Editor’s Note: This 2012 SOFREP piece offers a surreal look at a military operation in the West Bank, where a seemingly ordinary goat herder and his flock turned out to be part of a terrorist plot. The story highlights the bizarre lengths terrorists go to and the intense pressure on the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) to protect civilians while dealing with these threats. As we revisit this moment, we’re reminded of the strange and unpredictable nature of conflict zones. Enjoy this throwback!

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Going into some of the most dangerous parts of the West Bank is often a surreal experience. It can be dangerous, it can be eye-opening, it can be frustrating, and more often than not, all of the above.

The IDF operates under a lot of stress. On the one hand, they are trying to deal with some of the worst terrorists in the world, and they are constantly trying to infiltrate Israel in order to blow themselves up in school buses, schools, shopping malls, and cafes. On the other hand, they want to help maintain peace in the area and allow those who do not engage in terrorism to live their lives. The terrorists play with this and often use innocent civilians as a way to try to infiltrate through a checkpoint.

Sometimes, the intelligence guys provide solid intel, and some of the worst-case scenarios are stopped before they are put into play. This means going into the buildings and chasing those individuals or groups.

IDF operatives
(File photo)

On one occasion, we were pulling security over a building providing support for another operation when a goatherd and 15 goats appeared in our Area of Operations (AO). There wasn’t anything wrong with that; goats were semi-normal in that area, and after a quick scan, we focused back on the building we were surveilling.

A couple of minutes later, we noticed that instead of continuing with their daily walk, the goats were being moved in a circle closer and closer to the building where the operation was about to take place. We focused on the goats again, and that’s when I saw it.

One of the goats was dragging what appeared to be a dead goat. We missed it initially because the animals were being moved very close to each other. But there it was. I called one of the other guys, and with a spotter’s scope, he confirmed that there was something like a dead goat being dragged by another goat.