The type of bulletproof vest used by Sánchez in Israel and the risks of wearing it that way

@DefAviation ES 11·23·2023 · 21:15 0

Today Pedro Sánchez traveled to Israel, where he visited the Be'eri kibbutz, where Hamas committed a massacre of civilians on October 7.

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Efe and Europa Press have released some photos of this visit, which we can see below. The most striking detail in these photos is obvious:

The size of the bulletproof vest that Pedro Sánchez is wearing has given rise to many comments on social networks. And is not for less. As seen in the images, Sánchez was wearing the smallest vest, a black model equipped with MOLLE system straps to attach accessories. One wonders if there wasn't a vest that was more fitted to his size , because it covers little of his torso.

There has been much comment about whether this vest would have been provided by the Israeli government. Personally I think not. In some of the photos we see members of the entourage with olive green vests and a blue rectangle with white letters. These vests are larger in size and are provided by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. If Sánchez had not been wearing his own bulletproof vest, they would surely have provided him with an olive green one like the ones we see in the photos. This encourages me to think that the vest was worn by the Spanish delegation itself, which is more logical: it is Sánchez's own security team that must deal with these issues.

The bulletproof vest that Sánchez wore when visiting that kibbutz is a second-generation plate-carrying vest. Its name is due to the fact that the front and back of the vest are designed to insert ballistic plates. The best known vest of this type is the JPC, but the one Sánchez wears looks like a 5.1 1 Tactec, made of 500D nylon and weighing just over a kilogram. The second generation vests are very minimalist and light, ideal for hot environments, but they also protect less than the first or third generation, which cover more of the torso but are heavier.

In addition to wearing a very small vest, Sanchez did not seem to wear it properly, exposing vital organs. He wore it too high, although with such a small vest, if he were to suffer a gunshot or an explosion, the difference would not be considerable. This vest differs from the vest that Sánchez wore under his coat of him on his visit to Ukraine in April 2022 . He then carried it hidden, but judging from the images, that plate-carrying vest must have been larger. The little that was seen of it allows us to conclude that it was not the same type of vest that he used in Israel (they showed differences in its upper part).

Obviously, the risk in Kibbutz Be'eri is now reduced as with the current Israeli offensive in Gaza, it is unlikely that Hamas will be able to carry out a new attack in that area. The biggest risk could be the booby traps left by the terrorists, but a month and a half after the attack it can be assumed that the Israel Defense Forces will have already cleared the area.