Desert Reconnaissance Battalion
{{Short description|Unit of Israel Defense Forces}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = 585th Desert Reconnaissance Battalion
| image = Gadsar bedui.png
| image_size = 250
| caption = Battalion insignia
| dates = Late 1980s-present
| country = {{flag|Israel}}
| allegiance =
| branch = Ground Forces
| type = Armoured cavalry
| size = Battalion
| command_structure = 7643rd Territorial Brigade "Gefen", 143rd "Fire Fox" Division
| garrison =
| motto =
| colors =
| battles =
| specialization = Armoured reconnaissance
Artillery observer
Bomb disposal
Close-quarters battle
Crowd control
Counterinsurgency
Desert warfare
HUMINT
Internal security
Maneuver warfare
Patrolling
Raiding
Reconnaissance
Tracking
Urban warfare
}}
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, Christian, Muslim, Druze and Circassian ethnoreligious groups, while the majority of the IDF and the Israeli population are Jews. The DRB was founded in the late 1980s and since then has largely been deployed on the border with the Gaza Strip 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 for the Druze 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 are subject to compulsory service. Other groups are able to volunteer in the IDF and the DRB includes Bedouin, Christians, Muslims, Druse and Circassians.{{cite news |last1=Frantzman |first1=Seth J. |title=Meet the IDF's 'Beduin battalion' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/meet-the-idfs-beduin-battalion-469972 |access-date=21 July 2022 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=13 October 2016}}
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. Around 80% of the Naqab Bedouin recruits elect to serve in the DRB or the Bedouin Trackers, with most selecting the DRB.{{cite book |last1=Kanaaneh |first1=Rhoda Ann |title=Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military |date=10 October 2008 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6978-5 |page=52 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOc3G9-WT1wC |language=en}}{{cite news |last1=Gross |first1=Judah Ari |title=Israel remembers its fallen from minority communities |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-remembers-its-fallen-from-minority-communities/ |access-date=21 July 2022 |work=www.timesofisrael.com |date=22 April 2015}}
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.{{cite news |last1=Ahronheim |first1=Anna |title=Arab Christians and Bedouins in the IDF: Meet the members of Unit 585 |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/the-sky-is-the-limit-in-the-idfs-unique-unit-585-613948 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 January 2020}}
Operational history
File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Bedouin Battalion (3).jpg
The DRB was founded in the late 1980s. It has largely served on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. It has a base nearby at Kissufim. The battalion serves alongside the Bedouin Trackers on patrols, using tracking techniques to search for terrorists and to prevent infiltration of the border.{{cite news |last1=Sim |first1=David |title=The Arab soldiers who join the Israeli army to fight for the Jewish state |url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/arab-soldiers-who-join-israeli-army-fight-jewish-state-1595164 |access-date=21 July 2022 |work=International Business Times UK |date=6 December 2016 |language=en}} 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 light armoured personnel carriers, Wolf Armoured Vehicles and Humvees. 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. Five soldiers of the battalion were killed there in 2004, after which the Israeli newspaper Haaretz asked whether the unit had been assigned this post due to the perceived lower social standing of its soldiers.{{cite book |last1=Kanaaneh |first1=Rhoda Ann |title=Surrounded: Palestinian Soldiers in the Israeli Military |date=10 October 2008 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-6978-5 |page=55 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DOc3G9-WT1wC |language=en}} It had spent the preceding four years at Rafah, while other frontline units were rotated through the post.{{cite news |title=Discrimination in Life and Death |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2004-12-15/ty-article/discrimination-in-life-and-death/0000017f-e7f8-da9b-a1ff-efff82db0000 |access-date=21 July 2022 |work=Haaretz |date=15 December 2004 |language=en}} The unit's first Bedouin commanding officer was appointed in December 2004.{{cite book |last1=Cohen |first1=Stuart A. |title=Israel and its Army: From Cohesion to Confusion |date=24 January 2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-14640-6 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Wx9AgAAQBAJ |language=en}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{commons cat|IDF Desert Reconnaissance battalion}}
Category:Southern Command (Israel)
Category:Military units and formations established in the 1980s