The ''Mitznefet'' ( he, מִצְנֶפֶת) is a

helmet cover The helmet cover was first used by French soldiers during World War I. Helmet covers are usually made out of canvas or cotton and come in many camouflage designs, for example: woodland, desert or urban, and different camouflage patterns like MA ...

ing used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on

combat helmets Combat (French language, French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violence, violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed (Hand-to-hand combat, not using weapons). Combat is sometim ...

for

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

soldiers since 1994. It is considerably larger than the helmet, with a similar appearance to a chef's hat. The main purpose of the ''Mitznefet'' is to break up the distinctive outline of a helmeted human head via its floppiness and also prevent light from reflecting off of the wearer's helmet, providing a tactical advantage and making it easier to

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

when necessary. Additionally, the bulk of the covering can be pulled down to shade and protect any side of the wearer's head from direct sunlight exposure. It was originally adopted by the IDF in the 1990s to provide tactical advantages to Israeli troops due to the prevalence of guerrilla warfare in the bush and

woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

of southern

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

during the Israeli occupation of that country. The ''Mitznefet'' was later configured to have a two-sided camouflage material, with one side adopted for desert environments and the other for woodland terrain. The covering is easily removable, and can be attached to the helmet while folded. The name for the covering was directly adopted from the Hebrew-language term for the

priestly turban The priestly mitre or turban ( he, מִצְנֶפֶת ''mitznefet'') was the head covering worn by the High Priest of Israel when he served in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Etymology The Hebrew word ''mitznefet'' () has been t ...

that was worn by the High Priest of Israel in the

Temple of Jerusalem The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...

during the Second Temple period, and originates in a

Semitic root The roots of verbs and most nouns in the Semitic languages are characterized as a sequence of consonants or "radicals" (hence the term consonantal root). Such abstract consonantal roots are used in the formation of actual words by adding the vowels ...

that means "to wrap".

References

External links

* Military equipment of Israel Military camouflage Headgear Military equipment introduced in the 1990s {{Israel-mil-stub