Israeli Special Forces Units

Special forces units in the Israel Defense Forces encompass a broad definition of specialist units. Such units are usually a company or a battalion in strength.

Sayeret (Hebrew: סיירת, pl.: sayarot), or reconnaissance units in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), specialize in intelligence gathering and surveillance. In practice, these units specialize in commando and other special forces roles, in addition to reconnaissance (the degree of specialization varies by units and current needs).

Mista'arvim (Hebrew: מסתערבים‎, lit. Arabized; Arabic: مستعربين‎, Musta'arabin), also spelled as mistaravim, is the name given to those counter-terrorism units of the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Border Police in whose members are specifically trained to operate undercover, in enemy territory, in order to assassinate or capture wanted terrorists.

Special forces units in the IDF

Unit 101

Commando Unit 101, the founding Israeli special forces unit, was established and commanded by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953. 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 tactical insertion and exit tactics.