Israeli Security Forces - IDF - Shayetet-13
Shayetet 13 ( שייטת
13 ) is the Israeli naval commando elite special forces unit. The S-13
(shorthand for "Shayetet 13") is considered as one of the top-three SF
units in Israel (along with Sayeret Matkal and the YAMAM). The S-13 is
part of the Navy of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
The S-13 symbol is a sword with in a shield with bat wings (click here
to view the symbol).
Originally the S-13 was designated and trained to perform naval raids
and underwater commando operations. Aside from being the navy elite unit
for special missions, the S-13 is also an elite CT (counter terror) unit
which specializes in covert ops deep within enemy's territory combining
assault by sea, land and air.
History
The S-13 is based upon the Naval Brigade of the Jewish pre-military
Haganah. Only in the 1970's it was professionalized as a naval SF unit
and elite CT force. During the following decades the S-13 based its
reputation as the second best elite SF in the IDF.
The S-13 took part in Operation Spring of Youth of 1973 in which Israeli
special forces raided Beirut secretly overnight and killed some of the
members of Black September, which had carried out the Munich Massacre of
Israeli athletes in the Munich 1972 Summer Olympics.
Beside its great successes, the S-13 has also known great tragedies.
On September 8, 1997 the unit suffered a serious blow during a raid in
Lebanon, when it was caught in a Hezbollah ambush and 11 of its soldiers
were killed, including the unit commander.
In recent years, it was discovered that S-13 veterans had high
occurrence of cancer, probably due to training in the polluted Kishon
River & Haifa Bay. A commission for investigating the matter didn't find
statistical evidences that the diving in the Kishon caused the cancer.
However, Minister of Defence, Shaul Mofaz, decided to compensate the
divers' families in spite of the commission findings.
Despite all of this, the S-13 is still considered as the best elite SF
unit in the Israeli Defence Force and has strong positive reputation
within the Israeli public.
Training
The training course of S-13 lasts one year and eight months (a total of
20 months). During training, the trainees acquire many skills, such as:
sniping, navigation, unarmed combat, diving, sailing, parachuting,
helicopter gliding and more.
List of famous S-13 operations
* Spring of Youth "Aviv Neurim" (1973).
* Taking over Santorini smuggling ship (2002).
* Taking over Karin A smuggling ship (2002).
* Taking over Abu-Yusuf smuggling ship.
Current Status
During the al-Aqsa Intifada, the S-13 soldiers decided not to limit
themselves to naval operations and took part in ground counter terror
operations deep within the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The S-13 has
performed hundreds of operations, including the arrest and/or killing of
many militants of the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs'
Brigades, considered worldwide as terrorists due to their involvement in
suicide bombings.
S-13 still performs naval operations. It earned high acclaim due to the
capture of three Palestinian ships which smuggled illegal weapons: Karin
A, Santorini and Abu-Yusuf. The takeover of Karin A in particular was
considered a highly difficult operation and it was conducted flawlessly.
In 2002 and in 2003, the S-13 won the Chief-of-Staff award for
successful counter terror operations (click here to see the award
certificate).
Following the death of S-13's Captain Moran Vardi on June 6, 2004, the
IDF issued the following statement:
The Shayetet (13) is an elite infantry recon unit (Sayeret), the only
one to operate on land, sea, and air. The Shayetet fighters conduct
widespread extensive activities on land, by sea, and from the air, which
include intelligence gathering, pinpoint targeting of terrorists and
terrorist infrastructure, thwarting terrorist attacks and naturalizing
serious risks to Israel's security.
In the last years, since the beginning of the intifada, the Shayetet is
taking a central place in IDF activities in the [Palestinian]
territories. The activity of capturing wanted terrorists specially
designed for the Shayetet require special abilities. The Shayetet
operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have had a heavy price,
in the current conflict the Shayetet lost five of its fighters.
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shayetet-13
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