Nitsana Darshan-Leitner Livres

In 1947, when the UN partitioned Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, the true war for Israel's existence began. Throughout the War of Independence (1948), the PAL'MACH (Hebrew abbreviation for 'Strike Companies') spearheaded Israel's forces. Disbanded in 1949, the PAL'MACH was replaced by other specialist units, including paratroop forces, the GOLANI Infantry Brigade, the Naval Commandos, and territorial and other reconnaissance commando formations. An acknowledged expert on the Israeli Defence Forces, Samuel Katz presents an overview of these IDF elite units, including the mysterious SAYERET MAT'KAL, a highly classified elite unit whose exploits involve the 1972 raid on a hijacked Belgian Sabena Boeing 707.

The Six-Day War drastically altered the political and military complexion of the Middle East: three Arab armies lay in ruin, while Israel achieved regional superpower status. The Arab response to defeat was a thirst for revenge, and the process of regrouping to launch the 1973 war was the nearest the Arab world would come to true unity. This book examines the post-1973 development of the armies of Egypt, Jordan and Syria, as well as the Palestinian guerrilla and terrorist groups. Backed by photographs and colour illustrations, this book also details the special military and political roles of the armies' elite units.

Following the devastation of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) underwent significant structural and tactical changes in their battle doctrine. In only a few years the IDF evolved into a truly modern fighting force, much better prepared to confront the Palestinian terrorist attacks that were to follow. Written by an ex-soldier of the IDF, this richly illustrated book chronicles the history of the IDF from the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War to the late 1980s, and covers the various units of the IDF including the Paratroop and Infantry Branch, the Engineering Corps and the Armoured Corps.