Founded in 1999 to encourage ultra-Orthodox Jewish men to enlist, the unit has since accepted recruits from other religious backgrounds and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The unit has primarily attracted marginalized ultra-Orthodox youths seeking integration into Israeli society, but it has also attracted radical religious nationalists with strong anti-Arab sentiments.

Netzah Yehuda is a controversial battalion in the Israeli military, known for its strong ideological and sociological leaning towards religious Zionism and nationalist militarism.

Unlike most army units, it relies on volunteers.

The battalion is closely linked to the extreme fringes of the Israeli settler movement and attracts religious individuals who combine Jewish religious interpretations with nationalist militarism.

Many of its soldiers are born and raised in the West Bank, where Israel has occupied territory since 1967, home to 3 million Palestinians and 490,000 Israeli settlers.

Netzah Yehuda is frequently deployed for policing and "counter-insurgency" operations in the Palestinian territory.

The Netzah Yehuda army unit in the West Bank has faced scrutiny following the death of Palestinian American Omar Assad in January 2022.

Assad, who was handcuffed, gagged, and blindfolded, was left lying on the ground for over an hour in freezing temperatures.

His death drew attention to the unit, with several Israeli media outlets reporting incidents of abuse against Palestinians and Bedouin citizens of Israel that went unpunished.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Netzah Yehuda soldiers allowed settlers to attack Palestinians, while Haaretz denounced the ideological connection between the soldiers and settlers.

The US State Department ordered an investigation into Assad's death.

Military debates exist regarding Netzah Yehuda, a unit in the Israeli army, with some officials viewing it as risky due to the large number of young recruits holding similar nationalist ideologies.