Military Police Corps (Israel)

The corps is subordinate to the IDF Manpower Directorate and is headed by the Chief Military Police Officer, a brigadier general. Bahad 13 is its principal training base, providing basic, advanced, command, and policing instruction.[1]

A 2013 official description divided the Military Police into four systems: criminal investigation, traffic enforcement, imprisonment, and security checks. The security-check system operated at crossings around Jerusalem and in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[4] The corps’ structure is not static: reports from 2022 and 2023 documented the operation of two crossing battalions and the subsequent closure of Te’oz and transfer of its personnel to the Border Defense Corps.[5][3]

One account traces the corps’ beginnings to Jewish Brigade volunteers serving in the British Army during the 1940s. After training at a police school near Naples, the first military policemen arrested and interrogated German and Italian personnel, Gestapo and SS members, and labor-camp commanders. Their Star of David arm badges reportedly gave a sense of security to Holocaust survivors seeking refuge.[1]

Before and during the War of Independence, Jewish leadership established a Military Police Service whose first course graduated before the declaration of the state. During the war, it marked roads, helped move forces, and participated in Operations Yoav and Uvda. Military Police personnel also served in besieged Jerusalem, supported an artillery convoy to Degania Aleph during the Syrian attack, and foiled a robbery plot by a gang of fifty in the Beit She’an area.[1]

Leon Kopelman joined the IDF in 1948, completed a Military Police course in Kiryat Meir, and was sent north on May 15 attached to the Golani Brigade. His section later served with the 4th Brigade. After the ceasefire, he organized and commanded a course for female Military Police personnel. Kopelman kept a photographic album documenting the corps’ establishment for sixty years, and most of it was later deposited in the IDF archive.[6]

The corps received an emblem in 1949: a shield bearing five flames representing purity of hand, arms, heart, deed, and eye. During the Six-Day War, Military Police personnel directed traffic at major intersections, joined frontline units, maintained order in the Gaza Strip after its capture, and handled captured enemy soldiers. Military Police units fought as infantry during the Yom Kippur War and later carried out tasks during Operation Peace for the Galilee, the Second Lebanon War, and Operation Cast Lead.[1]

A Jewish Virtual Library article presents the Notrim, a Jewish paramilitary organization established in 1936 to protect Jewish settlements, as another institutional precursor. It says the legal force remained under Haganah control while attached to the British Palestine Police and later merged with similar Jewish Brigade units. This proposed continuity is weakly supported because the page identifies Wikipedia as its source.[7]

The corps enforces military law, discipline, traffic rules, and appearance regulations. Its personnel investigate criminal offenses, locate deserters, operate military detention facilities, escort detainees and convoys, establish checkpoints, and handle military traffic-accident scenes. During emergencies, they direct traffic along supply routes, at force concentrations, and near logistics centers; restrict unauthorized entry into combat areas; and handle prisoners of war.[1]

A recruitment profile groups the corps’ work into criminal investigation and intelligence gathering, policing, incarceration, and crossing security. Investigators address drugs, fraud, weapons theft, sexual offenses, deaths, operational incidents, and traffic accidents. Their methods include interviews, questioning, observation, surveillance, locating and arresting suspects, and open or covert intelligence collection.[8]

Military-police patrols seek to prevent offenses, enforce discipline and traffic rules, and provide initial assistance at accident scenes. They use marked and unmarked vehicles to identify serious violations and dangerous drivers and may work with the Israel Police. Detention personnel command soldiers held at military detention bases, accompany them during detention, and provide educational content intended to support a return to proper service. Some facilities temporarily hold security detainees before transfer to the Israel Prison Service.[8]

Crossing duties have included security checks intended to prevent attacks, infiltration, weapons smuggling, and assistance to terrorist organizations. Security assessors have served at cargo crossings, agricultural gates, and terminals along the seam line.[1][9] An IDF account distinguished crossings used for entry from Judea and Samaria into other parts of Israel from checkpoints activated during heightened security conditions.[10]

That account stated that the number of Central Command checkpoints declined from 40 in July 2008 to 13 in February 2014, although a quoted captain elsewhere on the page referred to “the 12 points” used after a warning of an imminent threat. It also reported that the corps recorded 475 attempted weapons-smuggling incidents and 1,147 attempted entries using forged identity cards in 2012. These were recorded attempts rather than successful entries.[10]

A 2022 report said two crossing battalions operated in Judea and Samaria and the Jerusalem Envelope. Citing IDF data for the preceding three months, it reported the interception of about 2,700 unauthorized entrants, the identification of about 170 people using false identities, the discovery of about 180 sophisticated forged identity cards, and the seizure of more than 500 weapons items from vehicles.[5]

In 2023, the Te’oz battalion, established in 2004 and deployed at checkpoints for nearly twenty years, was closed. Its personnel completed Rifleman 06 training and transferred to two combat companies in the Border Defense Corps’ Panther Battalion. The Erez battalion was reported to remain active in the Jerusalem perimeter, illustrating how the corps’ crossing responsibilities changed over time.[3]

The Military Police Criminal Investigation Division, known by the Hebrew acronym מצ״ח, is the IDF’s primary body for investigating alleged crimes by soldiers. The U.S. State Department identifies it as responsible, together with the Military Advocate General’s Corps, for investigating alleged unlawful conduct involving the IDF. This differs from the bodies responsible for allegations involving police or the prosecution service.[11]

The Criminal Investigation Division is led by a colonel who serves as deputy to the Chief Military Police Commissioner for investigations. Its documented elements include Northern, Central, and Southern district commands, a Special Investigations Unit, a National Fraud Investigations Unit, and an Intelligence and Detection Division. District units handle routine investigations, road accidents, weapons theft, serious drug cases, document forgery, and other sensitive matters.[4]

The National Fraud Investigations Unit, established in May 2000, handles large-scale theft, money laundering, economically motivated forgery, bribery, and breach of trust and includes a computer-offenses subunit. CID activity is regulated by the Military Justice Law, General Staff Order 33.0304, and Chief Military Police Commissioner Order 5000.[4]

The CID may investigate civilians as well as soldiers when an offense was committed in a military context or by a person subject to the Military Justice Law. It may take possession of objects required for an investigation and open investigations independently. Investigators remain within the Military Police chain of command while receiving professional guidance from the Military Advocate General and military prosecution.[4]

The IDF describes its military justice system as comprising the Military Advocate General’s Corps, MPCID, and the Military Courts. It characterizes MPCID as professionally independent and organizationally distinct from the Military Advocate General’s Corps and other IDF units. Its National Unit for Operational Affairs investigates alleged soldier misconduct during operational activity.[12]

An INSS analysis describes the Criminal Investigative Unit for Operational Affairs as part of the IDF’s internal legal system. In specified circumstances, the Military Advocate General instructs it to investigate suspected criminal conduct. The Military Advocate General may bring a soldier before a military court, and a convicted soldier may appeal to the Military Court of Appeals.[13]

A January 2010 State of Israel paper reported that MPCID investigators, including reservists, served in regional and specialized units. Training lasted about six months and included legal studies at the IDF School of Military Law. Candidates were required to pass an examination conducted by a Military Advocate. Investigators handling complaints by Palestinians received additional training, including international law, and worked in Arabic or with interpreters.[2]

Completed investigation files are transferred to the military prosecution, which may request supplementary work. A Military Advocate or the Chief Military Prosecutor decides whether to initiate criminal or disciplinary proceedings, with complex or sensitive cases decided in consultation with the Military Advocate General. Decisions not to indict may be reviewed by the Attorney General and the Supreme Court.[2]

The paper said any person could report alleged misconduct by IDF soldiers to the Military Police at a civilian police station. Gaza residents could submit written complaints in Hebrew, Arabic, or English, through a representative organization, or through the Military Liaison. Information could also come from victims, relatives, witnesses, NGOs, journalists, embassies, international bodies, law-enforcement agencies, or the IDF’s own review of media reports.[2]

Allegations criminal on their face, such as detainee maltreatment, use of civilians as human shields, intentional targeting of civilians, or looting, were described as grounds for direct criminal investigation. Other allegations could first be examined through command channels. These procedures were presented in an Israeli government account of its own investigative system.[2]

The same paper reported that during the preceding five years MPCID opened an annual average of almost 3,300 investigations, collected more than 11,000 testimonies, investigated an average of 5,500 suspects, and arrested an average of 1,400 people. Seven percent of investigations in 2009 involved Palestinian complainants. These are historical figures, not current statistics.[2]

A 2020 report on the redesigned MPCID insignia said investigators receive it after a specialized course at Bahad 13 covering investigative technology, report writing, interviewing, testimony, crime-scene visits, and evidence collection. Its sword, eye, five flames, and lily leaves represent professionalism, observation, corps values, and intelligence-related work.[14]

Bahad 13 provides basic and advanced training for the corps, including command and policing courses. A 2011 profile described basic training of about six weeks followed by role-specific courses, but these historical arrangements may not reflect current requirements.[1]

Women have served throughout the corps. The same profile characterized it as the first IDF corps to include women in operational activity, while a Jewish Virtual Library page states that women served in the Military Police’s Sachlav unit without detailing their duties.[1][15]

In 2021, Meital Ben Shushan became the first woman in the corps’ history to be promoted to colonel. She had entered the IDF about twenty years earlier as a warden in a women’s military prison. During Operation Protective Edge in 2014, while six months pregnant, she commanded Military Police operations across southern Israel and was responsible for 1,000 soldiers and reservists. Her emergency responsibilities included managing staging areas, directing traffic, and establishing checkpoints.[16]

The Military Police Corps combines internal law enforcement with operational support. Investigators gather evidence concerning alleged crimes; patrol and traffic personnel enforce discipline and regulate movement; detention staff maintain military custody; and emergency units support supply routes, force concentrations, and combat-area access control.[1][2]

Its investigative division is central to the military justice process but does not itself decide whether to prosecute. MPCID completes investigations, military prosecutors decide whether criminal or disciplinary proceedings should follow, and military courts hear cases and appeals. The corps’ history therefore reflects both the enforcement of law within the IDF and the practical support required for military operations.[1][2]

Policies for investigating Palestinian deaths arising from IDF activity changed over time. Until 2000, almost every such death, and certain injuries, in the West Bank and Gaza led to an immediate CID investigation. From 2000 to 2011, a decision was generally deferred until receipt of an operational debrief. Beginning in 2011, an immediate investigation was required for a Palestinian death resulting from IDF operations in the West Bank unless the operation was clearly of a real combat nature. The Turkel Commission recommended changes to the decision-making mechanism and investigation timetable.[4]

The U.S. State Department reported that the IDF introduced a policy in 2011 of automatically investigating claims of abuse in military-police custody, replacing a system under which investigations began at military personnel’s discretion. The report also relayed NGO assertions that automatic investigations applied only to some military activity in the West Bank and did not cover individuals reporting abuse in custody.[17]

A Yesh Din study cited by the State Department reported that MPCID opened 1,246 investigations between September 2000 and December 2007 into suspected killing, injury, or other offenses by soldiers against Palestinian civilians. Seventy-eight investigations, or six percent, led to indictments against 135 soldiers. As of September 2008, 113 soldiers had been convicted of at least one offense, four had been acquitted, eight cases dismissed, and ten cases remained pending.[18]

A Jerusalem Center article reported separate figures attributed to the military police for 2000–2007: 272 investigations of illegal weapons firing, 330 of property damage, 475 of violence, and 128 of crimes in Palestinian areas. It listed 31, 36, 37, and 20 indictments respectively, and 17, 36, 34, and 18 convictions. The commentary did not explain its counting method or identify individual cases.[19]

The same commentary said complaints, investigations, and convictions increased substantially in 2008 and suggested a possible connection to the establishment of the Military Advocate for Operational Affairs in October 2007. A separate commentary argued that military-police investigations formed part of the IDF’s obligation to examine its conduct during the Gaza operation but supplied no investigation totals.[19][20]

Following Operation Cast Lead, conducted from December 27, 2008, to January 18, 2009, special MPCID teams were assigned exclusively to complaints arising from the operation. The teams included sixteen investigators and Arabic interpreters. By January 2010, they had taken testimony from almost 100 Palestinian complainants and witnesses and approximately 500 IDF personnel.[2]

The State of Israel paper reported that 36 incidents had been referred for criminal investigation. One had produced an indictment and conviction, seven had been closed without charges, and 28 remained under investigation. These figures and descriptions were the Israeli government’s account of its own investigative process at that time.[2]

A later public dispute concerned investigations of reservists serving at Sde Teiman. An INSS analysis described suspected offenses including sexual abuse in coercive circumstances, causing injury with aggravated intent, collective abuse in aggravating circumstances, inappropriate behavior, and, for some soldiers, assaulting and obstructing a public servant. These were allegations rather than findings of guilt.[13]

The analysis placed the investigation amid demonstrations and incursions at the Sde Teiman and Beit Lid bases, where civilians attempted to prevent investigators from detaining suspects and tried to free soldiers held at a military facility. It said police would ordinarily remove civilians obstructing military activity, while trained soldiers could be used if police intervention was insufficient.[13]

Investigators’ methods, including the use of masks, were publicly questioned, and some objections came from the IDF Personnel Directorate, the organizational framework within which the operational-investigations unit sits. The INSS author argued that professional objections should be communicated through professional channels and assessed that the investigators “did their work in accordance with the principles of their profession and position.” This was the author’s judgment, not a judicial finding.[13]

Another dispute involved a reserve unit called Force 100. The original Military Police unit was created in the early 1990s to respond to riots, violence, hostage incidents, and other extreme events in military prisons. Its personnel underwent about six months of training in counterterrorism, violent unrest, infantry combat, and hand-to-hand combat. It was disbanded in the mid-2000s after responsibility for security prisoners moved to the Israel Prison Service.[21]

After October 7, 2023, a reserve unit reused the Force 100 name to guard detainees at Sde Teiman and respond to possible violence or unrest. A 2024 report said the IDF was investigating allegations against reservists and reviewing the unit’s recruitment, training, and procedures. The allegations were not established findings.[21]