IDF freezes operations of ‘hilltop youth’ unit linked to anti-Palestinian violence
The ‘Desert Frontier’ company has been accused of several attacks on Palestinian civilians in the Jordan Valley region, where it was tasked with tackling smuggling
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Israel Defense Forces recently halted the operational activities of a controversial unit implicated in multiple incidents of abuse against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.
The unit, called “Sfar Hamidbar,” or Desert Frontier in English, was known for recruiting so-called “hilltop youth” — extremist settler activists involved in building illegal outposts in the West Bank and frequently alleged to be involved in violence against Palestinians.
Sfar Hamidbar has seen several incarnations, but was most recently established as a company in 2020 and assigned with tracking operations to help combat drug and weapons smuggling by Bedouins in the West Bank.
Together with the Lions of the Valley battalion it is subordinate to, the unit has been credited with helping to seize hundreds of illegal rifles smuggled into the West Bank from Jordan and conducting arrest operations in the Jericho district, according to a profile of the unit by the Ynet news site in January.
But numerous complaints arose that the unit was also involved in violent attacks against Palestinian civilians, including a report in October by Haaretz that soldiers from the unit had beaten and severely abused Palestinian residents of the Wadi al-Seeq village west of Jericho in the Jordan Valley region.
Sfar Hamidbar has also been implicated in alleged incidents of harassment in Mu’arrajat, al-Beida and other small Palestinian dwellings in the Jordan Valley in the last six months.
The radical settler activists were reportedly recruited to the unit as part of an effort by the IDF and settlement leaders to direct their energies in a more disciplined and lawful manner.
Dror Etkes, a longtime activist against Israel’s control of the West Bank and Israeli settlements there, said the unit had patrolled both the South Hebron Hills area and the Jordanian border as part of its anti-smuggling operations, but that it mixed these duties with harassment of the local Palestinian population.
He noted that many of the illegal herding outposts established by hilltop youth and extremist settlers are located in these regions, and said that the soldiers recruited to this unit were “serving their own interests” when harassing Palestinians in order to increase Jewish control of territory in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel exercises full security and civilian authority.
According to the Ynet report, some of the settler youth recruited to the unit had criminal records and were known to the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service, thus requiring special approval by the Shin Bet and police in order to be able to enlist in the IDF.
Aviad Frija, the IDF reservist who shot dead Israeli civilian Yuval Castleman at the scene of a terror attack in Jerusalem, served in Sfar Hamidbar during his IDF service as a conscript.
The IDF has halted the operational activities of Sfar Hamidmar until a final decision can be made.
