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IDF Special Units: Their Purpose and Operational Concept Yoaz Hendel

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IDF Special Units: Their Purpose and Operational Concept Yoaz Hendel IDF Special Units: Their Purpose and Operational Concept Yoaz Hendel The intense soul-searching in the IDF in light of the operational prob- lems exposed in the Second Lebanon War has reinvigorated a process already underway for a few years as to the role of special units, both in routine times and in times of emergency. The belated inclusion of special units in the Second Lebanon War, the operations in Baalbek and in Tyre that earned broad media cover- age, and the high capabilities demonstrated in the twenty-four special operations that were not exposed in the media1 highlighted the gap between the potential of the special units and their limited use during the war. A significant percentage of the quality manpower of these units in the regular forces and the reserves, the expensive equipment, and the combat skills acquired during many years of training were ex- cluded from the combat in Lebanon due to a lack of operational plans for times of emergency and the small number of actual missions. The purpose of this essay is to review the operational concept of the special units in the IDF, their assignments, and the possible alter- natives for change, against the background of both the limited combat that Israel has faced in recent years and the challenges of conven- tional warfare that have once again become part of future scenarios. What is a Special Unit? with an enemy that is outside the bounds of In the IDF, as in any other regular military, the recognizable “playing field.” The role of there is a structural tension between the de- the special units is to provide an operational sire for quantitative power, which enables solution to the military needs of the intersec- an easier victory on the battlefield, and the tion of what is known and what has disap- burden of a multi-dimensional entity.2 The peared from the strict, traiditional military “large military” is not designed to deal with view. According to the IDF definition,3 spe- Yoaz Hendel, non-routine tasks or threats, and the princi- cial units forces require varied combat train- Neubauer junior ples of initiative, flexibility, and stratagems ing. They have a high level of basic combat research associate at are not sufficiently expressed while dealing skills, and since their assignment is the per- INSS Volume 10, No. 2, August 2007 31 The effect of formance of special operations, they are or- their aura of forces with unlimited abilities military sting ganized to operate in small units. have often directly influenced the national World War II was the final catalyst for the mood (for instance, the boost in morale fol- operations in establishment of special units. The need for a lowing the Entebbe affair, versus the “Leba- key areas in the force that would carry out special operations non effect,” which intensified following the enemy's home in which air, land, and sea capabilities were navy commando disaster in 1997), public front often combined pushed Col. Hadley Clark, one of opinion of the IDF, and motivation among 7 translates into the assistants to the British military’s chief of the new recruits. staff, to establish an independent force with- Over time, the IDF cast three central greater damage in the British armed forces. The success of the units as leaders of the “specials”: Shayetet than the forces that were established on the basis of (“flotilla”) 13, the naval commando unit; the destruction of this idea injected new blood into the veins of General Staff special reconnaissance unit, at- large forces on the British military’s attack capability – an tached to military intelligence; and Shaldag, the battlefield. ability that had been seriously damaged by the air force commando unit. From a com- the German advances in those years.4 mand standpoint the three units are subject In August 1953, Unit 101 was established to the branch headquarters (air, sea, intel- in the IDF. Similar to the British special forces, ligence), and not to an operational brigade. Unit 101 operated with incursions, meaning There are other select units in the IDF, both in the penetration of forces into enemy territory, reconnaissance roles under the command of the performance of a task, and the return of the various brigades, and in specialty roles, the forces to IDF bases. The unit operated un- such as the bomb unit of the engineering til January 1954, but its unique character, its corps. The high quality of these units and the operational achievements, and the training of desire of the IDF’s senior command echelons its personnel established norms and became to use them in routine times as well have at part of the combat doctrine of the IDF.5 When times blurred the structural separation be- Unit 101 was created, the State of Israel had a tween them and the units the IDF defines as naval commando unit that was composed of “special units.” For this reason, particularly troops coming out of the navy (Palyam) and in recent years, the three leading special units troops from the Palmach’s Shahar division,6 perform tasks similar to those placed upon who served mostly in Military Intelligence. the top units in the territorial command sys- Nonetheless, the establishment of 101 was a tem, and vice-versa. A specific example is watershed event from the point of view of the the special task assigned to the Maglan unit IDF’s operational concept. The unit’s activi- (which is not included in the military defini- ties succeeded in creating a significant cogni- tion of the special units) in the Second Leba- tive effect among the enemy, and even more non War, the same task that was carried out important, its soldiers succeeded in building by the Shaldag unit in Operation Grapes of a new ethos of the fighting Zionist, which ap- Wrath ten years earlier.8 Nonetheless, for pealed highly to the Israeli public. special tasks that require a non-routine mili- From then until today, the IDF has man- tary solution, depart outside the command aged to maintain the unique image of the jurisdiction, or have the potential of systemic special forces. Their secret activities, the tre- repercussions, the General Staff is careful to mendous curiosity they have aroused, and use the special units as the main force.9 32 Thus there are tasks whose nature deter- its tasks, but as opposed to them, they are not mines the assignment to a particular unit, subordinate to this command authority. and there are tasks placed on a wide variety The command assignment of the units for of elite units. Other than the fact that the la- the most part prescribes their traditional mis- bel “special tasks” carries with it tremendous sion, whereby the naval commando is tasked prestige, the special units also enjoy material to attack harbors and ports; the Shaldag unit benefits. The IDF invests tremendous re- is tasked to provide assistance for air force sources in maintaining special abilities, far missions; and the General Staff special recon- more than investments in other top units. naissance unit carries out intelligence opera- Hence the covert struggle among the units tions deep in enemy territory. Some of these over the right to enter the prestigious club of missions are planned in advance to be car- the special units and to earn a greater piece ried out on the first night of a war, and some of the budget pie. are intended to be carried out on a routine Despite the variety among challenges basis. faced by the IDF special units, the similari- Over the years, the weight of the core roles ties between the special units can be sketched has shifted due to intensive development of along general lines: long range combat equipment (which con- n The tremendous resources, which stitutes a more efficient and less dangerous translates into the ability to cull the highest alternative for the forces), until the center of quality manpower from the pool of new re- gravity of the special units leaned to the per- cruits, to invest time and money in training, formance of complicated actions both in the and to maintain the unit with regular train- various command areas and outside them ing activity over a more prolonged period during routine times. Another associated than in other military units. role that has developed since the 1980s is op- n The operational envelope.10 The three eration during terrorist attacks, which means units mentioned have long range transporta- maintaining tactical readiness for hostage at- tion tools that enable them to move secretly tacks. to reach distant targets. They have special combat equipment that allows them com- The Operational Concept bat fitness and survivability in the field over As per the army’s definition, the special units time; they also have a unique intelligence en- are permanently subordinate “to the General velope that enables operational precision. Staff or the highest military headquarters or n These first two characteristics give rise the war theater headquarters or a chief head- to the special nature of the tasks placed upon quarters (such as the air force or navy head- these units and their position in the com- quarters), and during non-war times they are mand hierarchy. The three special units are generally used at the initiative of the govern- not directly subordinate to the ground forces ment and the minister of defense, or with command or the operational brigades, even their approval.”11 The multiplicity of sub- though a significant portion of their activities ordinations that appears in the definition is is performed on land.
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