Sayeret Matkal

In 1954, Israel's first special operations unit—Unit 101—was disbanded following the outcry provoked by the Qibya massacre. This left the IDF without a dedicated special-forces unit other than the Navy's Shayetet 13, a naval commando unit that could not fully replace Unit 101. In 1957, Major Avraham Arnan, a former yeshiva student and Palmach fighter, petitioned the IDF General Staff to create a unit that could be dispatched to enemy-held territory to carry out top secret intelligence-gathering missions. Arnan's idea (backed by David Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin) was to create a unit that would recruit only the best and the brightest of Israeli youth. Prospective fighters were to be hand-picked, being physically and intellectually the best soldiers available. Originally part of Aman's Unit 504, Sayeret Matkal began to operate independently a year later as the General Staff's special operations force, modeled after the British Special Air Service. Members of the unit were trained by Bedouin trackers to obtain a better understanding of their adversaries. Established a year after the formation of Israel's first helicopter squadron, the close co-operation between the two units allowed Sayeret Matkal to deploy longer and deeper inside Arab territory than its predecessor. Arnan's vision for Sayeret Matkal (of which he was the first commander) was of a unit that would carry out strategic intelligence-gathering and other operations; as such it would receive its missions only from the General Staff. Sayeret Matkal would also evaluate new weapons and doctrines that could influence the entire IDF. In the first years of the unit, it was manned by Palmach veterans, veterans of the intelligence corps, veterans of Unit 101 and the paratroopers unit. Among them Isaac Shoshan, Yair Harari, Eli Gil ("Daud"), Sami Nachmias, Charles Levy ("Salem"), Moshe Levin (Kukala), Shmuel Ben Zvi (Shemil), Yitzhak Ghibli ("The Little One"), Yehiel Amsalem – the commander of the first team in the unit, Meir Har-Zion, Avshalom Adam, Aharon Eshel, Micah Kapusta, Rami Kafkafi and many other young people from kibbutzim. Its first operational activity was carried out in a dedicated assignment in Lebanon in May 1962. But, due to the extensive training, planning and preparation that had to be undertaken before its missions, Sayeret Matkal ended up not seeing any action during the war itself. It was however engaged extensively in the following War of Attrition. After 1967, with the rise of Arab terrorism perpetrated by groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Sayeret Matkal began developing the first counterterrorism and hostage rescue techniques in the world. Beginning with Operation Isotope, the unit carried out several high-profile operations that thrust it into the limelight as an "elite paratroopers" unit (Sayeret Matkal's existence was classified at the time). In 1972, during the Munich Olympic hostage crisis, it was reported that Mossad head Zvi Zamir offered the assistance of Sayeret Matkal for the hostage rescue. However, the West German government rejected the offer, insisting that the Bavarian State Police would handle the crisis. In the subsequent Mossad assassinations following the Munich massacre, Sayeret Matkal struck the PLO in Beirut. In 1974, Sayeret Matkal suffered a heavy blow when a failed rescue attempt resulted in the Ma'alot massacre. The debacle led to the creation of the Yamam to deal with domestic counter-terrorism/hostage-rescue missions, while Sayeret Matkal would focus on foreign counter-terrorism/hostage-rescue. Two years later, on 4 July 1976, came the unit's most famous mission when it spearheaded Operation Entebbe to rescue hostages held in Uganda by at least six Palestinians and two German terrorists supported by regular Ugandan soldiers. The mission was a resounding success, although there were three hostages killed, as well as the commander of the unit, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu. In September 2023, the IDF announced a new pilot program that will allow women to join the unit for the first time, set to start in November 2024. In the Gaza war, the unit had reportedly lost at least 11 soldiers and was preparing to liberate hostages captured by Hamas. In September 2024, the unit raided an underground Iranian-built precision missile factory near the Syrian city of Masyaf – around 25 miles (40km) north of the Lebanese border. Operators roped down from hovering helicopters before engaging in a firefight with Syrian guards at the facility, killing around 18 people. The commandos then used explosives to blow up the underground facility – including sophisticated machinery. Commandos removed some equipment and documents during the raid. == Recruitment and training ==

The unit was kept top-secret during its initial years and its very existence was never officially acknowledged until the 1980s. Today, all the soldiers in the unit undergo an officer's course at the end of their training and move on to hold positions in the unit as well as other IDF units. The combat soldiers are required to sign on for an additional 36 months in addition to their mandatory service term. Most of the combat soldiers will commence an undergraduate university degree towards the end of their service. Although Sayeret Matkal has its own insignia, it is also one of only two units in the IDF, the other being Duvdevan, whose soldiers are not allowed to wear it in public due to its classified nature. This lack of insignia often leads to Sayeret Matkal operators being recognized as such, as the fact that Matkal troopers don't wear insignia is well known. == Notable members ==

Sayeret Matkal veterans have gone on to achieve high positions in Israel's military and political echelons. Several have become IDF Generals and members of the Knesset. Ehud Barak's career is an example: a draftee in 1959, he later succeeded Unit 101 commando Lt. Meir Har-Zion in becoming Israel's most decorated soldier. While with Sayeret Matkal, Barak led operations Isotope in 1972 and Spring of Youth in 1973. He later advanced in his military career to become the IDF Chief of Staff between 1991 and 1995. In 1999 he became the 10th Prime Minister of Israel. • Muki Betser – second in command of Operation Entebbe. Founder of the Shaldag Unit. • Nechemya Cohen – the Unit's and the IDF's most decorated soldier (with Barak). Killed in action. Beit Nechemya was built in his memory by "the Unit". • Avi Dichter – unit fighter, later head of Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet), later the minister of internal security. • Daniel M. Lewin – co-founder of Akamai Technologies. He was the first victim of the September 11 attacks. • Shaul Mofaz – unit deputy commander, later IDF Chief of Staff and former Defense Minister of Israel. • Uzi Yairi – unit commander, formerly head of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade, killed in action while off-duty during Savoy Operation. • Danny Yatom – unit deputy commander, later a General, head of Mossad and a Knesset member. There is a widely held misconception that former Israeli major general and former prime minister Ariel Sharon served in Sayeret Matkal. Although as a major, Sharon founded the IDF's first special-forces unit (Unit 101) in 1953, he never served in Sayeret Matkal. == Operations ==

• 1968 – Operation Gift – sabotage of 14 Arab airliners in Beirut International Airport, Lebanon. • 1969 – Operation Bulmus 6 – assault on fortified Green Island, Egypt (jointly with Shayetet 13). • 1969 – Operation Raviv – raid on Egypt's Red Sea coast. • 1972 – Operation Isotope – foiling the hijacking of Sabena Flight 571 in Tel Aviv, Israel (hostages rescue). • 1974 – Ma'alot massacre – school hostages rescue. • 1978 – Coastal Road massacre – bus hostages rescue. • 1982 – 1982 Lebanon War – deep reconnaissance ahead of Israeli forces (snipers managed to target Yasser Arafat although they were not allowed to fire) • 1984 – Kav 300 affair – bus hostages rescue. • 1988 – Assassination of Abu Jihad, in Tunis, Tunisia. • 1989 – Kidnapping of Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid, Lebanon (see Ron Arad). • 1994 – Mustafa Dirani kidnapping, Lebanon (see Ron Arad). • 2006 – Second Lebanon War: Operation Sharp and Smooth – disrupt weapons smuggling (jointly with the Shaldag Unit); other operations to disrupt weapons smuggling (in one of them the force was discovered and Lieutenant Colonel Emmanuel Moreno was killed and two others were wounded in the ensuing gun battle). • 2007 – Collecting soil samples in Syria prior to Operation Orchard, the bombing of an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor. • 2017 – Infiltration into Syria to place a listening device in a meeting room of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant external operations personnel. The intelligence recovered led to the 2017 electronics ban. • 2023 – Gaza war – rescue of Israeli hostages and to assassinate key Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip == See also ==