In light of the recent increase in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria, the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), a nonprofit specializing in security dogs, is increasing the amount of training for the civilian emergency squads in Judea and Samaria, with the goal of placing trained working dogs in as many towns as possible throughout the region.
IDU director Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov commented: “A counterterror dog with the courage, the operational ability and the agility to enter a building where terrorists are hiding, charge a threat and engage it, can help neutralize the terrorist without excessive danger to Israeli security forces. The correct use of the dog with the proper training and motivation will save human lives.”

“A dog enters a room ahead of the human security forces. The dog is faster and is often an unexpected factor, changing the equation. The dog can run 30 km/h, run low, and has the ability to smell, see and hear at a level that humans simply don’t have. Placing such a dog at gas stations and bus stops can make it difficult for terrorists to carry out attacks.”
Working dogs are in extensive use by many of Israel’s most elite counterterror units. Social media footage of the elite IDF undercover Duvdevan unit operating in Shechem showed soldiers operating with Django, a working dog killed defending the soldiers when they came under fire. In the recent operation by the YAMAM national counterterror unit in Jenin, working dog Daggoo was injured when an IED went off under an armored vehicle in which he was riding. He survived, despite suffering internal bleeding and a pelvic fracture, and was reported to have refused to leave his injured handler’s side in Rambam Hospital.