The Israel Dog Unit (IDU) has started patrolling with specially trained canines at Ariel Junction, the site where Itamar Ben Gal hy”d was stabbed to death two days ago. Patrols will extend to Gush Etzion Junction and Tapuach Junction. Terrorist attacks have repeatedly been carried out in all three venues in recent months.
IDU Director Yekutiel (Mike) Ben Yakov said he hopes the new patrols with well-trained security dogs will enhance security, restore lost deterrence, and rebuild a sense of personal security and confidence which have been damaged as a result of the many recent attacks against Jews in these areas.
Ben Yakov says these dogs not only deter would-be Arab terrorists, but are also capable of effectively neutralizing armed terrorists and tracking down terrorists fleeing the scene of an attack. Yesterday, the IDU was on hand with several patrol dogs to guard a Torah shiur delivered by Rabbi Yehuda Richter of Elon Moreh in memory of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal at the site of the murder.
The IDU maintains kennels and training programs in Kfar Tapuach, Efrat, Sde Bar, Nokdim, and at Moshav Hazorim in the Galilee, where service-dogs and dog-handlers for protection work are prepared to defend Jewish towns in Israel as well as Search and Rescue missions to find missing people.
Yossi Dagan, head of the Shomron council that governs 33 different towns, recently visited the IDU kennels in Tapuach and urged Jews and friends of Israel around the world to support and to join the ranks of the Israel Dog Unit.
The IDU recently acquired a drone-mounted thermal imaging camera, which will upgrade the unit's ability to detect Arab terrorist movement in and around Jewish communities, and will significantly improve its ability to search for missing persons at night.