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exist October 7Lieutenant Colonel Nader Eyadat, a Muslim Bedouin soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, was at home when reports of the rocket fire came in. He decided to go to the Tze’elim Ground Forces training base in the Negev to prepare for the defense of the south.
While driving, the phone rang. It was Colonel Tal Ashour, who had just been appointed acting commander of the Southern Brigade after the late Colonel Assaf Hammami was killed in a battle with terrorists.
“The conversation was brief,” Tal said. “‘Hamami is dead. I’m here to replace him. The commander of the reconnaissance battalion is seriously injured. Please let him take command.'”
Eyadat, 39, is a married father of two and a member of the Beit Zarzir Bedouin community. Israel Defense Forces In 2005, he was assigned as a fighter to the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion, which operated in southern Gaza.
He rose through the ranks. He was the first Bedouin to complete a squad commander course. When violent unrest on the Gaza Strip border threatened to reach Israel proper, he commanded a reconnaissance battalion. After that, he went to school and got a position at the army training center in Tze’elim.
On October 7, many soldiers of the division and the commander of the Desert Patrol Battalion were on weekend leave, some of whom were on training missions lasting several weeks, so their vacancies in the Southern Division were filled by soldiers from the Nahal Brigade.
“We quickly organized an initial force,” said Lt. Col. Eyadat. “Our mission was to retake control of a section of Highway 232 and clear it of terrorists… Suddenly, you saw damaged tanks and armored personnel carriers on the road. There were also wounded civilians and bodies of Nukhba terrorists. When I saw the body of a civilian with a bullet in the head at the intersection, I understood what had happened.”
“Until then, I was so focused on organizing the mission. I couldn’t believe that something like this could happen,” Eyadat recalled. “Then we encountered the terrorists at Gama Junction (between Kisufim and the Gama River). and Berry“My fighters and I knew the area inside out, and we trained for all kinds of scenarios, one, two, three terrorist infiltrations. Who would have thought that tens of thousands of terrorists would infiltrate?”
The fighters began to occupy the central axis to allow more troops to enter from the north to the south and evacuate civilians. “Some troops stayed at the intersection, and some moved towards the kibbutz. At Kibbutz Holit, we helped evacuate the wounded. We heard about the shooting at the Sufa post. I arrived there and met the commander of the Karakal battalion at the entrance, while Shayetet 13 fighters were fighting inside,” Eyadat said.
“100 meters away, I saw a white van parked there. I sent troops to search and heard gunfire. A few minutes later, a commander came to report to me that there had been a clash with two terrorists and one fighter was injured.
The unit was tasked with clearing the road leading to the base, rescuing civilians and finding Thai-speaking foreign workers hiding in a greenhouse. “The Bedouin fighters are brave. There is no need to tell us where to go. We know the area very well,” Eyadat said, adding that since October 7, members of the battalion have participated in numerous additional operations to find and destroy terrorist infrastructure near the Gaza buffer zone.
On June 6, 2024, the reconnaissance battalion discovered suspicious movements and sent out soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion to scan the border area. At first, the commander decided to command the operation under the cover of thick fog. The troops under his command discovered terrorists trying to sneak into Israel, and an exchange of fire broke out between the two sides. During the battle, a relative of the battalion scout, Lieutenant Colonel Ayadat, was killed. The reconnaissance battalion soldiers successfully killed three terrorists. “It is great that the 585th Battalion was sent to the scene. They thwarted the first large-scale attack deep into Israel since October 7. The Minister of Defense and Chief of Staff who arrived in the area praised them,” said a senior officer of the Southern Command.
Eyadat says there is a clear connection between the Reconnaissance Battalion and the IDF. “First, we are fighting for the land. We have fought side by side in the IDF since 1948. Thirty soldiers from our unit died, and their sacrifice was not in vain. Then, everyone saw what happened here on October 7. Hamas killed Bedouins and Jews indiscriminately,” Eyadat said. “This is a terrorist organization that wants to destroy this country. Veterans of the Reconnaissance Battalion came here, and no one asked them questions, they came from all over the country, without any questions. They told me that it is impossible to stay at home when events like this happen.”
The close connection and motivation also led to the establishment of the first reserve company of the Bedouin Reconnaissance Battalion. Abdullah Al-Abid, a soldier in the reserve company, is married with three daughters. He volunteered to come here from his hometown in the Tel Sheba region of the Negev and has been serving ever since. “As a Muslim, I want to say that killing civilians, burning babies, raping women is not written in the Quran. Which religion says that? But they do it. If I say they are animals, then I am insulting animals. Everything they do is against Islam.”
Lieutenant Colonel Ayadat pointed to the area where they found the terrorists ambushed on the first day. “There is a video where you can see a Bedouin father begging for his life, with a child in his arms. They told him: ‘You are a traitor,’ and then killed him in front of his son. It is a very distressing video. You can see hatred in the video. The same is true for the citizens of Gaza. They hide behind religion and instill hatred. They murder and kidnap Bedouins.
Abid explained: “Bedouins will fight to the last drop of blood. All Bedouins think this way. Hamas kills Arabs, Bedouins and Jews. There is no difference. I am proud of my military service. I volunteered for regular service and now I am here. I will be here as long as they ask me to.”
Do you get the same attitude when you’re not in uniform?
“I have never felt racial discrimination in my life. I walk around in uniform, holding my weapon, with respect and pride. I call on others to volunteer as well,” said Ayadat.
“The reconnaissance battalion is like a big family,” Eyadat explained. “There are Jews and Bedouins here. They are all together. There is a stigma attached to the Bedouins, but when you get to know them, the stigma disappears… The bond between all the soldiers is eternal. I am proud to serve in the IDF.”
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