On retirement, identity of police's anti-terror unit chief finally revealed By Roni Singer-Heruti

The identity of the head of the police's special anti-terror unit (Yamam) was released for publication for the first time this morning, on the occasion of his departure.

Zohar Dvir, who headed the Yamam for the past five and a half years, joined the unit seven and a half years ago, after years of serving in the career army, where he commanded the Golani unit, among other things.
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"During the last intifada, we initiated hundreds of thousands of operations," he told reporters last week.

"The unit's achievements include killing some 50 suicide bombers before they were able to carry out their attack, killing 129 suspected terrorists on the wanted list, arresting 550 people wanted as terrorists and wounding 44 others. We also arrested 93 people for criminal reasons," he said, summing up Yamam's activity during the last intifada years.

"Most cases are not even reported in Israel. All the public hears about is traffic jams, but we act everywhere," he said.

Yamam was established in 1974 after the terror attack in Ma'alot (when members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attacked a school and killed 26), and engages mainly in special anti-terror activity, cooperating closely with Israel Defense Forces' commando units, mainly the general staff's "reconnaissance unit" (Sayeret Matkal).

All Yamam fighters are former IDF combatants, many of them officers, who undergo a seven-month training course before joining Yamam.

The combatants, most of whom join Yamam in their late twenties, specialize in climbing and skiing, shooting, neutralizing bombs, working with dogs and other activities instrumental to release hostages.

They also train in advanced technology for their secret police work.

About four years ago, Dvir was critically injured in a traffic accident on the coastal road. He recovered against all odds and returned to his unit on crutches two and a half months later.

Dvir stopped by the roadside to help a man caught in a car that had overturned. He managed to extract the injured man with the help of another driver who joined him, but was then hit by a passing truck.

"They saved my life in Hillel Yaffe [hospital], where I was brought with my entire body crushed," he recalled.

"One of the things that motivated me to rehabilitate myself was my desire to return to the unit as fast as possible. I always believed in living the moment and experiencing life intensely, and the injury taught me how transient everything is. You never know how your day will end," he said.

The November 2002 murder of Revital Ohayon and her two children in Kibbutz Metzer by a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades was the most difficult experience he had on the job.

"We saw the mother hugging her children and it pinched my heart," he said.

A year later, when his men apprehended the murderer, Dvir called the children's father and told him "the circle had closed."

Dvir will soon begin his new job as Amakim district police commander. The appointment of his successor, who had led a rebellion in the Yamam and fell out with his commanders, was controversial.