The Israel Border Police () is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav (), meaning border guard; its members are colloquially known as magavnikim (; singular magavnik). Border Guard is often used as the official name of the Israel Border Police in English. While its main task is securing Israel's borders, it has also been deployed in assisting the Israel Defense Forces, and for counter-terrorism and law enforcement operations in the West Bank, as well as in Jerusalem. The Israeli Border Police is known to include many soldiers from minority backgrounds, being a particularly popular choice with Druze recruits, but also includes many soldiers from Circassian, Arab Christian and Bedouin background. History The Border Police was founded as the Frontier Corps (, Heil HaSfar), a gendarmerie under the IDF in 1949 with the task of providing security in rural areas and along the borders. In the course of the following years, it was gradually transferred to the command of the Police and became the Border Police. During these years, it secured new settlements and countered infiltration of Palestinian Fedayeen, especially from Egypt and Jordan. During the 1956 Suez War, the Border Police was involved in the Kafr Qasim massacre. On the second day of the war, a curfew was imposed on the Israeli Arab village. Villagers who had worked in the village fields and were apparently unaware of the curfew were shot as they returned to the village, resulting in 49 dead. This event raised a strong protest in the Israeli public and resulted in a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the obligation of soldiers to disobey manifestly illegal orders. During the 1967 Six-Day War, the Border Police took part in the fighting alongside the IDF. Following the war, it was deployed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and charged with maintaining law and order as part of the military administration. Since then, a significant portion of the Border Police's activity has been in these territories, especially during the years of the First Intifada and the Second (al-Aqsa) Intifada. In 1974, the counter-terror unit Yamam was established. In the 2000 October Riots, the Border Police were used as the main branch of the treatment in the events. During the Second Intifada, the Border Police took a large part in the security activity. In 2005, the