Sajeret Matkal

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Sajeret Matkal
- סיירת מטכ״ל -

Badge of the Sajeret Matkal

Badge of the Sajeret Matkal
Lineup 1957
Country IsraelIsrael Israel
Armed forces Israel Defense Forces
Branch of service Special unit
Insinuation Aman (technical and administrative)
General Staff (operational)
Location (secret)
Nickname The unit
motto Who dares Wins
Butcher Operation Entebbe and much more.
commander
Important
commanders

Ehud Barak
Yonatan Netanyahu

The Sajeret Matkal ( Hebrew סיירת מטכ״ל, " General Staff Scout "; sometimes based on the transcription into English also Sayeret Matkal ; also General Staff Reconnaissance Unit 269 ) is a special unit of the Israeli armed forces with a focus on counter-terrorism and intelligence-gathering . Within the Israeli armed forces, the Sajeret Matkal is generally referred to only as haJechida ("The Unity").

assignment

The focus of operations is counter-terrorism , hostage rescue , targeted killings , in- depth reconnaissance , commando operations and intelligence missions as well as armed flight escorts .

organization

The Sajeret Matkal is administratively and technically subordinate to the Aman Military Intelligence Service , but operationally to the Israeli General Staff and forms the military arm of all intelligence services in the country, but mainly the Mossad .

Like many other commando units in the Israeli military , it is at the top of the military training level of the combat units .

The unit , along with the Jechidat Duvdevan , is unique in several respects within the community of Israeli special military units . Firstly, it does not have a predefined mission for times of war like any other military unit, so it is operationally free for all orders from superior command levels. Secondly, it has its own support units, such as intelligence reconnaissance, medical care, ex and infiltration experts, sniper teams and pioneer units (demolition and defusing specialists), so it can operate completely independently. Furthermore, it is not, as usual, a brigade command, but reports directly to the Israeli general staff. This means that you are not assigned a special operational area such as the Sajeret Egoz of the Golani Brigade or the 5173th Taipan (Sajeret Maglan) of the Parachute Brigade . As with the Jechidat Duvdevan , their soldiers are authorized to wear uniforms without badges and badges of rank. However, they mainly work in civilian clothes. In terms of its range of operations, it is similar to YAMAM , the anti-terrorist unit of the Israeli border police.

Recruitment and training

Because the unit was secret until 1976, you could not apply for it. The personnel was recruited from members of the reconnaissance components of the North , Central and South Commandos , i.e. from the Sajeret Egoz of the Golani Brigade, the 5173th Taipan (Sajeret Maglan) of the paratroopers and the Sajeret Schaked of the Giv'ati Brigade . The best of these units were transferred to the unit on the personal recommendation of their commanders or after reviewing the personnel files by recruits from the Aman .

recruitment

The unit has been open to volunteers since 1976 because its activity is secret, but its existence is no longer. Twice a year, applicants are put under physical and mental stress for several days in a separate selection center ( Gibbusch ) under the supervision of doctors and psychologists in order to test their suitability for the training.

During the 1990s this selection process was gradually adopted in other Israeli special forces. Former chief of staff Dan Chalutz is in favor of merging these selection centers in order to standardize competing recruits. The frequency of mental illnesses, e.g. B. the burn-out syndrome in over-ambitious recruits, can be reduced by uniform monitoring standards.

education

The extremely tough training lasts 20 months, during which the recruit is instructed in hand- to-hand combat , infantry orientation in the field, camouflage , reconnaissance, explosives , telecommunications and intelligence and covert information acquisition and dissemination as well as counter-terrorism and hostage rescue. The recruit also undergoes intensive shooting training, during which he is made familiar with various long and short guns.

The training is divided into the following five phases.

  • Basic course in infantry combat management (four months).
  • Advanced course in infantry combat management (two months). There z. B. Infiltration techniques and basics of asymmetrical warfare are taught.
  • Skydiving course in the Parachute School of the Israel Defense Forces (three weeks).
  • Anti-Terrorism Combat Course at the Israel Defense Forces Counter-Terrorism School (five weeks).
  • In the last phase of the training, the knowledge and skills learned so far are deepened in the unit . In addition, the recruit is made familiar with techniques of long-range reconnaissance and command and control behind enemy lines. In this training phase, the necessary use of the terrain, orientation and camouflage are learned. Although tele-spying exercises are usually held with two-man teams for security reasons in the Israeli special forces community, they are also practiced as one-man missions at the Sajeret Matkal . This training phase lasts one year and takes the recruits to the limits of their physical and mental resilience.

When a recruit has passed all phases of this training, he is invited to his swearing-in ceremony. These celebrations traditionally take place at night in the ruins of the Masada fortress . After being sworn in, the soldier is a full member of the Sajeret Matkal and receives their badge, which, however, he is not allowed to show publicly because of the secrecy.

Masada Fortress ruins

equipment

The unit is not dependent on regular procurement by the Israel Defense Forces. It can procure all equipment that is available on the open market, provided it can pay for it. However, she prefers Israeli products. Occasionally, weapons or ammunition are specially made or modified for the unit for special uses .

The unit uses Glock 17 and Glock 19 pistols, Micro Uzi and Micro Para Uzi submachine guns, Tavor TAR-21 assault rifles, IMI Galatz sniper rifles , Mauser 86 SR, M24 and Steyr SSG 69, and Remington 870 and Mossberg 500 rifles .

TAR-21 assault rifle

history

Positioning and development

The unit was set up in 1958 under the command of Awraham Arnange on the model of the British Special Air Service from operational parts of the Army Intelligence Service Aman and the 35th Paratrooper Brigade ( unit 269 ) after he was able to convince the General Staff that a unit with this special operational concept would be of great use for Israel and a force that is able to carry out classic commando operations in enemy-controlled areas, but is also trained in intelligence, to operate covertly, the operational possibilities of the Israeli military would significantly expand.

The first members of the Sajeret Matkal were trained by Bedouins in desert warfare and in the search for clues. They were also trained to disguise themselves as Bedouins.

The IDF Army Aviation Battalion, which was set up just a year before the unit was born, enabled it to penetrate deep into Arab-controlled territory. These units worked closely together until the Sajeret Matkal was subordinated to its own army aviation component , which in terms of training and equipment was and is specifically geared to the special operational concept of the Sajeret Matkal .

Military and technical influence

In spite of its secrecy status, the unit had a great influence on the development of the Israeli military from the very beginning because, although it was an operational unit, it also served as an experimental platform for new infiltration techniques and commando operation tactics as well as camouflage and anti-terrorism techniques. The knowledge gained in their missions led in many cases to the further development of weapons technology for the Israel Defense Forces and the product range of Israeli weapons manufacturers. For example, Israel Military Industries , manufacturer of the Uzi submachine gun, was prompted in 1973 by the unit's operational experience to develop and manufacture the Micro-Uzi , a scaled-down submachine gun of this type that was easier to hide in covert use.

Entebbe and public disclosure

Their most important and famous use had the unit than it in the original 1976 Operation Thunderclap , followed later in Operation Yonatan managed renamed hostage rescue use, 106 abducted by Uganda's Entebbe Airport passengers of Air France from the hand of PLO to free -Terroristen. Their commander, Lieutenant Colonel Yonatan Netanyahu , was killed in the process.

The Israeli authorities have assigned this mission to the paratrooper Sajeret. Nevertheless, the existence of the Sajeret Matkal became public knowledge after this mission.

Calls

The unit has participated in all relevant anti-terrorist operations in Israel, including the 1972 liberation of the Boeing 707 Sabena Flight 572 hijacked by the Palestinian terrorist group Black September .

Although the Israeli authorities do not confirm the existence of the unit and regularly assign its missions to the paratrooper Sajeret, the following missions can be assigned to the Sajeret Matkal .

Controversies (Sajeret-Matkal letter)

On December 21, 2003, 13 reservists (including a senior major ) from the unit made a statement in the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem expressing their refusal to serve in the Occupied Territories.

"We have come here to inform you, Prime Minister, that we will no longer be accomplices in the policy of oppression in the occupied territories and the denial of basic human rights against millions of Palestinians , nor will we serve as protection for settlements on confiscated land"

This declaration, known as the Sajeret-Matkal letter , sparked a heated debate among the Israeli public because, for the first time, members of the special forces, and the most renowned and efficient ones, publicly criticized Israeli settlement policy. One of the main reasons for the controversy was that a number of members of the political establishment and the General Staff were former members of the unit , and even two former prime ministers, Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu, came from their ranks.

The Knesset -member Shaul Jachalom the right National Religious Party called for a detention and judicial condemnation of the signatories, while MPs of the left-liberal Meretz party described the statement as a "courageous step on the way to turning away from Israel occupation".

Ultimately, the signatories, while not being prosecuted, were dishonorably released . This measure was officially seen as a step forward in the fight against public pressure to rethink settlement policy. Internally, the commander made it unmistakably clear that he condemned any public and political instrumentalization of the unity of the signatories and that he would not tolerate this in the future.

A year later, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s political advisor , Dov Weissglass, publicly admitted that the Sajeret-Matkal letter, as well as a similar declaration by air force pilots (September 2003), was one of Sharon’s main motivations, Israel’s unilateral disengagement plan to decide which opened the way for the partial withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the occupied territories and for Palestinian self-government.

Well-known former members

Many former members of the Sajeret Matkal have achieved high positions in politics and the military. Here are nine examples:

Several other former members became generals.

Web links

Commons : Sajeret Matkal  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

literature

  • Muki Betser, Robert Rosenberg : On a secret mission. Israel's leading counter-terrorism specialist reports on its most spectacular missions. Unabridged paperback edition. Heyne, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-453-14137-7 (Heyne 612).
  • Sam Katz (text) and Ronald Volstad (images): Israeli Elite Units since 1948 , Oxford 1988, ISBN 978-0850458374 S, 48ff, 58f, color tables G4 and I1

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Jewish Virtual Library (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise), entry: Israel Special Forces: Sayeret Matkal . Accessed November 24, 2019.
  2. ↑ Amos Harel, Mazal Mualem: New Wave of Refusers from Elite Reserve Unit . Haaretz , December 22, 2003
  3. ↑ [...] We have come to tell you, Mr. Prime Minister, that we will no longer be accomplices to the reign of oppression in the Territories and the denial of the most elementary human rights of millions of Palestinians, nor shall we be the shield of settlements erected on confiscated land [...]
  4. ↑ [...] Time was not on our side. There was international erosion, internal erosion. Domestically, in the meantime, everything was collapsing. The economy was stagnant, and the Geneva Initiative had gained broad support. And then we were hit with the letters of officers and letters of pilots and letters of commandos refusing to serve in the territories. These were not weird kids with green pony-tails and a ring in their nose with a strong odor of grass. These were really our finest young people. […] Interview in the Haaretz , 8/10/04
  5. ^ World Socialist Web Site, September 10, 2004 wsws.org , accessed June 3, 2008.
  6. ↑ Peter Sichrovsky, Defense and Security - The Responsibility of Israeli Politics published "Im Schlaglicht / Middle East" on November 14, 2018. www.schlaglicht.at