Zili, a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois, was born in Israel as part of a special project of the Border Guard S.W.A.T. team’s dog training unit. Zili has been a member of the team for more than five years, during which he participated in dozens of complex operations to thwart terror and locate terrorists.
At the end of last week, Zili captured the terrorist who murdered teen woman Ori Ansbacher.
“We arrived at the building in Ramallah at night,” recalled Sgt. Maj. A., the SWAT fighter operates Zili. “We scanned the building, and on one of the floors I released Zili to search the site. “I then heard barking and realized that he had located the terrorist and overpowered him, so that he won’t run away. When we got to him, we arrested him.”
“This was not the first terrorist Zili detected successfully,” A. noted, adding that “as the unit’s dog handler, there is no greater pride than when your dog succeeds in capturing a terrorist.”
The SWAT Commander, N., said: “The SWAT dogs are fighters in every respect. This is our approach, which brings about a very significant connection between the fighting men and the fighting dogs. The dogs train with us, go out with us on operations and spend leisure time with us. This combination of a human warrior and a four-legged warrior is a winning combination, which has yielded many operational successes in recent times.”
The unit’s dogs also participated in the arrest of the terrorist who had murdered two Israelis in the Barkan industrial zone last year.