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'How'd you like to join me for a night on police border patrol?' asked my good friend Ilan. 'We meet at 10 o'clock at the gas station at Givat Ada junction and then go off to try and catch some criminals!'

'As long as I don't miss out on my chicken dinner, you can count me in' said I.

And so it was that this British, former racing journalist and jazz musician, found himself in 'in the thick of it' in rural Israel, on a chilly Friday night.

The kneidlach had not long been digested when I joined the merry band of men that make up the Alona 71 volunteer border police. The guys trundled into the café at the gas station one by one, a variety of shapes and sizes, ranging in age from 28 to 'around 60'.

Ilan introduced me to Yehuda Zarka, 55, commander of our unit, and a genuine local hero. For 30 years Yehuda has been organizing a roster of 120 local men and women who volunteer to support the work of the local police force in the pastoral areas around Pardess Hanna, Binyamina and Zichron Yaakov. With the exception of Yom Kippur, he hasn't had a night off for an astounding 10 years! Yehuda's men go after the petty (and not so petty criminals), who populate this mixed Jewish/Arab area.

Making up the team was Aron, 28, who works for the Internal Security ministry (on something of a busman's holiday), and Shimon, 58-ish, a local farmer, who had his tractor stolen some months before and was determined that the same wouldn't happen to others in the area. Oh, and then there was Albert (named after Einstein), Aron's dog, a cross St.Bernard/Husky creature, who apparently has a good nose for a criminal, and teeth to match.

They give up their free time on a regular basis for a number of reasons. All want to give something back to the community. Many miss the army days and like to put on a uniform and join the 'boys' (and girls) out on patrol again. Many others are of the opinion that without this organization, the regular police would let many crimes go undetected and unpunished.

We jumped in the patrol car and left the gas station, with two packs of sunflower seeds and a bottle of soda for night time rations.

'I made some hot, sweet tea for us all' said Shimon.
'Lovely,' enthused Ilan.
'But I left it on the table by the front door!'
'Not so 'lovely', said I.

First stop, less than half a mile from 'base' was a eucalyptus forest that borders a series of pomegranate and avocado groves.

'What are we doing here?' I asked Yehuda.
'We've had word that there are thieves around looking to steal pomegranates. They're worth plenty of money at this time of the year' he explained.

The car rumbled down a country path, lights turned off. We pulled over and Aron, Albert (the dog) and Shimon leaped out like the Dukes of Hazzard. 

'I saw a flashlight a few hundred metres ahead' whispered Aron, taking his pistol out of its holster. Shimon produced what appeared to my untrained eye to be a hunting rifle.
'Is that an antique?' I asked.
'My father used it to fight the British in the '40's!' he smiled.
Was he trying to wind me up?

I stayed by the car with Ilan and Yehuda. We spoke in hushed tones.
'How much danger are they in?' I enquired of Yehuda.
'None whatsoever' he replied with absolute certainty.
'Really!'
'Really' he confirmed. 'In 30 years, I've never met one criminal carrying a weapon. They're frightened of us, so the last thing they want is to get into a fight. They always try and make a run for it, and believe me, they can run really fast!'

'Who are the criminals? I mean, are they Arabs or Jews?'
'80 percent Arabs, and 20 percent Jews,' Yehuda stated. 'They often work together though, Jews 'fencing' the stolen goods that the Arabs bring, and vice versa.'

The regular police pulled in next to us, headlights on full beam and police lights spinning, clearly having overlooked the element of surprise. Yehuda and Ilan just tutted and shook their heads.

'What was the most exciting day in your 30 years?' I asked Yehuda.
'Oho!' exclaimed Ilan. 'Yehuda is a big hero after what happened four years ago.'
Yehuda took up the story.

'Back in 2005, I was patrolling just a couple of miles from here, when I saw a covered truck rumbling across some farmland, with no lights on. It was late at night and looked suspicious. I approached with my lights off, and when I got close enough I spun the lights on and jumped out of the car. Two guys slammed the brakes on, got out and started running. We gave chase, but they ran far too fast for me and my guys to catch them.'

'So what were they up to?' I asked, intrigued.
'I pulled back the cover and saw lots of plastic containers. At first, I thought it was   stolen paint, or something like that. Then, I realised it was explosives – more than 500kg of high explosives! 

'We'd received a message earlier that week that a terrorist cell had got through from the West Bank and that Hadera (only five miles away) could be a likely target. These were the terrorists. There were fuses and timers together with the explosives hidden inside the paint containers.'

Yehuda received a top award from then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to go with many previous commendations for his work in apprehending criminals in the area. If the terrorists had got through, there would have been carnage.

Aron, Shimon and Albert returned empty handed.
'As soon as they saw the police lights they 'legged it' they said accusingly, within earshot of the boys in blue. The regular police just laughed.

We were busy munching sunflower seeds when a call came through that a fire had been spotted close to a nearby army base. We jumped back in the car and were off again.

It was now approaching midnight and we were bouncing around on rocky ground heading towards an elite, high security training base. On the radio I could hear plenty of action back at the Givat Ada junction, where I had been issued with my uniform only a couple of hours earlier.

'Yossi, block the Binyamina road before the train station' said the controller.
'Zvi is chasing a black BMW down the Pardess Hanna road. The car came up on the computer – he's moving really fast.'
'Sling the 'teeth' across the road at Ada junction.'
'Will do' said another voice.
(A few moments later) 'Here he comes. Oh my G-d, he's all over the place. He's in the ditch now!'
Silence for a few moments more. I could barely draw breath.
'We've got him. He's OK.'
'Stolen vehicle is it?' asked one of the patrol cars.
'No. He's an army deserter - a Druze!'

Most of the Druze join the Israeli army and are much respected, but this guy clearly had had enough and was making a run for it. I was told that he was handcuffed at the scene and taken into police custody.

We arrived to find four Israeli soldiers had apprehended and searched a group of 14 young Arabs, none of whom was carrying a weapon. We jumped out of the car and approached.

'What are you boys up to?' Yehuda said with a disarming smile, as he lit a cigarette. They all started talking at once.
'Only one person can speak for you' Yehuda said, and one of the guys stepped forward.
'We're from Kfar Kara, and we were just out here having a few drinks together around the fire. We didn't realize we had drifted onto military ground.'
Despite the guns, army and police presence, I sensed no hostility in the air. Everyone was relaxed, almost certainly due to Yehuda's informal approach.

'You know it's against the law to start a fire on, or next to a military base' Yehuda continued. 'You should know better.'
'If we had realized where we were, we wouldn't have done it. We'll put the fire out now and go home.'
'Good' said Yehuda. 'But don't let me catch you lot around here again, do you hear?'
'Understood. Thank you.' said the Arab, as he gestured to his friends to tidy things up quickly.
'The army will escort you off their land' Yehuda added.
'Shabbat Shalom' the Arabs called. 'Toda Raba (Thankyou), T'hiyu briyim (Keep well)' added more of their number, and they came over to shake hands with me and my colleagues before heading off up the hill.
 
'Were they really just having a drink round the fire?' I asked suspiciously.
'For sure,' said Yehuda and Ilan together.
'They are forbidden to drink alcohol by Islamic law, and if they are caught in their village, they'll get beaten up or horse whipped.'

Away again out of the army base, we hadn't been going more than two minutes when Aron told us to stop as he had seen the lights of a vehicle up ahead. We rumbled along in first gear and then witnessed a young guy forcing the lock on a farm gate. Immediately, Yehuda spun the police lights and we shot forward to the gate where the man was standing looking shell-shocked at being caught.

'What are you up to?' Aron asked as he got out of the car with Albert chafing at the leash.
'I can't get out' the man shouted, 'I'm locked in!'
'Locked in!' said Shimon. 'What are you talking about?'
'I came to a wedding this afternoon at the event hall over there, and fell asleep after having a few too many drinks, so I slept it off.'
'More like smoked too much 'stuff', Ilan whispered to me.
'I must have been asleep for more than five hours' the young guy continued, 'cos when I woke up, everyone had gone home and the place was locked. I'm breaking out, not breaking in!' he reasoned.

Ilan started chuckling. Yehuda glanced around towards us and winked as he tried to keep a straight face.
'Where are you from?' Yehuda asked.
'Kibbutz Maayan Zvi' said the young guy, looking embarrassed.
'I think you better go home now, don't you?' said Yehuda, and the guy (having given us his ID number) rushed back to his car, agreed to come back the next day with a new lock, waved a timid wave, and disappeared down the lane.

Yehuda radioed the farm owner to tell him what had happened and that the gate would be left closed, but not locked. The farmer thanked him for the call.
'Poor kid' said Shimon, and we all started laughing in the back.

We took another rocky route towards Bat Shlomo on our way back to base. The radio waves were red hot.
'Covered vehicle spotted heading across farmland towards Kfar Kara.'
'232, on our way.' 
'Report that a lamb has been stolen.'
Could the thief be of Welsh descent, I wondered to myself, whilst thinking how long it had been since I'd had chops for dinner.
'They've seen us' said 232 to base. 'They're getting out and making a run for it into the woods and back to the village.'
Siren heard wurring. Then silence.
'232. 232. Any news?' asked the operator.
A few moments later.
'How many 'lambs' were reported stolen?' asked car 232.
'Not specified'
'Well, there are ten massive sheep in here. They must weigh around 60 kilos each!'
'Unbelievable' said Ilan shaking his head. 'They steal anything they can.'

Pomegranate thieves, an army deserter, Arabs lighting fires on military ground, a tipsy kibbutznik breaking out of a locked wedding venue, and, to round it all off, sheep rustling.

Just another routine night for the Israeli volunteer border police.