Sayeret Matkal - Notable Sayeret Matkal Figures

Notable Sayeret Matkal Figures

Despite being a clandestine and relatively small army unit, former Sayeret Matkal veterans have a disproportionate influence on the army and public service. This may partly be because rigorous screening and training ensures that only the most capable and motivated Israeli youths are accepted by the unit as fighters. Sayeret Matkal operatives have gone on to achieve high positions in Israel's military and political echelons, and 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, Ehud Barak participated in many operations, eventually leading 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 Ehud Barak became the 10th Prime Minister of Israel. Other notable members include:

• Uzi Yairi – Unit Commander, formerly head of the IDF Paratroopers Brigade, killed in action while off-duty during Savoy Operation.
• Nechemya Cohen – The Unit's and the IDF's most decorated soldier (with Barak). Killed in action. Beit Nechemiah was built in his memory by "the Unit".
• Benjamin Netanyahu – unit team leader, MIT graduate, current (also former) Israeli Prime Minister
• Iddo Netanyahu – writer and radiologist. Benjamin Netanyahu's younger brother.
• Yonatan Netanyahu – unit commander, killed in Operation Thunderbolt (Entebbe, Uganda). Benjamin Netanyahu's older brother.
• Shaul Mofaz – unit deputy commander, later IDF Chief of Staff and Israeli Defense Minister.
• Moshe Yaalon – unit commander, later IDF Chief of Staff, current Strategic Affairs Minister of Israel.
• Danny Yatom – unit deputy commander, later a General, head of Mossad and a Knesset member
• Avi Dichter – unit fighter, later head of Israel's General Security Service (Shin Bet), later the minister of internal security
• Daniel M. Lewin – cofounder of Akamai Technologies, killed while trying to overtake the terrorists aboard American Airlines Flight 11, Lewin was the first victim of the September 11 attacks.
• Michael Kovner - Israeli painter and son of Abba Kovner

There is a widely held misconception that former Israeli Major General and former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also served in Sayeret Matkal, though as a Major Sharon had founded the IDF's first special-forces unit (Unit 101) in 1953. When Unit 101 was merged into the Paratroopers Brigade in 1954, Sharon became brigade commander, and never served in Sayeret Matkal.