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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. [2] .
- Overview
- Hostage rescues
- Counterterrorism operations
Sayeret Matkal, elite commando unit of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) founded in 1957 by IDF officer Avraham Arnan, who petitioned the IDF General Staff for a combat unit in enemy territory to conduct top secret intelligence-gathering missions. Since its founding, the unit has carried out numerous hostage rescues and other counterterrorist operati...
Sayeret Matkal is well known for its participation in several spectacular hostage rescues. The unit freed hostages on a Sabena airliner at the Tel Aviv Airport in 1972; commandos disguised as maintenance personnel took control of the airliner from members of the Palestinian militant Black September Organization during “Operation Isotope.” In 1976 Sayeret Matkal worked with other Israeli Defense Force units to free hostages from an Air France plane that had been hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and flown to Entebbe, Uganda; it used a black Mercedes automobile that was a perfect copy of the Ugandan leader Idi Amin’s personal car, and the ruse fooled the local troops (see Entebbe raid). Rescue force leader Lieut. Col. Yonatan Netanyahu, brother of Benjamin Netanyahu (who would later serve as Israel’s prime minister), was killed as he brought the hostages to safety.
Not all of Sayeret Matkal’s hostage rescues were as successful as the Sabena airliner and Entebbe operations. One hostage rescue mission undertaken at an Israeli school on May 15, 1974, went horribly wrong. Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP)—a Marxist-Leninist organization associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and founded by Nayif Hawātmeh—took over a school in the northern town of Maʿalot, and dozens of teachers and students were taken hostage. When Sayeret Matkal stormed the school, DFLP members began firing at the hostages. At least 20 people, many of them children, were killed. Some of these victims were killed or wounded in the exchange of fire between Sayeret Matkal and the DFLP.
Sayeret Matkal also engaged in many counterterror attacks and assassinations. Sayeret Matkal commando Ehud Barak (who would serve as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001) led a raid called Operation Spring of Youth into Lebanon in 1973. Disguised as a woman, Barak directed the unit to assassinate three Palestinian leaders. Barak, who had joined the unit while still in his late teens, rose to the leadership of Sayeret Matkal. Benjamin Netanyahu served under Barak in Sayeret Matkal. The unit was also credited with the assassination of PLO second-in-command Khalīl Ibrāhīm al-Wazīr, known as Abū Jihād, in 1988, and the purported kidnapping of Hezbollah’s spiritual leader Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid in July of 1989. Officially, Sayeret Matkal gunned down Abū Jihād inside his Tunis home; however, his assassination was also attributed to the Mossad, Israel’s secret service.
During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Sayeret Matkal undertook Operation Sharp and Smooth, intended to disrupt weapons smuggling. The following year, Sayeret Matkal was believed to be involved in reconnaissance missions in Syria, including the collection of soil samples, that preceded Operation Orchard, the bombing of a Syrian nuclear reactor.
Sayeret Matkal was at the centre of a different kind of controversy in 2003, when 13 of its members presented Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with a resignation letter saying that they refused to continue assisting “the oppressive reign in the territories.”
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13 hours ago · Sept. 30, 2024, 7:40 a.m. ET. Israeli commando units have made brief incursions across the border into Lebanon in recent days to prepare the ground for a possible wider invasion in the near future ...
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit[2] (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262), more commonly known as Sayeret Matkal[3] (Hebrew: סיירת מטכ״ל), is the special reconnaissance unit (sayeret) of Israel's General Staff (matkal). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of Israel. [4]
Apr 12, 2023 · Sayeret Matkal, also known as the General Staff Reconnaissance Unit or Unit 269, is a highly esteemed special forces unit of the Israel Defense Forces known for its pivotal role in the country’s fight against terrorism. Often referred to simply as “The Unit,” they have been at the forefront of defense operations for decades.
Oct 31, 2023 · World Politics. Tue 31 Oct. Israeli reservists have signed up to fight for the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza but Israel will rely most on a series of elite military units, including those modelled on the US Navy Seals and Britain's SAS. (Reuters) abc.net.au/news/gaza-war-israel-sayeret-matkal-mossad-military-unit/103038832. Share article.
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Sep 13, 2024 · Sept. 13, 2024. New details have emerged about how Israeli special forces carried out a commando raid in Syria on Sunday that destroyed a Hezbollah missile production facility, according to...
