The Official 40th Anniversary Book
ארבעה עשורים בצללים
Dedicated to the Memory of Our Fallen מוקדש לזכר הנופלים שלנו
They are with us.
הם איתנו
In every mission.
In every generation.
In every step forward.
The Official 40th Anniversary Book
From the unit’s earliest years to the operations that shaped it, this book preserves four decades of Duvdevan through the people, decisions and moments that made the unit what it is today.
The Story
הסיפור של דובדבן
Move through the moments, decisions and generations that shaped Duvdevan.
1986–1999
ההקמה
Born from a gap: no IDF unit could blend into the population of Judea and Samaria to reach a threat before it struck. Recruited from Sayeret Matkal, the Paratroopers’ reconnaissance unit, and Shayetet 13, the first operators built an undercover doctrine from nothing: disguise, dialect, a rapid arrest, and gone before the street understood what happened.
2000–2002
הנטרול
The Second Intifada turned suicide bombings into a daily threat. Working hand in hand with Shin Bet intelligence, Duvdevan became the primary tool for neutralizing them in Hebron, Jenin, and Nablus, a partnership that still defines the unit. During Operation Defensive Shield, operators impersonating a rival unit commandeered a transport vehicle and captured Marwan Barghouti, the West Bank’s most wanted man, without a shot fired.
2014–2022
האבולוציה
For three decades Duvdevan was the West Bank’s specialist. Operation Protective Edge forced the question of whether its precision could work in conventional warfare, and operators pushed to deploy into Gaza. In 2015 the unit joined the newly formed Commando Brigade, a transition it resisted at first, and adopted micro-drones and live intelligence feeds, fusing new technology with what the book calls “street instinct.”
2022–2023
הדיוק
A new, organized wave of terror fortified refugee camps with IEDs and snipers. Duvdevan spearheaded Operation Break the Wave and Operation Home and Garden, the IDF’s largest Jenin operation since 2002, turning the camp into what the unit called an “operational laboratory” and fighting house to house for 48 continuous hours. No one knew the doctrine built there would be tested again within three months.
2023–2026
החותם
On October 7, 2023, operators left homes and synagogues without waiting for orders, staging at a highway junction near Ashkelon before breaking into Kfar Aza, Be’eri, and the surrounding communities. The unit went on to fight simultaneously in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and the northern front, an unprecedented three-front deployment. Thirteen of the unit’s own fell during this chapter, the heaviest cost in Duvdevan’s history.
Our story was never written on paper. It was written in held breaths and silent footsteps across the stones of the casbahs.
From the book’s prologue
Duvdevan broke through the conceptual barrier, especially the ability to enter Area A for raids and surgical operations. We were the tip of the spear.
Lt. Col. (Res.) Eran Wolk, Deputy Commander of Duvdevan during the Second Intifada
When the homeland is under direct attack, you do not wait for orders; you drop everything and drive straight into the fire.
Duvdevan operators preparing to enter combat, October 7, 2023
1986 — Today
1986 – היום
הסיפור ממשיך
Four decades carried forward by every generation that follows.
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