View source for Samson's Foxes

{{Short description|Military Unit}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2021}}
[[Image:SF badge.jpg|thumb|95px|Samson's Foxes badge]]
[[File:Samson foxes.jpeg|thumb|A Samson's Foxes patrol in September 1948]]
'''Samson's Foxes''' ({{langx|he|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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/opinions/from-samson-s-foxes-to-the-kites-of-gaza|title=Melamed: From Samson's foxes, to the kites of Gaza|last=Melamed|first=Sagi|date=2018-06-12|website=The Canadian Jewish News|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-10}}</ref>  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.<ref>Shual Foundation, (2006-2018).[http://shual.org/en/about-shual-foundation/ "Samson's Foxes Unit]".''Shual Foundation'' Retrieved 2019-04-14.</ref> Most of its work is confidential, though it is known to operate under the [[Israeli Defence Forces|IDF]]'s [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] territorial command.

The unit's name is derived from the [[Bible]]. In {{Bibleverse|Judges|15:4}} the [[Biblical judges|Judge]] [[Samson]] is described as having attached torches to the tails of three hundred [[fox]]es, leaving the panicked beasts to run through the fields of the [[Philistines]], burning all in their wake.<ref>Margalith, O., 1985. Samson's foxes. Vetus Testamentum, 35(Fasc. 2), pp.224-229.
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[[File:PikiWiki Israel 8985 jeep willis from the independence war.jpg|thumb|A [[Willys MB]] jeep equipped with two [[MG 34]]'s that was used by Samson's Foxes unit in the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]].]]
[[File:BrenCarrierShualeiShimshon.png|thumb|Egyptian Universal Carrier ([[Bren Carrier]]) captured by Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and remarked for the Samson's Foxes unit in the Givati Brigade.]]
[[File:דוד סגל נוהג עם אלברט מנדלר במצעד גבעתי ברחובות בספטמבר 1948.JPG|thumb|Samson's foxes during a parade held by the Givati Brigade. [[Albert Mandler]] is the front passenger seat.]]
The fox logo of the Israeli Army's [[Southern Command (Israel)|Southern Command]] is derived from the same story.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Special forces of Israel]]


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