliens' knowledge of the area and easy assimilation help increase the chances to execute a terrorist attack. Illegal aliens are specifically used to:

   • Gather hostile reconnaissance for an attack and participate in its planning while pinpointing at potential targets, preferred methods, and best timing.
   • Assist in infiltration, taking in, and leading perpetrators to the place of attack. Illegal aliens know more or less how the Israeli security array operates; they know of by-passes from IDF checkpoints, border fence breaches, and they are linked to smugglers and drivers of illegal aliens.
  
Therefore, in many cases illegal aliens are used for logistic purposes as mentioned above but sometimes they participate directly in terrorism as perpetrators.

Here are some prominent examples from previous years concerning involvement of illegal aliens in terrorism:

Illegal aliens as perpetrators
Omar Abu Roub – a PIJ activist from Jenin; stayed in Israel as an illegal alien for long periods of time. He was deployed (February 2007) for a suicide attack using an explosive charge device due to his knowledge of central Israel. Abu Roub chose to attack a bus traveling from Tel Aviv to Rishon LeZion; the latter being a highly populated city. He tried to activate the device three times but it did not function due to a technical failure. Abu Roub threw away the device and hid at a friend's house in Bat Yam where he was later arrested by the ISA. Abu Roub was convicted in a plea bargaining and charged with intentions to murder, membership and activity in an illegal organization, supporting an illegal organization, shooting at a man and an attempt to murder. He received a life sentence.

This array includes Israeli-Arab drivers or east Jerusalem-based Palestinian drivers (holders of an Israeli identity card that enables entry into Israel). This array is used as a basis to smuggle perpetrators; the drivers are usually aware of or suspect that they are transferring perpetrators.
Following are several such examples (out of many):

 
• A suicide attack at Neve Sha'anan pedestrian mall, Tel Aviv, on April 17, 2006, resulted in 9 casualties and 60 injured.

• A suicide attack at the market in Hadera on October 26, 2005, resulted in 6 casualties and 27 injured.

• A suicide attack near the mall of Netanya on July 12, 2005, resulted in 5 casualties and 80 injured.

• A suicide attack at the Carmel Market, Tel Aviv, on November 1, 2004 resulted in 3 casualties and 32 injured.

Summary
Throughout the last years, terrorist organizations have used illegal aliens as a basis for promoting and executing attacks within Israel due to the latters' knowledge of the area and Israeli way of life, and ability to assimilate in the environment. Illegal aliens are still used mainly to gather hostile reconnaissance, pinpoint targets for attack, guide perpetrators to the place of attack, and sometimes even act as perpetrators themselves.

As the construction of large parts of the buffer zone in the West Bank were completed, terrorist organizations were presented with another difficulty in their attempt to smuggle perpetrators into Israel; thus, turning illegal aliens and especially their drivers into a significant factor in the process of executing an attack. Therefore, ties between illegal aliens, smugglers, and drivers turned into a key component when it came to smuggling perpetrators and weaponry into Israel.

The array of drivers of illegal aliens – a profitable business in itself – is a threat to Israel's security and considered to be another risk factor since it serves as a shortcut for smuggling perpetrators and weaponry.