Bedouin unit has suffered many losses
By Nir Hasson
Haaretz, December 13, 2004
The Israel Defense Forces set up its desert reconnaissance unit, comprising Bedouin soldiers, in 1987. Over the years, the unit developed into an infantry battalion. Today, most Bedouin who serve in the IDF are posted to the battalion, while others serve as scouts or combatants in other infantry battalions.
In recent years, the battalion has been involved in some of the most intense fighting against the Palestinians and has suffered many losses.
A short while after the outbreak of the intifada, the battalion took control of a section of the Philadelphi Route, which divides Palestinian Rafah from Egyptian Rafah. Most shooting attacks and attempts to carry out terror strikes in the Gaza Strip over the past year have taken place in this area, and the battalion has been involved in hundreds of incidents there.
The most serious incident occured in January 2002, when an officer and three soldiers from the battalion were killed during an attack by terrorists at the Africa lookout post on the Philadelphi Route. The battalion also lost a soldier in an attack on an armored personnel carrier in May. A number of the battalion's soldiers have sustained injuries over the years.
The battalion also made the headlines in April 2003, when one of its soldiers opened fire on British peace activist Tom Hurndall. Hurndall was seriously injured and subsequently died. The soldier was charged with manslaughter.
Recently, the battalion has struggled to enlist new soldiers. Bedouin are not conscripted and their military service is voluntary. Since the outbreak of the intifada, more Bedouin are opting not to enlist, with the phenomenon particularly rife among Bedouin residents of the Negev.
Feelings of solidarity with the Palestinians, the lack of development in the Bedouin sector and the ongoing problem of the unrecognized Bedouin villages has led to a diminishing desire on the part of Bedouin youth to serve in the IDF.
"Despite everything, the community is proud of this battalion and it brings it honor," says Ra'ad Abulkrian, a resident of the unrecognized village of Umm al-Hiran who served in the battalion in the late 1990s.
