These fantastic creatures are known commonly as ISRAELI GOLD SCORPIONS.  As well as being native to the deserts of Israel they are also found in many other Asian and also north African countries such as Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia to name just a few.  They are also sometimes also known as the large-clawed scorpion because relative to their small size (they only reach about 8cm as adults) they have quite large claws as you can see below:

Like most scorpions, and especially the large clawed species, these scorpions use their claws or pincers to catch insects and other small creatures and will only use their sting if the insect cannot be killed by the claws alone, and the venom contained within the sting is required to overpower the prey.  They will also use their sting to defend themselves against larger animals (and people) and, whilst their venom is not strong enough to cause serious injury, they are capable of giving a surprisingly painful sting. 

I no longer handle any of my scorpions having been stung by one of my Imperial scorpions in 2007. It came as quite a shock and, whilst not causing me any significant harm, it caused enough discomfort to prevent me from being prepared to risk it happening again!