Editing Unit 101 (section)

{{Short description|Disbanded special forces unit of the Israel Defense Forces}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name = Unit 101
| image = File:Meir_Har-Zion,_1954.jpg | image_size = 300px
| caption = Unit 101 in 1954
| dates = August 1953 – January 1954
| country = {{Flag|Israel}} 
| branch = {{army|Israel}} 
| type = Sayeret 
| role = [[Air assault]]<br>[[Anti-tank warfare]]<br>[[Artillery observer]]<br>[[Bomb disposal]]<br>[[Clandestine operation]]<br>[[Close-quarters combat]]<br>[[Counterinsurgency]]<br>[[Desert warfare]]<br>[[Direct action (military)|Direct action]]<br>[[Forward air control]]<br>[[HUMINT]]<br>[[Irregular warfare]]<br>[[Long-range penetration]]<br>[[Maneuver warfare]]<br>[[Mountain warfare]]<br>[[Parachuting]]<br>[[Patrolling]]<br>[[Raid (military)|Raiding]]<br>[[Reconnaissance]]<br>[[Special operations]]<br>[[Special reconnaissance]]<br>[[Urban warfare]]
| size = 50
| garrison = [[Tel Aviv]], [[Israel]].
| nickname = 
| motto = 
| battles = [[Bureij]]<br>[[Qibya massacre]]
| disbanded = January 1954
| notable_commanders = [[Ariel Sharon]]<br />[[Meir Har-Zion]]
}}
[[File:Dayan w Kuntila Raid comm.jpg|thumb|Various Israeli officers of the Paratrooper Battalion 890 in 1955 with [[Moshe Dayan]] (standing, third from the left). Unit 101 merged with Paratrooper Battalion 890 upon disbandment. [[Meir Har-Zion]] is standing, first from the left and [[Ariel Sharon]] is standing, second from the left.]]
Commando '''Unit 101''' ({{langx|he|יחידה 101}}) was a sayeret (commando) unit of the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF), founded and commanded by [[Ariel Sharon]] on orders from [[Prime Minister of Israel|Prime Minister]] [[David Ben-Gurion]] in August 1953.<ref name="Specwar">{{cite web|url=http://en.specwar.info/special_forces/Unit_101/|title=Unit 101 |publisher=Specwar.info |access-date=2009-09-04}}</ref> 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 insertion tactics.

Members of the unit were recruited only from agricultural [[kibbutz]]im and [[moshav]]im. Membership in the unit was by invitation only, and any new member had to be voted on by all existing members before they were accepted.<ref name="Halevi">Yossi Klein Halevi, ''Like Dreamers'', (New York, 2013), pp. 42–43</ref>

The unit was merged into the [[Paratroopers Brigade|890th Paratroop Battalion]] during January 1954, on orders of General [[Moshe Dayan]], Chief of Staff, because he wanted their experience and spirit to be spread among all infantry units of IDF starting with the [[Paratroopers Brigade|paratroopers]]. They are considered to have had a significant influence on the development of subsequent Israeli infantry-oriented units.<ref name="Israeli Special Forces History">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/special.html|title=Jewish Virtual Library&nbsp;– Israeli Special Forces History|access-date=2009-09-04}}</ref>