IDF covert operations rise over past year
By YAAKOV KATZ The Jerusalem Post 01/31/2012 01:47

As regional threats grow, Israel increases operations overseas in Iran,
Lebanon, and Sudan, according to foreign reports.
By IDF Spokesman's Unit

The IDF has significantly increased the number of overseas covert operations
it has conducted over the past year, an indication of the growing threats
Israel faces in the region, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

Most of the details about the operations are classified, including the exact
number, but according to foreign reports, the IDF has operated in places
such as Sudan, Lebanon and Iran.

The one confirmed covert operation in the past year was in March 2011, when
commandos from the navy’s elite Flotilla 13 – or Shayetet 13 – boarded the
Victoria cargo ship sailing in the Mediterranean from Turkey en route to
Egypt.

The ship was carrying 50 tons of weaponry, including a number of advanced
radar-guided anti-ship missiles destined for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

In December, foreign reports claimed the Israel Air Forcebombed two arms
convoys on their way to the Gaza Strip in Sudan. One of the reports claimed
an Israeli helicopter was spotted over an island near Sudan and that a
submarine was also detected in the area.

Last April a car was bombed near Port Sudan. Arab media reports accused
Israel of the strike against the car whose occupants were reportedly
Islamist terrorists involved in arms-smuggling to Hamas.

The IDF has a number of units that specialize in covert operations – the Air
Force is in command of Shaldag, Military Intelligence in command of the
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit (Sayeret Matkal) and the navy in command
of Shayetet 13.

While the number of operations conducted by Israel’s special forces has
increased over the past year, there has been a feeling within the General
Staff since the Second Lebanon War that the units could do more if they
worked closer together and if there was better coordination between their
respective branches.

In an effort to improve their capabilities, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.
Benny Gantz decided in December to establish the “Depth Corps” – a new unit
that will oversee operations deep in enemy territory.

The corps will be headed by Maj.-Gen. Shai Avital, a former commander of the
General Staff Reconnaissance Unit, who has been out of the IDF for over a
decade. Gantz selected Avital due to his expertise in deep-covert
operations.

The purpose of the corps will be to enable each unit – Sayeret Matkal,
Shaldag and Shayetet – to retain their unique capabilities and at the same
time create better coordination between themselves.