's bunkers during the
Second Lebanon War machinegun and slat armor during IDF training
Caterpillar Inc. introduced the
Caterpillar D9 bulldozer in 1954 and it quickly found its way to
civilian engineering in Israel and from there it was recruited to military service by the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Earlier use Unarmored D9 bulldozers were used in the
Sinai War (1956),
Six-Day War (1967),
Yom Kippur War (1973) and the
1982 Lebanon War (1982). During the 1982 Lebanon War D9s were employed in breaching and paving ways through mountains and fields in the mountain landscape of southern Lebanon. The D9s also cleared minefields and explosive belly charges set on the main routes by Syrian army and Palestinian insurgents. Because the D9 served as front-line tools, the IDF developed armor kits to protect the lives of the soldiers operating them.
The Second Intifada opposing the
demolition of Palestinian homes by Israeli military bulldozers, hours before they crushed her, on March 16, 2003. Armored D9 bulldozers were used during the
Second Intifada (2000–2005), a Palestinian uprising against
Israeli occupation. Over 3,000 homes in Palestine were demolished by Israel during the conflict, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. The destruction of Palestinian homes promoted protests. In one such protest in
Rafah in 2003 a group of eight people tried to stop a D9 bulldozer from demolishing a family home. The operator of the bulldozer drove over one of the protesters,
Rachel Corrie. She died as a result of her injuries. in Gaza during the Second IntifadaFollowing several incidents where armed Palestinians barricaded themselves inside houses and killed soldiers attempting to breach the entries, the IDF developed "
pressure cooker procedure" in which D9s and other
engineering vehicles were used to bring them out by razing the houses; most of them surrendered because of fear of being buried alive. During the
2002 Battle of Jenin armored D9 bulldozers cleared
booby traps and
improvised explosive devices, and eventually razed houses from which militants fired upon Israeli soldiers or contained possible IEDs and booby traps. After the deadly ambush in which 13 soldiers were killed, D9 bulldozers razed the center of the Jenin refugee camp and forced the remaining Palestinian fighters to surrender, thus finishing the battle with an Israeli victory.
D9R and early 21st century ) during training in the desertDuring the early 2000s, the new D9R entered IDF service, equipped with a new generation armor designed by the IDF's
MASHA (, lit. Restoration and Maintenance Center),
Israel Aerospace Industries and
Zoko Shiloovim/
ITE (Caterpillar Inc. importers in Israel). Due to the increasing threat of
shaped charge anti-tank rockets and
anti-tank missile, the IDF introduced in 2005 a
slat armor, installed in large numbers on the IDF D9R dozers in 2006. The slat armor proved to be effective and life-saving; its developers and installers won the IDF's Ground Command award. The IDF also operates armored remote-controlled D9N bulldozers, called "Raam HaShachar" (, lit. "thunder of dawn") often incorrectly referred as "black thunder". The remote-controlled bulldozer has been used to clear mines. They were used in the
Second Lebanon War in 2006 and the
Gaza War (2008–2009). Armored D9R bulldozers took part in the effort to extinguish
2010 Mount Carmel forest fire. The armored bulldozers opened routes to fire trucks and fire fighters into the heart of the fire. They also created fire breaks by clearing shrubbery and pushing up soil barriers in order to prevent the fire from spreading. They also helped extinguish fires by burying them in dirt and soil.
Gaza War (2008–2009) In total, 100 D9s were deployed during the
Gaza War (2008–2009), dubbed 'Operation Cast Lead' by Israel. The war led to extensive destruction in Gaza, especially of Palestinian homes; Israeli bulldozers and anti-tank mines were commonly used. According to
Amnesty International: In March 2009,
The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF intended to increase its use of unmanned D9 bulldozers, doubling the number it had.
2014 Gaza War IDF D9 armored bulldozers took major role in the
2014 Gaza War, both in defensive missions and offensive maneuvers. The D9s assisted other
heavy equipment such as
excavators and
drillers in exposing and destroying
cross-border underground tunnels penetrating into Israel, more than 30 of these tunnels were destroyed during the operation. The reserve mechanical engineering equipment (צמ"ה) and bulldozers battalion of the Central Command received a citation of recommendation (צל"ש,
tzalash) from the
Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. D9s participated in the ground offensive, opening routes to
tanks and
infantry forces, and demolishing structures that were used by Palestinian militants. On July 27, one D9 was hit by an
anti-tank missile, killing its operator and wounding its commander. Another D9 demolished the building from which the missile was launched, killing 8 militants and capturing two more. The crew received a citation of recommendation (צל"ש,
tzalash) for their action.
D9T Panda In 2018 the Israel Defense Forces Combat Engineering Corps started to deploy and operate the "Panda" – a remote-controlled version of an armored
Caterpillar D9T bulldozer. In 2018, Israel Aerospace Industries announced that it had signed a contract to equip the IDF with more D9T Panda dozers. In 2022-2023 the Panda entered regular service with the IDF. In 2019,
Elbit Systems was awarded an
IMOD contract to install the
Iron Fist active protection system on the IDF's armored D9 bulldozers, to give them extra protection from
anti-tank missiles.
Israel–Gaza war During the
Gaza war D9 Bulldozers were deployed on the ground offensive into Gaza where it was used to clear routes for ground forces to manoeuvre and expose shafts of Hamas combat tunnels. According to
The Independent around 100 D9 bulldozers were expected to be used in the opening stage of the war. On 16 December 2023 the IDF
captured the Kamal Adwan Hospital; in doing so IDF bulldozers crushed people who had been sheltering outside the hospital. An investigation by
CNN published in January 2024 used satellite imagery to identify sixteen burial grounds in Gaza that had been desecrated by the IDF using bulldozers to
level cemeteries and dig up bodies. Later that month
Ynet reported that the IDF would buy a further 100 bulldozers. Ynet also reported that the Biden administration in the US held up a shipment of 134 bulldozers; the bulldozers arrived in July 2025. Bulldozers were also used in the
deliberate destruction of Gaza's environment, with an estimated 38–48% of Gaza's farmland and tree cover destroyed by Israel's military. Norwegian pension fund
Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (in 2024) and the
Government Pension Fund of Norway (in 2024) stopped investing in Caterpillar due to the use of its products by the IDF. ==Models in IDF service==