The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion (DRB) (also known as Unit 585 or the Bedouin Battalion) is a armoured cavalry unit of the 7643rd Territorial Brigade "Gefen", 143rd "Fire Fox" Division that specialized in controlling and surveillance immigrants from crossing the border illegally, CQB/CQC in urban areas, patrolling with armed armored vehicles to maintain border security, raiding with maneuver warfare tactics and small unit tactics, support counterinsurgency, and tracking targets in border areas. It is an ethnic minority unit consisting of volunteers from the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

ethnoreligious groups, while the majority of the IDF and the Israeli population are

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

. The DRB was founded in the late 1980s and since then has largely been deployed on the border with the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

on security duties.

Description

The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion (DRB), also known as Unit 585, was one of three ethnic minority units in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The others are the

Sword Battalion The Sword Battalion ( ; ), previously Unit 300 and also known as the IDF Minorities Unit, was an Arab-dominated military unit of the Israel Defense Forces. It predominantly enlisted Druze, who made up the majority in the unit until it was disban ...

for the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

and the Bedouin Trackers. The Sword Battalion has since been disbanded. The vast majority of the service personnel in the IDF are Jews, the predominant ethnoreligious group in Israel, who along with the Druze and

Circassians The Circassians or Circassian people, also called Cherkess or Adyghe (Adyghe language, Adyghe and ), are a Northwest Caucasian languages, Northwest Caucasian ethnic group and nation who originated in Circassia, a region and former country in t ...

are subject to compulsory service. Other groups are able to volunteer in the IDF and the DRB includes Bedouin, Christians, Muslims, Druse and Circassians. The majority in the DRB are Bedouin and the unit is sometimes referred to as the "Bedouin Battalion". Most of the Arabs in the IDF are Bedouins from the

Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...

. Around 80% of the Naqab Bedouin recruits elect to serve in the DRB or the Bedouin Trackers, with most selecting the DRB. Around 1,500 Bedouin currently serve in the IDF, though the leadership have made efforts to increase this number. Since the founding of the state in 1948 more than 110 Bedouin have been killed while serving in the IDF.

Operational history

The DRB was founded in the late 1980s. It has largely served on the border between Israel and the

. It has a base nearby at

Kissufim Kissufim () is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev desert in Israel. Located adjacent to the Gaza Strip at an altitude of 92 meters above sea level, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . Hist ...

. The battalion serves alongside the Bedouin Trackers on patrols, using tracking techniques to search for terrorists and to prevent infiltration of the border. Because some members face threats and harassment from members of their community, they are permitted to travel to and from duty out of uniform. The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion is equipped with

MDT David The MDT David is an ultra light armored personnel carrier and light Armored Vehicle assembled by MDT Armor Corporation, an American subsidiary of Shladot LTD. The vehicle is based on Land Rover Defender and Toyota Hilux platforms and replaces t ...

light armoured personnel carriers,

Wolf Armoured Vehicle The Wolf Armoured Vehicle () is an armoured personnel carrier, used mainly by the Israeli Defence Force. It was created to provide a better handling and better protected armoured vehicle than the M113 (Bardelas). The Wolf is a heavily armoured ...

s and

Humvee The High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV; colloquial: Humvee) is a family of Military light utility vehicle, light, four-wheel drive Military vehicle#Military trucks, military trucks and utility vehicles produced by AM General. It ...

s. It is part of the 143rd "Fire Fox" (Territorial) Division of Southern Command. For much of its history, the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion had been deployed to the dangerous

Rafah Border Crossing The Rafah Border Crossing () or Rafah Crossing Point is the sole crossing point between Egypt and Palestine's Gaza Strip. The Rafah crossing was opened by Israel after the Egypt–Israel peace treaty, 1979 peace treaty and remained under Isra ...

. Five soldiers of the battalion were killed there in 2004, after which the Israeli newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'' asked whether the unit had been assigned this post due to the perceived lower social standing of its soldiers. It had spent the preceding four years at Rafah, while other frontline units were rotated through the post. The unit's first Bedouin commanding officer was appointed in December 2004.

References

{{commons cat, IDF Desert Reconnaissance battalion Southern Command (Israel) Battalions of Israel Military units and formations established in the 1980s Infantry of Israel