
Jerusalem Post:
Unit 585 is made up of volunteers from Israel’s Bedouin and Arab Christians
“I’m here to provide security, to protect every civilian,” said Lt.-Col. Nader Eyada, the commander of the IDF’s Unit 585, a unique unit in the Southern Command composed of Bedouin Muslims and Arab Christians.“This is a strong unit that protects the south of this country,” Eyada told The Jerusalem Post as we stood on the top of an observation post overlooking the border with Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula.
Eyada explained to The Post that his troops are protecting Israel’s southern Eshkol Regional from threats including terror infiltration both from Egypt and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.“This unit is an essential part of the Southern Command. We know the land like the back of our hand,” Eyada said during an interview near the unit’s headquarters at Kerem Shalom. “We live the land, we know the land, and we are here to protect the civilians of the land.”