Sayeret Matkal - History

History

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 which could not fully replace Unit 101. In 1957 Avraham Arnan (né Herling), 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 157, 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 in order 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.

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 Six-Day War. It was however engaged extensively in the following War of Attrition. After 1967, with the rise of Palestinian political violence perpetrated by groups such as the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Sayeret Matkal began developing the first hostage-rescue and counter-terrorism 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, before the Munich massacre, Sayeret Matkal's operatives were sent to West Germany to cooperate with German authorities and, if necessary, perform the hostage-rescue themselves. Their advice though, was not heeded. In the subsequent Operation Wrath of God, Sayeret Matkal struck the PLO in Beirut.

The Yom Kippur War in 1973 brought a profound change to the unit. With Israel fighting on two fronts and the General Staff busy with managing the war, Sayeret Matkal found itself without missions to perform. Sayeret Matkal officers then split into two camps: those who believed that the unit should be kept in reserve and not be lightly sent to missions where it could endure heavy casualties, and those that wanted to go into action, even if that meant missions with little planning and more akin to a commando force than to the strategic-oriented Sayeret Matkal. The latter prevailed and Sayeret Matkal was tasked with operations on both fronts. After the war, Sayeret Matkal began developing plans for wartime in advance, so that when war came, the unit could go into action immediately, without waiting for the General Staff's orders and missions. A reserve company of Sayeret Matkal was also designated specifically for cooperation with the Israeli Air Force, shown by the war to be lacking. This would later evolve into Shaldag Unit.

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 came the most famous mission of the unit when it spearheaded Operation Entebbe to rescue hostages held in Uganda. The mission was a resounding success, although there were 4 hostages killed as well as the commander of the Unit, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu.

The Sayeret has seen extensive service since. It has been mentioned in relation to several recent operations, including Operation Orchard, but these have not been confirmed by the IDF.

Although a top-secret unit, Sayeret Matkal had tremendous influence on the IDF. It was the original developer of helicopter infiltration techniques in Israel. In addition, their extensive use of the Uzi led them to convince Israel Military Industries to produce an Uzi with a folding stock for increased accuracy while maintaining its small frame.