Samson's Foxes
Military Unit
Samson's Foxes (Hebrew: שועלי שמשון, Shu'alei Shimshon) was an Israeli commando unit of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was part of the 54th Battalion (commanded by Zvi Zur) of the Givati Brigade. The unit participated in various battles on the southern front, including Operation GYS and the Battles of the Separation Corridor.
Uri Avnery, later to become an outspoken advocate of Israeli-Palestinian Peace and a personal friend of Yasser Arafat, was a member of this unit and wrote a song called "Samson's Foxes" which was its unofficial anthem.
The modern Givati brigade named its reconnaissance companies after the 1940s unit in 1983. The companies were consolidated into a reconnaissance battalion of the same name in 2001, once again subordinate to the Givati Brigade. Most of its work is confidential, though it is known to operate under the IDF's Gaza territorial command.
The unit's name is derived from the Bible. In Judges 15:4 the Judge Samson is described as having attached torches to the tails of three hundred foxes, leaving the panicked beasts to run through the fields of the Philistines, burning all in their wake.
The fox logo of the Israeli Army's Southern Command is derived from the same story.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Samson's Foxes”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Samson foxes.jpeg by Zoltan Kluger, Public domain
- PikiWiki Israel 8985 jeep willis from the independence war.jpg by ד"ר אבישי טייכר, CC BY 2.5
- BrenCarrierShualeiShimshon.png by Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
- דוד סגל נוהג עם אלברט מנדלר במצעד גבעתי ברחובות בספטמבר 1948.JPG by Family album, CC BY-SA 3.0
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