Xynthet 13, Israel's Marine Commandos

10 2010 June 1

The dramatic military intervention of the Israeli army on Monday, in opposition to the pro-Palestinian flotilla near the Gaza Strip, put on display a little-known compound - Shayetet 13.

Xynthet 13 - a division of the naval commandos of the Israeli fleet. Shayette simply means "flotilla" and "13" (shaloh esssre) - its number ... You can find the use of the term Sayeret 13 in the media. This is a mistake, Sayeret means “patrol”, used only in the army, not in the navy.

Shaietta is located in Atlite, a small coastal town in southern Haifa. Its premises are located opposite the crusader fortress, built in the 13 century and owned by the Templars.

History Israeli Maritime Special Forces begins even before the establishment of the State of Israel, in 1948. Earlier there was a special group known as Palaiim, which was directly involved in the secret immigration of Jews.

This compound spawned in the 1949 13 fleet, commanded by Yohai Bin-Nun. Born in Haifa in 1921, this officer ended his career as an admiral of the Israeli navy. After his retirement in 1967, he created the Institute of Oceanography and Limnology.

Bin-Nun distinguished himself during Operation Yoav, in October 1948, when his people destroyed the flagship of the Egyptian fleet, Emir Farouk, in front of the Gaza Strip. They used the Italian method of torpedo boats filled with explosives, which were sent to the ship and the sailors from them jumped into the water! The tactics developed by the Italian Decim Mas ... and which the Israelis worked on Lake Tiberias.

The story of Shiolet is a success story (not always accessible to the public) of bloody chess, as everyone has just seen.

In June 1967, during the Six Day War, six of them were captured during a covert operation. A new dip in 1969, with three dead and a dozen injured during a raid on Green Island on the Suez Canal. Given that the mission was completed, the Egyptian object was destroyed, the losses were considered very high. In the flotilla then the manual was seriously updated.

In 1973, they take part in a Beirut raid, during which Palestinian leaders were killed. Among the participants in this operation was the current Minister of Defense Ehud Barak, who then headed another special unit, Sayeret Matkal.

Lebanon and its shores then became the main field of their actions. Dozens of operations have been carried out since 1982. Chayette recognizes the downside of September 1997, when 16 people fall into the trap with a mined Hezbollah machine: 11 dead. In the 2006 year, during the second war with Lebanon, a new raid on Tire, this time victorious. Hezbollah group destroyed - the one that launched missiles the day before in the city of Hadera.

During both of them, the Intifad Chayette is occupied, like other special forces, in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in missions for dangerous arrests.

The merit of Shayette should also be the taking in the 2002 of the Indian Ocean of the cargo ship Karine A, which transported weapons for the Palestinians, as well as the seizure of the container ship “MV Francop” in the 2009 year.

Like the entire Israeli army, Chayetet recruits draft-age recruits who serve five years instead of three. Selection takes place during the draft, at 18 years old. After skimming - future pilots aviation - Volunteers undergo a special selection, which allows them to become a candidate for one of three divisions: marines, special forces (Matkal and Shaldag) and the 13th flotilla. Candidates for Shayetet are selected so as to be the most "power" in the Israeli army. Preparation lasts twenty months. Serving in Commando Yami (commando of the Israeli Navy) is not a sinecure ...

Shaiet, the number of which is secret, is organized into three groups: commandos, actions at sea (combat swimmers) and high-speed ships.