
Samson's Foxes ( he, שועלי שמשון, ''Shu'alei Shimshon'') was an Israeli
commando
40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations forc ...
unit of the
1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was part of the 54th Battalion (commanded by
Zvi Zur
Tzvi Tzur ( he, צבי צור, also transliterated Zvi Tsur, 1923 – 28 December 2004) was an Israeli officer who served as the IDF's 6th Chief of Staff (1961–1963).
Biography Early life
Tzur was born in the Zaslav in the Soviet Union (n ...
) of the
Givati Brigade
The 84th "Givati" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גִּבְעָתִי, , "Hill Brigade" or "Highland Brigade") is an Israel Defense Forces infantry brigade. Until 2005, the Brigade used to be stationed within the Gaza Strip and primarily per ...
. The unit participated in various battles on the southern front, including
Operation GYS
Operation GYS, or Operation Gayis ( he, מִבְצָע גַּיִ"ס), short for Golani, Yiftach, Sergei (Negev)—the three participating brigades—was an Israeli military and logistical operation conducted during the second truce of the 1948 ...
and the
Battles of the Separation Corridor
The Battles of the Separation Corridor ( he, קְרָבוֹת רְצוּעַת הַנִּתּוּק, ''Kravot Retzu'at HaNituk'') were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian army in Operation Yoav, an ...
.
Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery ( he, אורי אבנרי, also transliterated Uri Avneri; 10 September 1923 – 20 August 2018) was an Israeli writer, politician, and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement. A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat for two ...
, later to become an outspoken advocate of Israeli-Palestinian Peace and a personal friend of
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf al-Qudwa al-Husseini (4 / 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), popularly known as Yasser Arafat ( , ; ar, محمد ياسر عبد الرحمن عبد الرؤوف عرفات القدوة الحسيني, Mu ...
, was a member of this unit and wrote a song called "Samson's Foxes" which was its unofficial anthem.
The modern Givati brigade named its reconnaissance companies after the 1940s unit in 1983. The companies were consolidated into a reconnaissance battalion of the same name in 2001, once again subordinate to the Givati Brigade. Most of its work is confidential, though it is known to operate under the
IDF's
Gaza
Gaza may refer to:
Places Palestine
* Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea
** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip
** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Lebanon
* Ghazzeh, a village in ...
territorial command.
The unit's name is derived from the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts o ...
. In the
Judge Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution ...
is described as having attached torches to the tails of three hundred
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelv ...
es, leaving the panicked beasts to run through the fields of the
Philistines
The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (Septuagint, LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 6 ...
, burning all in their wake.
[Margalith, O., 1985. Samson's foxes. Vetus Testamentum, 35(Fasc. 2), pp.224-229.
]

The fox logo of the Israeli Army's
Southern Command is derived from the same story.
1948 Arab–Israeli War
Special forces of Israel
{{Israel-mil-stub