Sayeret Matkal (General Staff Reconnaissance unit, in Hebrew) is the elite special forces unit of the Israeli Defence Force, established in 1957. Its main roles are counter terror, deep reconnaissance and intelligence gathering. The unit is modelled on the British SAS, and organizationally reports to the IDF's Intelligence Branch (Aman). Its nickname in the IDF is simply "The Unit".
It is best known for Operation Thunderbolt, mistakenly better known as Operation Entebbe, in which they rescued more than 100 Air France airline passengers hijacked to Uganda by PLO terrorists, losing the unit commander (Yonathan Netanyahu) to enemy gunfire.
Notable (former) Sayeret Matkal figures are Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu (both former Israeli Prime Ministers), and Netanyahu's brother Yonathan Netanyahu, killed in Operation Entebbe.
Known operations
- Operation Shock - Sabbotage of power plant and Nile bridges in Egypt (jointly with Israeli Air Force) - 1968
- Operation Gift - Sabotage of 14 Arab airliners in Beirut International Airport, Lebanon - 1968
- Operations Orchard 22 , Orchard 37 - Assaults on high voltage wires and a control antenna in Egypt - 1969
- Operation Butmus - Assault on fortified Green Island, Egypt (jointly with Shayetet 13) - 1969
- Operation Rooster 53 - Kidnapping an entire Egyptian radar installation (jointly with Israeli Air Force) - 1969
- Operation Rhodes - Assault on fortified Shaduan Island, Egypt (jointly with Shayetet 13) - 1970
- Operation Isotope - Foiling a Sabena aircraft hijacking in Tel Aviv, Israel (hostages rescue) - 1972
- Operation Crate 3 - Kidnapping 5 Syrian intelligence officers - 1972
- Operation Spring of Youth - Killing Black September terrorists in Beirut, Lebanon - 1973
- Recapture of Mount Hermon from Syrian commandos in the Yom Kippur War (jointly with Golani Brigade) - 1973
- Ma'alot massacre (school hostages rescue) - 1974
- Savoy (hotel hostages rescue) - 1975
- Operation Entebbe - Foiling an Air France aircraft hijacking in Entebbe, Uganda (hostages rescue) - 1976
- Reputed foiling of a Lufthansa aircraft hijacking in Mogadishu, Somalia (hostages rescue, jointly with German troops) - 1977
- Dalal Mughrabi (bus hostages rescue) - 1978
- Misgav Am (Kibbutz hostages rescue) - 1980
- Kav 300 affair (bus hostages rescue, see Shin Bet) - 1984
- Reputed Abu Jihad killing, in Tunis,Tunisia - 1988
- Sheik Abdul-Karim Obeid kidnapping, Lebanon (see Ron Arad) - 1989
- Mustafa Dirani kidnapping, Lebanon (see Ron Arad) - 1994
- Nachshon Waxman (attempted hostage rescue) - 1994
See also
Israeli Special Forces:
Israeli security forces:
Similar foreign special forces units:
