Unit 101

Unit 101
Unit 101 in 1954
ActiveAugust 1953 – January 1954
DisbandedJanuary 1954
Country Israel
Branch Israeli Ground Forces
TypeSayeret
RoleAir assault
Anti-tank warfare
Artillery observer
Bomb disposal
Clandestine operation
Close-quarters combat
Counterinsurgency
Desert warfare
Direct action
Forward air control
HUMINT
Irregular warfare
Long-range penetration
Maneuver warfare
Mountain warfare
Parachuting
Patrolling
Raiding
Reconnaissance
Special operations
Special reconnaissance
Urban warfare
Size50
Garrison/HQTel Aviv, Israel.
EngagementsBureij
Qibya massacre
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Ariel Sharon
Meir Har-Zion
Various Israeli officers of the Paratrooper Battalion 890 in 1955 with Moshe Dayan (standing, third from the left). Unit 101 merged with Paratrooper Battalion 890 upon disbandment. Meir Har-Zion is standing, first from the left and Ariel Sharon is standing, second from the left.

Commando Unit 101 (Hebrew: יחידה 101) was a sayeret (commando) unit of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), founded and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953.[1] They were armed with non-standard weapons and tasked with carrying out retribution operations across the state's borders—in particular, establishing small unit maneuvers, activation and insertion tactics.

Members of the unit were recruited only from agricultural kibbutzim and moshavim. Membership in the unit was by invitation only, and any new member had to be voted on by all existing members before they were accepted.[2]

The unit was merged into the 890th Paratroop Battalion during January 1954, on orders of General Moshe Dayan, Chief of Staff, because he wanted their experience and spirit to be spread among all infantry units of IDF starting with the paratroopers. They are considered to have had a significant influence on the development of subsequent Israeli infantry-oriented units.[3]

  1. ^ "Unit 101". Specwar.info. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
  2. ^ Yossi Klein Halevi, Like Dreamers, (New York, 2013), pp. 42–43
  3. ^ "Jewish Virtual Library – Israeli Special Forces History". Retrieved 2009-09-04.