Pigs: a psychological deterrent?

I am reading a book called Son of Hamas, a memoir written by a Palestinian who worked as an informant for the Israeli secret service. The author, Mosab Hassan Yousef, declares at the beginning of the book that he is going to ‘disclose secrets that have never been known before’.

One of these secrets, delightfully enough, involves the Israel Defence Force’s rather unusual approach towards guarding bases on the West Bank. Rather than deploying highly trained Dobermans or Alsatians, the IDF uses pigs — yes, pigs — to patrol the perimeter fence. The reason for this, as Mosab puts it, is that ‘the presence of pigs and the threat of possible contact with them would serve as a psychological deterrent to any prospective terrorist who was a devout muslim’.

He doesn’t elaborate further, but one would assume that rather than attempting to train these pigs to become aggressive killers — which, as every Englishman knows, is contrary to the nature of the pig — the Israeli special forces would employ a strategy of encouraging their friendlier side. After all, what could be more off-putting to a would-be suicide bomber than the sight of an affectionate, doe-eyed porker ambling good-naturedly towards him?

Just another example of the surreal nature of life on the West Bank.