Unit 101 was an Israeli special forces unit founded in 1953 by Ariel Sharon on orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion to retaliate against Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians. It was the first IDF unit to receive orders directly from military command rather than a lower sub-command. Unit 101 conducted operations targeting bases and villages used by infiltrators, but its attack on the village of Qibya in 1953 that killed around 70 civilians led to the unit being disbanded in 1954 and merged into the Paratroopers Brigade.

1. UNIT 101
ISRAEL’S SUPER SPECIAL FORCE!!

3. Introduction
 Unit 101 was an Israeli special operations unit founded and led by Ariel Sharon on
orders from Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in August 1953.
 It was created to retaliate against a spate of Palestinian violence against Israeli
civilians.
According to Sharon, Gurion told him that "the Palestinians must learn that they
will pay a high price for Israeli lives".
Its commander was major Sharon, his deputy in command was Shlomo Baum.
Unit 101 established small unit manoeuvres, activation and insertion tactics that
are utilized even today.
Beside Sayeret MATKAL, Unit 101 is considered to be the unit with the most
influence on the Israeli infantry oriented units including both special and
conventional units.

5. Uniqueness
 It was the first time the IDF formed a brand new SF
unit from scratch, rather then modify a previously
exiting infantry oriented unit, like with the Golany
brigade Special Reconnaissance Platoon.
 It was the first time the IDF formed a unit that
received its orders directly from the IDF General Staff
(the IDF High Command - MATKAL) and not by a
lower sub-command.

7. Mission
 Direct action;
 Strategic reconnaissance;
 Unconventional warfare;
 Counterterrorism;
 Activities specified by Government.

9. Operations
 Immediately after the foundation of Unit 101 in 1953, it began a series of
retaliatory operations targeting bases and villages which served as bases for the
infiltrators.
 On one of its first missions, the unit attacked the refugee camp in El-Bureij in
Gaza Strip.
 The mission was aimed at Col. Mustafa Hafez, the chief of Egyptian intelligence in
the Gaza Strip (and according to some, the Strip's de-facto ruler) who stood behind
many of the early violent infiltrations into Israel.
 Only two months later, in October, a heavy shadow was cast on the unit,
following its raid into the village of Qibya, in the northern West Bank then a part of
Jordan.
 Up to 70 innocent civilians were killed in this operation. The mode of operation
was similar to that of El-Bureig, but on a larger scale.

10. Aftermath
 The widely condemned attack on Qibya made the Israeli leadership forbid the IDF to
directly target innocent civilians in the future.
 By January 1954, the unit was disbanded and merged into the Paratroopers Brigade,
and unit commander Ariel Sharon became the commander of the merged brigade.
 The unit existed independently five months, and three more years as a core inside the
paratrooper brigade, before being disbanded after the 1956 Suez War.
 Beginning with 1954, the unit's activities were mostly confined to military targets.
 In particular, up to 20 such attacks were carried out in 1955-1956, culminating in the
Kalkiliya Police raid of October 1956 - a battle by a position of the Arab Legion in one of
the old British police forts, during which 18 Israeli soldiers and up to a hundred
Legionnaires died.

11. References
http://en.specwar.info/special-
forces/israel/unit-101/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_101

12. THANK YOU