IDF Special Forces

Israel Defense Forces: Table of Contents | Ground Forces | Air Force | Navy

	Shayetet-13 Naval commando unit, equivalent to U.S. Navy Seals. Considered one of the best special forces units in the world. Shayetet is used for both land and sea missions, long-range operations and hostage rescue situations.		Sayeret Matkal General Staff Reconnaissance Unit 269. The most well known and respected of Israel's elite units. Sayeret Matkal has been influential in practically every notable counter-terror operation since the founding of Israel.
	Shaldag Special-Surface Air Designation Team (Unit 5101) is the Air force commando unit. Probably the least famous of Israel's special units, their operations are kept tightly secret and very little is known about who they are and what training they undergo.		History of IDF Special Forces Israeli Special Forces have a long history of activation and deployment, dating even before the founding of the state in 1948. From experience, these units have come to be known as some of the most elite commando squads in the entire world.

Other Units

	Egoz Subordinate to the Golani Brigade, Egoz is an elite unit that specializes in guerrille and anti-guerrilla warfare. Egoz is widely considered Israel's first line of offense against threats emanating from Lebanon and Syria, particularly from Hezbollah terrorists. Soldiers in the unit undergo rigorous trainingt that is heavily reliant on camoflauge warfare, silent assaults, night navigation, counter-terrorism, parachuting, and reconnaisance. The unit is based on Israel's northern front though it can be called into action anywhere the IDF needs, including the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
	Duvdevan Subordinate to the Paratroopers Brigade, Duvdevan is a specialized unit particularly noted for conducting undercover operations and counter-terror missions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It is unique for the IDF because the unit has no war-time mission, only day-to-day operations. It provides for itself in terms of intelligence, backup, rescue, medical teams, extraction, snipers and demolitions. The Duvdevan unit is regarded as one of the world's most successful counter-terror units and has been called the spearhead of Israeli counter-terrorism.
	669 Search & Rescue The 669 specializes in search & rescue evacuations amd immediate medical care to those in need utilizing the world’s most advanced helicopters. This rescue unit was founded as a result of a fatal plane crash in 1974 between two Air Force jets when a crew member drowned during the failed rescue attempts. The elite soldiers train for over a year and a half to hone their skills in becoming expert rescuers.  669 soldiers thrive in even the most extreme of situations, such as rescues of soldiers under fire. Today, about 70% of the unit’s evacuations operations have aided both the Israeli and Palestinian civilian population.
	Yahalom Yahalom is the IDF's combat engineering unit for special operations. The unit specializes in many different types of warfare, including commando operations, demolition and pinpoint explosions, defusing bombs and landmines, maritime sabotage, and obstacle breaching. In recent years, Yahalom has gained notoriety for its new battlefield - underground tunnels built by terrorists in Gaza to smuggle weapons. Soldiers in the unit are now specially trained to locate the tunnels, defuse any ordanance inside them, and then fight against terrorists located underground.
	Alpine Unit The Alpine Unit perfects regional-specific defense tactics such as shooting while skiing and snowmobiling at exhilarating speeds. This unit is uniquely comprised of volunteer reserve soldiers who served in elite units during their regular service. Having proved their skills as infantry troops against Israel’s greatest challenges, the soldiers return for reserve duty into one of the most demanding natural battlefields – The Hermon Mountain. The Alpine Unit was created to face the unique challenge of fighting the Syrian enemy during harsh winters and on moutainous terrain.
	Depth Corps Officially created in December 2011, the Depth Corps is a joint special operations force designed and oriented to multidisciplinary missions far from Israel's borders. The force will integrate elite commando units into a single special operations command for counterterror, anti-smuggling, anti-proliferation and other operations beyond its immediate and intermediate circles of enemy states. Though it has been given the unofficial moniker of "the Iran Command," this unit was initialized to help Israel defend itself against threats anywhere from the horn of Africa to Syria and Iran.
	Meitar Unit Meitar is a special, elite and top secret unit of the IDF, whose soldiers specialize in an Israel-made, hi-tech, anti-tank missile called the Tamuz.  It has a range of 25km with a velocity of 220m/sec. The missile is launched by operating a detonator which is set on the top of an armored personnel vehicle.  This detonator is operated by a squad of four, an APC commander, a driver and two navigators. In order to operate the equipment, the soldiers undergo nearly 12 months of special training, culminating in an 85km trek to test their abilities in missile navigation and operation.
	Underwater Special Missions Unit Serving under the Israeli Navy, the Underwater Missions Unit’s soldiers are specially trained to perform intricate tasks, from underwater welding to salvaging entire ships from the depths of the sea. The soldiers undergo a prestigious year-long course, which prepares them for any and all underwater operations. By the end of the course, the soldiers will be world-class divers and will be able to dive up to a remarkable 90 meter depth!