Israeli Border Police

The **Israeli Border Guard**, Also known as the **Israeli** **Border Police** or **MAGAV**, is the operational arm of the Israeli Police which aims to address issues related to internal security, counter-terrorism, fighting serious crime, securing sensitive facilities including border crossings, securing rural areas and preventing agricultural thefts and suppressing riots. The Border Police is a multi-purpose force that assists the Israeli police and the IDF in dealing with problems within its area of ​​expertise, and also serves as a central reserve for immediate intervention in incidents. The Border Police headquarters is located in Lod.

The Border Guard is an Infantry corps that combines members of many minorities who serve as combatants and commanders in the corps. The corps also leads the integration of women in all combat roles, including in the special units.

The Corps was the main corps used by the IDF in the Intifada, and was responsible for the Injuring of Hundreds of Palestinians, some even breaking Bones of the Arab Protesters.

## **Minorities serving**

The Israeli Border Police is renowned for including many soldiers from minority backgrounds, being a particularly popular choice with Druze recruits, but also includes many soldiers from Circassian, Arab Christian and Bedouin background.

## **Volunteer Border Guard**

The Border Guard also deploys many volunteer servicemen. These volunteer Border Guard members enlist as volunteers and serve in regular Border Guard units. The Border Guard relies on the volunteer soldiers in order to reinforce their manpower and help maintain the country's heavy security needs. The volunteer Border Guard are given special attention in sensitive places like Jerusalem where security threats are the highest and at times can double or even triple the manpower of full-time security forces in a given area.

Many of these special Border Guard volunteers are Jewish immigrants that have immigrated to Israel from all over the world, from places like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Italy, France, Germany, South Africa, South America, the Soviet Union, etc.

The volunteer Border Guard members leave behind jobs and families on a regular basis in order to serve in this special combat unit. Some come from cities like Beit Shemesh, Ofrah, Ashkelon, Ra'anana and even Haifa to serve in the Border Guard. The volunteers receive no pay for serving in the Border Guard units and serve in the Border Guard in their off work hours.

## **Units**

### Southern Border Guard

The Southern Region Border Guard is a brigade within the Border Police, which is responsible for border operations in the southern part of Israel.

### Gaza-Ramon-Arava Border Guard

The Gaza-Ramon-Arava Border Guard is a Brigade of the Border Police that operates in the Gaza ISR and the Israel-Egypt border, and in 2008 the Brigade moved to secure the Israeli-Jordanian border in the Arava sector.

### Central Border Guard

The Central Region Border Guard is a brigade of the Border Police that is responsible for border operations in the central part of Israel - Gush Dan, the Sharon, the Shfela and their surroundings.

### Northern Border Guard

The Northern Region Border Guard is a brigade of the Border Police responsible for the activities of the Border Police in the northern parts of Israel.

### Coastal Border Guard

The Coastal Region Border Guard is a brigade of the Border Guard that is responsible for border operations in the northern coastal plain of Israel, from Hadera to Rosh Hanikra.

### Jerusalem Border Guard

The Jerusalem Region Border Guard is a brigade of the Border Guard that is responsible for the Border Police's activities in the Jerusalem area, and in the Outer-Jerusalem Area. The Jerusalem Border Guard is the largest in the Border Police in terms of manpower.

### Judea & Samaria Border Guard

The Judea & Samaria Region Border Guard is a brigade of the Border Police responsible for border operations in the territories of Judea and Samaria.

### Border Tactical Division

The Border Police's tactical division is the Border Police's special operations unit. Its purpose is to deal with terrorist incidents, disturbances and operational assistance to the Units of the Israeli Police in combating serious criminal phenomena.

### Samag Unit

The Border Patrol (Samag) is a Border Police unit that exists in these Regions: south, Jerusalem, center, coast and north. Its purpose is to fight and deal with disturbances.

### Yamam Unit

The Yamam is the elite unit of the Israeli Police and the Border Police for the War on Terror, the National Takeover Unit of Israel, and is also known as the Israeli SWAT Unit. The name "Yamam" is an acronym for "Special Central Unit" but is often called the "Special Anti-Terrorism Unit" or simply "the Anti-Terrorism Unit".

### Yamas Unit

The Undercover Unit (Yamas) is an elite undercover & counter-terrorism unit that has been operating since 1991 within the framework of the Border Police, in cooperation with the IDF and the Shabak. Its basic purpose is to deal with riots and demonstrations by intervening and neutralizing the agitating factors. All servicemen in the unit are police officers on a permanent or regular basis, and the unit is subordinate to the IDF, but like the Yamam, they provide operational assistance to the Shabak. These units also assist the "blue police" in special or complicated arrests.

### Shahar 101

Shahar 101 units are Border Police units fighting crime in urban areas. Such units exist in almost all Borderlands and form the backbone of the fight against crime in the Border Regions.

### Jerusalem Metilan Unit

The Jerusalem Metilan Unit is a special unit of the Border Police. The name Metilan is a hebrew acronym for "ambushes, sightings, interception & mobile warfare." The Unit's mission is to fight terrorism and fight serious crime through ambushes, sightings and camouflage. The unit operates mainly in the seam area and in the villages east of Jerusalem and the surrounding area and engaged in the collection of tactical intelligence, and at the same time carried out disguised ambushes. The unit's fighters were selected after lengthy sorting and formation, and also took a course that includes field content, field survival, camouflage, shooting, combat fitness, loot and dedicated and unique content for their activities.

### Yamag Unit

The Yamag Unit is a series of Border Police detective units. The units are subordinate to the Border Police and operate in cooperation with the various police districts. The uniqueness of these units is in their high availability, professionalism and ability to deal with extreme scenarios, take a topic into their care and focus on it.

### Rimon Unit

The Rimon Unit is a Border Police Unit that established in 2003 on the orders of Prime Minister Ehud Barak, as part of the war on human trafficking, and the attempt to restrict the illegal movement of human traffickers from Egypt to Israel. The establishment of the unit came as a result of heavy international pressure on trafficking of women in Israel, and following the recommendations of the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on Trafficking of Women. Today, it mainly operates in the Gaza ISR.