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Special forces units in the Israel Defense Forces encompass a broad definition of specialist units. Such units are usually a company or a battalion in strength.
Contents
- Unit 101
- Sayeret units today
- Main special forces units
- Commando Brigade Oz
- Infantry Corps
- Armored Corps
- Artillery Corps
- Combat Engineering Corps
- Combat Intelligence Collection Corps
- Air Force
- Navy
- Other units
- Disbanded units
- Border Police
- Police
- Prison Service
- References
Sayeret (Hebrew: סיירת, pl.: sayarot), or reconnaissance units in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) nomenclature, specialize in intelligence gathering and surveillance. In practice, these units specialize in commando and other special forces roles, in addition to reconnaissance (the degree of specialization varies by units and current needs).
Mista'arvim (Hebrew: מסתערבים, lit. Arabized; Arabic: مستعربين, Musta'arabin), also spelled as mistaravim, are counter-terrorism units in whose members are specifically trained to operate undercover, in enemy territory, in order to assassinate or capture wanted terrorists.
Unit 101
Commando Unit 101, the founding Israeli special forces unit, was established and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. They were armed with non-standard weapons and tasked with carrying out retribution operations across the state's borders—in particular, establishing small unit maneuvers, activation and tactical insertion and exit tactics.
Members of the unit were recruited only from agricultural Kibbutzs and Moshavs. Membership in the unit was by invitation only, and any new member had to be voted on by all existing members before they were accepted.
The unit was merged into the 890th Paratroop Battalion during January 1954, on orders of General Dayan, Chief of Staff, because he wanted their experience and spirit to be spread among all infantry units of IDF starting with the paratroopers. They are considered to have had a significant influence on the development of subsequent Israeli special forces units.
Sayeret units today
All combat brigades in the IDF have a unit with improved weaponry and training used for reconnaissance and special forces missions, trained to use advanced weapons and reconnaissance technology, as well as hand-to-hand combat. Historically the brigades used to only have one company-sized unit outfitted to do this job, known as Palsar (Hebrew contraction of: פלוגת-סיור, Plugat Siyur (singular) / Plugot Siyur (plural), "Reconnaissance Company"). Although the Palsar are mostly oriented at battlefield support (which is their raison d'être), many have participated in special operations during recent years. All infantry units as well as some armored units have Palsar. While in the past there were differences between the Siyur units, due to the experiences of the past decades the IDF is now consolidating them into larger units with many different capabilities: battalion-sized units called Gadsar (contraction of Gdud Siyur, "Reconnaissance battalion"). Each Gadsar is made up of three specialized Plugot (companies): Demolitions and combat engineering (Plugat Habalah Handasit, or Palhan), Reconnaissance (Plugat Siyur, Palsar) and Anti-Tank (Pluga Neged Tankim, or Palnat).
This is part of the Yatah ("Low-Intensity Combat Unit") Project. This project aims at changing the Reconnaissance battalions into specialized urban counter terror units, that are specifically trained and equipped to operate in current combat situations.
On late December 2015, some Ground Force special forces units have been assembled in the Oz Brigade.
Other SF units or Sayarot are larger units, operating under corps and commands. There are several battalion-size units which report directly to regional, functional (navy/air-force) and the general commands. The best known of these are Sayeret Matkal, Shayetet 13 and Shaldag.
Main special forces units
These are the most well-known commando units. Their operators are proficient in long range solo navigation, as opposed to other special forces units in the IDF where long range navigation is done with a minimum of 2 fighters.
Commando Brigade "Oz"
Infantry Corps
The five infantry brigades (Golani, Givati, Nahal, Kfir and the Paratroopers) operate their own Palsars (today joint with Pal'nat and Pal'han as "Gad'sar"/Gdoud Siour), the infantry "Sayarot". Each unit is subordinate to a specific regiment command, though they are not restricted to these.