(VIDEO AND PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLES)

The Israel Dog Unit (IDU) has started patrolling with specially trained canines at the Ariel Junction, at the site where Itamar Ben Gal HY”D was brutally stabbed to death, two days ago.

The patrols will also reach the Gush Etzion Junction, as well as the Kfar Tapuach Junction. Repeated terrorist attacks have been carried out in all three spots over recent months.

Yekutiel (Mike) Ben Yakov, Director of the IDU said that he hopes that the new patrols with well- trained security dogs will beef-up security, restore much of the lost deterrence factor, and rebuild a sense of personal security and confidence which has been damaged as a result of the many recent attacks against Jews in these areas. According to Ben Yakov, these dogs can and will not only deter would-be Arab terrorists, but they can also effectively neutralize armed terrorists, as well as help track down terrorists running away from the scene of an attack. Earlier on Wednesday, 22 Shevat, The IDU was on hand with several patrol dogs to guard a Torah shiur that was given by Rabbi Yehuda Richter of Elon Moreh, in memory of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal, at the site of the murder.

The IDU maintains kennels and training programs in Kfar Tapuach, Efrat, S’dei Bar- Nokdim and at Moshav Hazorim in the Galil, where they prepare service-dogs and dog-handlers for protection work to defend Jewish towns in Israel as well as Search and Rescue missions to find missing people.

Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron council, which governs 33 different towns, recently visited the IDU kennels in Tapuach and urged people around the world to support and to join the ranks of the Israel Dog Unit.

Rabbi Richter gives a shiur at the murder scene

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)