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Irreplaceable fighters: Will the guerrilla unit that changed the IDF overcome the disaster? - Walla! News

2022-01-21T17:50:16.366Z


Against the background of the shake-up in Walnut, with the deaths of two MPs, former commanders of the guerrilla unit returned to the days of establishment and fighting in the wild west of southern Lebanon. "We did imaginary things, the terrorists suddenly became persecuted." To them forever


Irreplaceable fighters: Will the guerrilla unit that changed the IDF overcome the disaster?

Against the background of the shake-up in Walnut, with the deaths of two MPs, former commanders of the guerrilla unit returned to the days of establishment and fighting in the wild west of southern Lebanon. "We did imaginary things, the terrorists suddenly became persecuted." To them forever

Amir Bohbot

21/01/2022

Friday, 21 January 2022, 16:19 Updated: 19:44

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The year was 1996. Hundreds of fighters from the undercover unit, Shimshon, the southern equivalent of the Cherry unit, looked up at the sky and saw Deputy Chief of Staff Matan Vilnai's helicopter land near Kissufim base. Which operated for ten years in the heart of the Gaza Strip and its great achievement was a targeted thwarting of Imad Hassan Ibrahim Akal, commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas.



At the end of a long and slow speech explaining the peace agreements in the background and the decision to expel the IDF from the center of Palestinian cities, General Vilnai dropped the bomb: "The Samson unit is closing." The young warrior in the unit that has just completed a route will move to Givati. Shock and noise in the crowd. Sergeant Givati) We enlisted to be at the forefront. "



"What's the spearhead?" Vilnai asked Palmer, who responded without blinking, "We want to go to the nut."

Vilnai ended the conversation and informed his assistant in the presence of the commanders that Pini Yosef's team was not going to Givati.

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About a week after the disaster, a walnut unit returned to training: "We need to get out of the incident stronger"

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Walnut fighters in training (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

"There was talk in the army that Egoz was being set up. A special unit to eliminate Hezbollah, there were guys in Samson who were afraid to go there, a whole team that fell apart in the wave of arguments, because it's a muzzle. And we? The red shoes are black and we said goodbye to the red beret. "



In those days, the Hezbollah guerrilla organization inflicted many casualties and casualties on the IDF almost every week along the security zone in Lebanon. "It was to the credit of Amnon, who understood that we are not prepared for the war in Lebanon but for ongoing security activities while there is a guerrilla organization accumulating against us." accomplishments. "It is not easy to tell yourself as chief of



staff

that I am his commander: I am not ready."

Zuckerman leaves Squadron 13,And there is one battalion of fighters and it operates under the headquarters of the Golani Brigade.


Squadron B was based on the fighters trained by Pini Yosef in the Samson unit.

The thinking was different.

From operations within alleys and built-up areas of Gaza and from undercover operations, the fighters were required to make adjustments to carry heavy weights, activity in boulders and a very dense thicket that characterizes southern Lebanon.

The task was entrusted to fitness instructor Eric Regal who arrived with Zuckerman from the fleet.



The results were amazing.

According to the fighters from Pini's team, while Squadron A was carrying out special operations deep in Lebanese territory, they underwent a short training process, "We quickly turned from refrigerators to cats. Very flexible. Very fast and carry heavy weights. What is heavy? In Operation Mountain Air I weighed 67 kg." I dragged 80 kg of equipment. It was a very difficult Lutheran course, a lot of Krav Maga.

That if we encounter in the near future we will know what to do even with bare hands.

Tried to break us and we?

We just crystallized more and more. "

"We quickly turned from refrigerators to cats," Pini Yosef's fighters (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Less than a year later, Pini Yosef's team was at its peak. An ambush operation whose peak lasted about a week in the depths of the area that the fighters called: "summer vacations." "The message to the commanders in the sector? Walnut is getting everywhere. And to Hezbollah? We will reach you. We will hit you there at home. Where we were not: in Saluki, in Litani, in my deep deepness in the field. That was the IDF's record at the time. We did a lot of operations but there were quite a few that were canceled at the last minute because it was a tough and complex fight. It is not easy to penetrate deep into enemy territory and sit on its head. At

home, "said fighters from the Pini Yosef team.



Col. Yosef told the famous team this week," I have been coaching the team since August '95. "Today's nut sucks away. Close-range contact. Aggression. This is not a technological unit."

"Walnut was a tie-breaker" (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

It has been about a year since the Pini Yosef team joined Egoz.

The officer advanced, handing over the responsibility for a few months to Roni Palmer who served as temporary team commander and immediately afterwards the command was handed over to Lieutenant Erez Binyamini.

The commander of the unit was Brigadier General Chico Tamir, who devoted a lot of thought to planning, striving for contact, models before operations, order and discipline. It was no longer possible to get to a dining room or go home without a uniform or move freely in Lebanon with a civilian Mercedes. Intelligence was received of an increased presence of Hezbollah operatives in a tangled grove, in the Rafia ridge above the a-Zoharani river in Lebanon. From there, they ascend to IDF outposts and carry out attacks.



The commander of the Eastern Brigade in the liaison unit to Lebanon, Major General Yair Golan, later the deputy chief of staff went on a tour of the area infested with terrorists in the ridge. Sujod and Rafia and enters the area and climbs from there to our outposts.

We said: 'Why wait for them.

Let's catch them in the least right place for them.

As soon as they come up to us.

Walnut knew the area well.

It was easy for me to approve the operation that would later be called a wild landscape.

The idea of ​​the operation is a 72-hour ambush to increase the chances of success in capturing them. "

Walnut fighters in training (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Three days between intentions

On September 12, 1997, three teams from the Walnut Unit set out for the Rafia ridge. Hezbollah detects movement in the area and begins launching mortar shells to deter nut fighters. After long hours of walking in the dense thicket and climbing the slippery slope, Erez Binyamini's veteran team ambushed an aliyah from one of Hezbollah's positions, the second team enlisted in Nov. .



Three days in ambush under camouflage within the dense undergrowth passed without incident. "We were in a reality of such intense activity. Every operation would have seemed like a big training in 'Century Area' or in the hills of fate. The atmosphere was positive. Night missions. Day missions. Every few hours the mission alternates. Who is awake who sleeps. If you hear something you give. Elbow or kick to a fighter who sleeps next to you and wakes up the force… Three days have passed. Friday has arrived. They decide to fold according to plan…. Shahar (warrior) also opens fire. 'We came across… throwing bags…' Erez shouted. The terrorists opened fire. We heard the bundles whistling near our heads. "



Ohad, the team sergeant identified a Hezbollah operative and stormed into the thicket with two fighters until they came in contact with him and warned him to enter the enemy's extermination area and therefore he had to go back. It was decided to send a sting dog. , And soon shouts were heard.

Walnut fighters in training (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Walnut fighters opened fire.

In retrospect, it turned out that there were three Hezbollah squads in the area.

The fighters said, "We were a few meters from the outpost they built in the field. They had operational bags at a very high level. We brought from them a variety of intelligence. Phone numbers. Everything was refurbished. Even the cigarette boxes. They did not go with battle packs. They had pitas and stone."



There was a sudden silence.

An effort by Walnut fighters to hear the movement of the terrorists in the thicket.

Suddenly there was a shout that gave confidence to the fighters.

Erez, the commander-in-chief, shouted at one of the terrorists who was hiding: "Tel Ya Zalama.

Come on, my brother ... go up. "



The scans identified two terrorists.

The silence was replaced by the appalling noise of an attack.

"The sky was red," said the fighters present in the area, "mortar shells fell 10 meters from us. There were miracles that night. It is not clear how no one was injured. Tao missiles, sniping, machine guns. More than half an hour of firing and we dig in the area. At one point we realized that even the Lebanese army was firing anti-aircraft fire at us.

We were in the High School at a very high level.

Until combat helicopters arrived. "

"Walnut goes everywhere. The message to Hezbollah - we will reach you" (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

The Deputy Minister of Economy, Maj. Gen. Golan, said this week, "Two terrorists were killed and the rest fled. It is easy to escape. The bodies.

I tell him: does it work out for you?

Won't you be heavy?

You know what?

Walla is a great idea.

If it works out bring, without thinking too much.

These days after the disaster of the 13th flotilla in Lebanon, there are body parts by Hezbollah, there is an understanding that the bodies need to be brought. "



Chico gets in touch with the forces and demands to bring the bodies of the two terrorists killed by Erez The walk in the thicket with two stretchers.The order is accepted and carried out despite the physical and operational challenge lest terrorist squads follow them.



"We relied on Chico. There were quite a few operations that he led us in the head. So no questions asked. There is no such animal. If Chico asks he knows what he is doing. The whole country talked about the cruising disaster that happened ten days before. We fought with them and understood Who want to bring bargaining chips to return body parts. "


One of the stretchers was carried by fighters under the command of veteran Sergeant Ohad.

In the area of ​​the outposts, the fighters handed over the two bodies to the fighters on APCs.

"We killed Nasrallah's son." Former Walnut fighters (Photo: Official website, no)

"Only after hours we realized - there is bingo"

"When the bodies reach the basin. Intelligence information begins to enter. We understand that there is something special here. Only after a few hours do we realize that there is bingo here, a waste of time," said Yair Golan. Intelligence sources in the sector and Chiko Tamir, jointly estimated that the reason why the entire sector burned and fired extremely heavy fire at the forces is as a result of a senior Hezbollah member joining the force and being killed and his body still in the field.



Walnut fighters have already arrived in the Krayot area. Hurry to enjoy the freedom. "Suddenly the cell phone rings and beyond the Erez line, he demands that they return to the outpost, go inside tonight… to bring another body." The fighters do not blink, cross the road and hurry to catch rides north, back to the basin post. After about an hour, Erez calls again and announces that there is no need, "We killed Nasrallah's son. We have already heard the rest on the radio," the fighters said. Thus, in fact, the unit became one of the most famous in the country and in the same breath terrorized Hezbollah fighters.



Col. Pini Yosef testified about the crew and unit then and now, “Operation Wild View was an operation full of daring.

To go to a very difficult place to operate, most surprising to Hezbollah and wait for it.

It's a nut.

It is not for nothing that over the years the Walnut Unit has become the IDF's generator in many ways, a unit that removes the IDF permanently.

This is also reflected in the battle between the wars in recent years. "

Killed in the IDF Incident (Photo: Photo Processing, IDF Spokesman)

On the tragic deaths of cruise commanders last week, he said, "I do not want to go into the details of the investigation that is still underway. This is an unusual event. I was very sorry to hear about what happened. I knew Ofek Aharon personally. He was my commander. Was a trainee of mine at Maltak (College of Tactical Command). Need to interrogate. It is imperative to learn lessons that such cases should not happen but do not spill the baby with the water. Mostly a mistake in judgment. "This is a very important unit for the IDF and it has no substitute. I believe it is strong enough to emerge from this crisis." One of the unit's veterans said, "This is the best Krav Maga unit in the IDF. This is a unit that specializes in short-range combat. In contact.



In high friction.

Unfortunately the incident last week was one of the reasons the results are so fatal because the fighters in the unit know how to use their weapons so effectively.

In this case it was very much to our detriment.

It is not easy to hit people at night from a range of 15 m.

The other special units have a different character.

Walnut's track is very combative.

Not only navigations but also at night fire outline complex descriptions, which require tiny warfare.

A wild landscape is an example of this.

An operation that comes entirely from striving for a short safe touch and in difficult terrain.

There is a huge difference between an F-16 bomb and people meeting with their enemy space in combat.

It undermines them.

It's causing them to go crazy over prey. "

"Nut of nut in my opinion changed the entire IDF" (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Palmer, who was one of the leaders in the establishment of Egoz's reserve forces, and also fought in Operation Cast Lead, said this week, "Egoz's DNA in my opinion has changed the entire IDF. Unequivocal. The first commander, Erez Zuckerman, brought his values ​​from the fleet, so-called everything is possible. He took us to crazy places. Then came Chico. I define him as a master rabbi. There were imaginary operations in his time. Even in Hezbollah caves. I will not expand on that. Then came Hagai from the General Staff patrol. So we got something from each of them. How do I determine that we made an impact? I used to train other units in the army every Sunday because they were going to die. They did not know how to fight in Lebanon. "Givati ​​Patrol, Nahal, paratroopers, even Squadron 13 before the poplar sang, we trained together with the crews in the area of ​​a human facility. My opinion until today was that we could, like a nut, finish work in Lebanon. .



When I remarked that this was a really pretentious saying he said, "We have reached a very high professional level, we knew them, how they think, every soldier in Walnut knew how to lead an independent battle, rear squadrons in Walnut would kill terrorists, Walnut grew, to Squadron C and Squadron D. We proved then that staff Could hold a battalion shape because of the specialization and understanding of the terrain and space. I will not forget the snowy nights we climbed with 60-70 kg on our backs on the one hand and on the other hand boarding helicopters and doing imaginary things. It included discipline and lessons learned at the Air Force level. "



But still in the background echoes the fatal incident in Nabi Musa in which a team commander shoots two parties because of a mistake in identification and incorrect decisions that are currently being investigated by the MPC, Division 98 Brigadier General Ofer Winter and a committee of experts headed by Maj. Gen. Noam Tibon.

The incident in Nabi Musa shakes the unit and veteran fighters and commanders from the past.

Some are stunned by the findings but are careful not to direct criticism.

Golan, summed up the atmosphere, "This is a terrible blow to a strong unit. An insanely frustrating blow. I saw Cherry at the time in the bilateral shooting incident in the village of Atzira a-Shamaliya (three Cherry fighters identified as terrorists were killed by their comrades during a wanted senior AB arrest). "Shocking. Therefore, it's a question of leadership. When there is good leadership, you get out of it."

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Source: walla

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