Published On 7/3/2026
Experience has shown – since the French occupation of Syria – that whoever wants to control the land needs a permanent presence, and this is not only through a fence or military sites, but also through animals and grazing for daily control of the land, according to a report published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Six months ago, the Israeli occupation army decided to rely on this strategy, especially on the western slopes of the Raqqad River (one of the tributaries of the Yarmouk River) behind the border fence in the occupied Syrian Golan, when Colonel Benny Kata – the outgoing commander of the Golan Brigade – led in complete secrecy the process of mobilizing a herd belonging to Yoel Zilberman, the founder and chairman of the board of directors of the Hashomer Hahadash Company and a resident of Natour in the occupied Golan.
The newspaper says: “Within a mission different from any other tactical operation, Zilberman was able to enter a herd of cows into an area of about 10,000 dunams (one dunam equals 1,000 square metres), behind the border fence of the Golan on the Syrian side, opposite the settlements of Eliad, Avnei Eitan, Nob, and Hasbin.”
Israeli agricultural civilian presence
Thus, Zilberman – a lieutenant colonel in the reserve forces – established a new security reality in the region in the form of a permanent Israeli civilian and agricultural presence, which constitutes a deterrent and cleanses the region of “foreign elements.” It is a project that reflected a radical change in the concept of defense in the Israeli army. It was formed after the October 7 War in 2023, and remained secret until it was revealed by the Yenet website and the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
This development came in response to an operational need imposed by the continuous “provocation” of the Syrians, through the herds of Syrian livestock whose shepherds were moving freely in the region, which poses a security challenge through possible infiltration or weapons smuggling.
The story goes back to last January, when the commander of the 210th Division, Brigadier General Yair Blay, and the former commander of the 474th Brigade, Colonel Benny Kata, agreed to a new plan to seize a grazing area, using a herd of livestock to act as a detention, security and warning force.
Herd continuity
Indeed, all the equipment and infrastructure were prepared under the responsibility of Zilberman, who was informed that his mission entailed a great risk, and that no one in the Israeli army would guarantee his safety or the safety of his herd, but he continued the mission and brought in a herd of livestock accompanied by “civilian farmers,” which prompted the Syrian shepherds to leave the place for fear of their livestock, and thus this land was no longer neutral, but rather established an Israeli presence – through Zilberman – which constituted an interest for the “State of Israel.”
From the point of view of the Israeli army, the “continuity” of the herd and its survival in the place – in contrast to the nature of the battalions and forces that are accustomed to movement and movement – is one of the most important advantages of this security project, which last week bore a name with a deep personal significance, which is “Alot Hashahar”, named after Captain “Shahar Gamla”, a company commander in the Egoz unit who was killed about 3 weeks ago in Lebanon.
Lessons learned
The report concludes with the lesson that Zilberman learned from October 7, 2023 (referring to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation), saying that this date “shattered many concepts. The most important and painful lesson we learned is that the concept of ‘walls’ is wrong. The idea of sitting behind walls is just an idea.”
Zilberman added that after the herd entered the Syrian side of the Golan, anyone in the area became considered a real enemy after the approaching Syrians could provide excuses due to the proximity of their herds to the fence, considering that “this is exactly the way Hezbollah and Hamas operate, as they – through the herd – were monitoring and inspecting the military patrols, their schedules, and the forces’ equipment. But this matter is over, and they can no longer reach here.”
