page_title: Israeli Combat Engineering Corps
section_title: Operation Cast Lead
hierarchical_section_title: Israeli Combat Engineering Corps / History / Operation Cast Lead
caption_attribution_description: English: IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozers, Merkava Mk 4m tanks and Caterpillar 349E excavator during Operation Protective Edge, 2014
context_page_description: The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces.
  The Combat Engineering Corps beret's color is silver and its symbol features a sword on a defensive tower with an explosion halo on the background. The Combat Engineering Corps mottos are "Always First" and the unofficial "The hard, we shall do today; the impossible, we shall do tomorrow".
  Its roles include mobility assurance, road breaching, defense and fortifications, counter-mobility of enemy forces, construction and destruction under fire, sabotage, explosives, bomb disposal, counter-weapons of mass destruction and special engineering missions.
  In addition to Combat Engineering Corps sappers, each infantry brigade has an engineering company trained with basic engineering and explosive ordnance disposal skills. Combat Engineering Corps sappers and heavy equipment operators are often attached to other units in order to help them breach through obstacles and handle explosive threats.
context_section_description: During the Gaza War (2008–2009) codenamed "Operation Cast Lead" by the IDF, combat engineering forces were the first to enter the Gaza Strip to clear IEDs, booby traps and open safe routes to armor and infantry.
  Many booby traps, rigged structures and tunnels were present in the Gaza Strip as part of Hamas efforts to prepare to the Gaza War. These were often concealed in civilian structures, and were even found in schools and mosques. However, most of the Palestinian booby traps were successfully countered by the IDF Combat Engineering Corps bomb disposal experts (part of Yahalom Special Engineering Unit) which dismentaled the bombs and armored D9 bulldozers which detonated bombs and booby traps while sustaining no damage from the explosions. IDF Caterpillar D9R and unmanned "Raam HaShachar" D9N armored bulldozers which opened route in dangerous areas have taken many improvised explosive devices, landmines, explosive charges and RPG hits, but no crewmen were killed. However, a Yahalom bomb disposal expert was killed after entering a house and encountering a suicide bomber. He was the only fatality of the Combat Engineering Corps during the war.
  Besides neutralizing Hamas IEDs and traps, combat engineering forces demolished Hamas infrastructure and other structures used as outposts, shooting positions, traps, cover for tunnels, HQs and warehouses. The head officer of the Combat Engineering Corps (קהנ"ר) estimated that about 600 buildings were bulldozed or exploded by his troops.
  The Combat Engineering Corps' success heightened their reputation within the IDF and in the Israeli public. This was manifested in increased number of conscripts who chose the Combat Engineering Corps as their first priority in their draft preferation questionnaire ("Manila מנילה"—a form in which the conscript chooses in what unit he would like to serve, the IDF tries to fulfill his request as much as possible).
caption: Armored IDF Caterpillar D9 bulldozers and armored Bagger E-349 excavator, parked during Operation Protective Edge.
exif: {"Image ImageWidth": "4320", "Image ImageLength": "3240", "Image BitsPerSample": "[8, 8, 8]", "Image PhotometricInterpretation": "2", "Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A3200 IS", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image SamplesPerPixel": "3", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2014:08:11 22:57:54", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "296", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1250", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3071", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity and Recommended Exposure Index", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:07:20 09:49:17", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:07:20 09:49:17", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "255/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "95/32", "EXIF SubjectDistance": "322/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2934", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1014", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "4320", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "3240", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1100", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "160000/9", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "1620000/91", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}