Israeli Navy

Origins and the British Mandate Era

The roots of organized Jewish maritime activity in Mandatory Palestine began during the 1920s and 1930s with civilian maritime clubs and sport associations, including Zebulon, Hapoel, and Sea Scouts branches in Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as the founding of the Yarkon and Zvulun sea sport clubs. In 1937 the institutions of the Yishuv established the Maritime League of Israel (Hevel Yami LeYisrael) to encourage sea exploration, maritime trade, and fishery development. The Jewish Agency operated its own maritime department, headed from 1935 by David Ben-Gurion. Commercial maritime companies were established alongside these initiatives, including the Atid navigation company in 1934, shipping operations affiliated with the Kibbutz HaMeuhad, the M. Dizengoff and Co. agency, and later the Zim shipping line in 1946, which operated merchant cargo vessels and passenger liners such as the SS Tel Aviv.

Betar Naval Academy in Civitavecchia

In 1934 the Revisionist Zionist movement under the direction of Ze'ev Jabotinsky established the Betar Naval Academy in the port city of Civitavecchia, Italy. Jabotinsky had secured official cooperation from Benito Mussolini, who served simultaneously as Italian prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, in the belief that an independent, pro-Italian Jewish state in Palestine could tilt the balance of Mediterranean maritime influence toward Rome rather than London.^[1] The school was organized with the assistance of Maurizio Mendes, the Betar representative in Rome and son of medical professor Guido Mendes. The concept of maritime training for Jewish youth had been initiated in Paris in 1930 by a group called Rodegal, which viewed mastery of seamanship and fishing as economic foundations for a future Jewish commonwealth.

The first course at Civitavecchia opened on 28 November 1934 with 28 cadets from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, Latvia, Austria, and Italy. The cadets were housed in two large rooms in the Trajan dock basin provided by the municipal authorities and were directed by Commander Fusco. Their uniforms bore an anchor, a Menorah, and the Italian fasces. Academic instruction covering navigation, seamanship, and maritime disciplines was completed in Italian within one single year, and all 28 cadets passed their examinations on 15 June 1935. To furnish practical training at sea, Zionist leaders met in Paris with Commander Fusco and secured financing from Efraim Kirschner, a merchant who had fled Berlin, to purchase a 60-meter, 500-ton four-masted auxiliary schooner named Quattro Venti at Marina di Massa. Renamed Sarah I in honor of Abraham's wife, the vessel was commanded by Captain Tiberio Paone and sailed on a Mediterranean instructional voyage to Haifa and Tel Aviv in the summer of 1937, receiving public receptions from the Jewish community.

A second training cycle began on 29 March 1936, inaugurated by the Chief Rabbi of Rome with 52 students, the majority hailing from Poland. Its instructional cruise called at Italian ports as well as Nice and Marseille. In February 1937 Commander Fusco visited London to discuss the development of a Jewish fishing fleet with Jabotinsky and commercial figures. A third course commenced that month with roughly 70 cadets, incorporating practical fishing operations following the court-ordered auction purchase of a motorized fishing trawler, Neca, at Porto Santo Stefano, later supplemented by a smaller craft, Lea. Over its years of operation the academy graduated nearly 200 seamen, among them cadet leader Avram Blass, who later reached flag rank in the Israeli Navy. The academy was abruptly closed in 1938 when the Italian government promulgated the Manifesto of Race and ensuing anti-Jewish racial laws, which expelled Jewish students from Italian public educational institutions.

Marine High School and the Palyam

In 1938 Dr. Shlomo Bardin, acting with the encouragement and financial backing of the Jewish Agency, founded the Marine High School within the Bosmat technical junior college of the Technion in Haifa. This maritime institution trained navigators, engineers, and deck hands, later relocating to Acre after the establishment of the State of Israel to become the Acre Naval Officers School. In January 1943 the deputy commander of the Palmach, Davidka Nemri, organized the Palmach's Maritime Section (HaMahlaka HaYamit), utilizing the Bosmat facilities and small training boats named Dov, Tirza, and Rivka to instruct recruits in boat handling, coastal piloting, and passenger disembarkation.

By 1945 the section expanded into the naval company of the Palmach, known as the Palyam. The Palyam focused its curriculum on seamanship, boat commanding, and the clandestine landing of immigrants on open beaches along the Mediterranean coast of Palestine. It established specialized training regimes, including boat commander courses and shipmaster courses (Kors Hovelim), designed to produce officers capable of escorting and safeguarding refugee vessels arriving from European ports under the oversight of the Mossad LeAliyah Bet.

World War II Service and Insurgency

With the outbreak of World War II and the German advance across North Africa toward the Suez Canal in 1941, the Political Department of the Jewish Agency negotiated with British authorities to recruit Palestine Jews into the British armed services. That year British military intelligence trained approximately 30 Haganah members, several of whom had served on clandestine immigrant transports, for sabotage behind enemy lines in North Africa and against Vichy French forces in the Levant. In May 1941, 23 Haganah fighters and British Major Anthony Palmer vanished at sea aboard the vessel Sea Lion (Ari HaYam) during an operation directed against oil refineries in Tripoli, Lebanon.

Beginning in 1941 and 1942, approximately 1,100 Jewish volunteers from Palestine enlisted in the British Royal Navy, principally serving in technical capacities, ordnance maintenance, and shore-based repair workshops. Under an official agreement between the Jewish Agency and the British Admiralty, 12 volunteers received officer commissions. Several reached sea billets and combat commands. Two volunteers, Edmond Wilhelm Brillant and Zvi Avidror, volunteered for flight training with the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, though they ultimately did not complete the pilot qualification program. Hundreds of additional Jewish mariners served aboard British Merchant Navy vessels sustaining Atlantic and Mediterranean convoy lifelines.

The end of the war was followed by the start of the Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine. Royal Navy volunteers returned to the ranks of the Haganah, providing technical engineering skills, while Palyam operatives manned clandestine Aliyah Bet vessels carrying European Holocaust survivors. In November 1945 the Palyam organized an underwater sabotage unit to disable British patrol craft, radar stations, and deportation vessels operated by the Royal Navy's Palestine Patrol. This sabotage cell served as the core from which Israel's naval commando force, Shayetet 13, was subsequently created.

The Fleet of Shadows and Early Salvage

During the final months of the British Mandate, Royal Navy vessels intercepted dozens of clandestine immigrant ships and impounded them against the Haifa harbor breakwater, creating an idle collection of vessels known as the Fleet of Shadows (Tzi HaTzlalim). In April 1948, working under the cover of a civilian harbor services front company called HaOgen, former Royal Navy veterans and Haganah mechanics covertly boarded several impounded vessels to overhaul their propulsion machinery, steam generators, and bilge systems. Because British military authorities maintained control of Haifa port until late June 1948, work was conducted clandestinely, and vessels were shifted to Tel Aviv anchorage to be fitted with light arms, deck guns, and wooden dummy cannons to give the outward impression of heavy caliber armament.

1948 Arab–Israeli War and Establishment

On 17 March 1948 David Ben-Gurion established the Sea Service (HaSherut HaYamit) under the direction of Gershon Zak, an administrative bureaucrat and educator without prior maritime experience, operating under the authority of the Ministry of Defense. Zak issued the official founding order of the day on 29 November 1947 following the United Nations partition vote, marking the administrative beginning of the Hebrew naval force.^[2] In May 1948 Paul Shulman, a United States Naval Academy graduate and veteran US Navy commander, immigrated to Israel. In October 1948 Shulman was appointed Chief of Staff of the naval arm with practical operational command under the Chief of the General Staff, while Zak continued to manage ministerial and administrative affairs. In March 1949 the service was formally redesignated the Israeli Navy (Heil HaYam).

Internal Command Struggles and Personnel

The personnel that formed the newly established naval force in early 1948 came from diverse, competing organizational backgrounds: Royal Navy volunteers with disciplined technical training but limited combat command experience; Palyam operatives who had managed clandestine immigrant transports but lacked institutional training in celestial navigation, warship maneuvering, or fleet naval tactics; commercial merchant captains and chief engineers possessing deep seafaring expertise but no military training; and foreign Jewish volunteers (Machal) from the United States Navy and Royal Navy, including Commander Paul Shulman, Commander Solomon Burk, and Commander Allen Burk.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]} Palyam personnel resisted the introduction of formal naval military rank, uniforms, officer-enlisted social segregation, and separate wardrooms.^{[3][4][5][10][11]} Dual-command hierarchies emerged on ships, where a professional merchant captain navigated the vessel while a political Palyam officer dictated operational assignments, causing frequent friction and merchant captain resignations.

Observing the friction and indiscipline within the naval service, Commander Allen Burk remarked in frustration: 'You cannot make naval officers from cowboys.'^[4][5][8] During the summer of 1948 David Ben-Gurion invited Marcus Joseph Sieff, a former Royal Navy officer, to inspect naval stations and interview 39 officers and Machal volunteers. Sieff's report found that the senior command was dominated by young Palyam figures whose experience was restricted to clandestine immigration, noting that not a single operational desk in naval headquarters was staffed by personnel with prior command experience on warships or large commercial vessels. The report warned that without a comprehensive operational procurement and recruitment plan and the integration of professional foreign advisors, the navy could not develop into an effective fighting branch. In October 1948 the organizational structure was revised to separate administrative affairs under the Ministry of Defense from operational command under Paul Shulman.

1948 Combat Operations

At the start of hostilities the improvised combat fleet included four converted immigrant ships: K-18 INS Josiah Wedgwood, K-20 INS Haganah, K-24 INS Maoz, and the accommodation vessel A-16 INS Eilat. These were supplemented by landing craft P-25, P-33, P-39, P-51, and P-53, auxiliary service vessels S-45 HaTag HaAfor and S-29 South Africa, and light harbor patrol craft including HaPortzim, Palmach, Dror, Sa'ar, Galia, and Tirza. In October 1948 a surplus submarine chaser was purchased from the United States.^[3][12] It was commissioned as K-26 INS Noga. In mid-May 1948 the service conducted its first major amphibious transport, landing troops in the Western Galilee during Operation Ben-Ami. In July naval vessels engaged in coastal bombardments against Egyptian and Arab positions, shelling Tira, Jaba, and Ein Ghazal, and on the night of 17 July Wedgwood and Eilat bombarded the port of Tyre in Lebanon.

To assist southern land operations during the Ten Days of fighting in July 1948, the navy formed a dedicated naval landing battalion. The unit was committed to ground combat against Egyptian fortifications at Beit Affa near Iraq Suwaydan, where it suffered heavy casualties, accounting for the majority of naval personnel killed in the war. Outside the domestic theater, naval operatives targeted Arab arms procurement vessels in Europe, sinking the transport ship Lino inside the Italian port of Bari in April 1948 and intercepting maritime munitions shipments during operations Shlal-1 and Shlal-2. At the conclusion of 1948 naval special forces participated in Operation Hatchala, severing the strategic railway line between Rafah and El Arish on the Mediterranean coast of the Sinai Peninsula.^[13][14]

Italian Assistance and the Sinking of Emir Farouk

In mid-1948 the Israeli military approached Italian contacts to acquire offensive special-warfare assault craft. Commander Agostino Calosi, head of the Italian naval intelligence service (Servizio Informazioni Speciali), covertly arranged the assistance of Italian naval veterans and former members of the Decima Flottiglia MAS. Sub-Lieutenant Nicola Conte and Captain Geo Calderoni instructed Israeli frogmen in underwater diving and sabotage, while Chief Petty Officer Fiorenzo Capriotti, an Italian surface-assault craft veteran who had participated in the raid on Souda Bay, arrived in Israel under a forged Mossad passport to train Israeli personnel. Capriotti had inspected six war-surplus MTM explosive motorboats at the Idroscalo in Milan before they were crated and shipped to Haifa. Training of Israeli commandos took place in strict secrecy on the Sea of Galilee throughout the summer of 1948.

The first operational employment of the explosive motorboats occurred on 22 October 1948 during Operation Yoav off the coast of Gaza. An Egyptian naval task group comprising an armed minesweeper and the Egyptian Navy flagship, the sloop Emir Farouk (El Amir Farouq), was anchored in the roadstead supporting Egyptian ground forces. Four Israeli explosive motorboats were launched from INS Maoz under the command of Yohai Ben-Nun. Israeli naval commandos steered the explosive boats directly into the Egyptian warships, detonating charges that sank the Emir Farouk and heavily damaged the accompanying minesweeper.^[15][16] On 22 October 1992, during the forty-fourth anniversary of the sinking, Admiral Ami Ayalon invested Fiorenzo Capriotti as an honorary commander of Shayetet 13.

Reorganization and the Destroyer Era (1949–1956)

In March 1949 an investigative committee headed by Shaul Avigur examined the status of the navy and its subordination to the General Staff. The committee recommended that the Sea Corps be placed on equal footing with the ground and air forces within a unified general staff command, led by a dedicated service commander equivalent to the commander of the air force. Professional disagreements between Paul Shulman and Chief of Staff Yigael Yadin led to Shulman's resignation, followed by the resignation of Gershon Zak at Ben-Gurion's request. Munya Mardor temporarily managed naval headquarters until Shimon Peres took charge of naval administrative affairs in the Ministry of Defense in April 1949. In May 1949 Shlomo Shamir was appointed Commander of the Navy, becoming the first officer formally invested with the title and rank of Aluf, thereby ending the dual-command arrangement.

Under Shamir and his successor Mordechai Limon, the navy initiated institutional reforms. Military rank titles were standardized across the Israel Defense Forces, abolishing borrowed foreign rank designations. In 1949 a dedicated naval detachment was established on the Dead Sea under the command of Dov Israelit. Training schools were organized under Shmuel Tankos to instruct officers in basic navigation, seamanship, and gunnery. Between 1950 and 1951 the navy decommissioned its improvised immigrant craft and acquired three River-class frigates (INS Mivtach, INS Misnak, and INS Misgav) and two Flower-class corvettes (INS Josiah Wedgwood and INS Haganah) from the United Kingdom.^[16] Israeli officers were dispatched abroad for advanced training at Royal Navy shore academies in Britain and tactical facilities in Malta, as well as in France.

Fleet Expansion and the Sadag Reserve Unit

In 1954 Shmuel Tankos assumed command of the navy, presiding over an era of conventional fleet expansion. In July 1955 Israel purchased two British surplus Z-class fleet destroyers from the United Kingdom, HMS Zealous and HMS Zodiac, which were refitted in Liverpool and commissioned into the Israeli Navy in July 1956 as INS Eilat (K-40) and INS Yafo (K-42).^[16][17] The acquisition gave the navy ocean-going gunnery capability. Concurrently, naval officers Yosef Dror and Hadar Kimhi initiated negotiations and planning for the establishment of a dedicated submarine service, Shayetet 7. In the late 1950s Israel negotiated with the British government to purchase two S-class submarines, INS Tanin and INS Rahav.^[18]

Because the navy operated under constrained financial allocations from the General Staff, it formed an auxiliary maritime reserve unit in 1956 based on civilian commercial fishing trawlers, designated the Sadag unit (Sfinot Dag). Commanded by Major Yehuda Rotem, an experienced commercial fisherman and kibbutz member who later directed the Zim navigation company, the unit mobilized eight commercial trawlers. The trawlers had their decks strengthened to accept removable pintle mounts for 20 mm Oerlikon automatic cannons and military communication sets. Civilian crews underwent recurrent naval training in fire control, formation maneuvering, and damage control. When released to commercial service, military hardware was removed and concealed so that Israeli fishing activities along the Mediterranean coast would not be targeted as military operations.

The 1956 Suez Crisis and Ibrahim el-Awal

During the 1956 Suez Crisis (Operation Kadesh), the Sadag fishing boat flotilla performed its first operational trials, patrolling coastal approaches, escorting coastal logistics runs, and transporting ammunition and infantry detachments. At the conclusion of hostilities, Sadag trawlers participated in a covert evacuation of Jewish refugees from Port Said organized by Arieh Eliav. Trawlers from Kibbutz Sa'ar and Naveh Yam were repainted and given Italian names, entering the Anglo-French-controlled harbor of Port Said to embark approximately 180 civilians in crowded holds and mess spaces, returning them safely to Haifa across rough seas over a 20-hour transit.

The primary surface engagement of the war occurred off Haifa on the morning of 31 October 1956. The Egyptian Hunt-class destroyer Ibrahim el-Awal approached Haifa and shelled the port.^[16][19] The Israeli destroyers INS Eilat and INS Yafo, supported by the French destroyer Kersaint, intercepted the Egyptian warship as it withdrew westward. The two Israeli destroyers engaged the vessel in a gun battle, firing 436 shells and scoring only a few hits.^[20][21] Two Dassault Ouragan fighter-bombers of the Israeli Air Force strafed and rocketed the warship, damaging its steering gear and boiler rooms. With the ship disabled, the Egyptian captain surrendered. Israeli boarding parties took possession of the warship, towed it into Haifa harbor, and completed repairs. In January 1957 the captured vessel was formally commissioned into the Israeli Navy as the destroyer INS Haifa (K-38).^{[16][19][20][21]}

The Missile Boat Revolution and the Six-Day War

Following the retirement of Shmuel Tankos in 1960, Aluf Yohai Ben-Nun took command of the navy, serving until 1966. Recognizing that the navy's aging fleet of World War II-era destroyers, frigates, and torpedo boats was outclassed by Soviet-built Project 30-bis Skoryy-class destroyers and Komar-class missile boats entering service with the Egyptian and Syrian navies, Ben-Nun appointed Captain Shlomo Erel as head of naval operations to oversee a total re-evaluation of naval doctrine.^[22] Large conventional surface combatants were deemed unaffordable given Israel's limited defense budget, which prioritized the army and air force. The naval staff conceived a doctrine centered on small, fast, highly maneuverable combat craft displacing under 500 tons, outfitted with automated rapid-fire guns, electronic countermeasures, and surface-to-surface guided missiles.^[20]

This initiative, organized under the administrative name Project Shallechet, sought foreign shipbuilders to construct hulls designed by the German shipyard Lürssen. When German political considerations barred domestic construction following diplomatic exposure in 1965, the contract for 12 vessels was shifted to the Felix Amiot shipyard (Chantiers Navals de Normandie) in Cherbourg, France. Captain Binyamin Telem led the technical delegation to Cherbourg to supervise construction. To arm the vessels, the Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael developed the Gabriel sea-skimming anti-ship missile, based on guidance principles salvaged from the earlier Luz surface-to-surface missile project. In 1966 Shlomo Erel assumed command of the navy, advancing the operational doctrine of missile craft and coordinating with domestic industry on electronic warfare systems, radar-deception decoys, and chaff dispensers.

Six-Day War Operations (1967)

Prior to the outbreak of the Six-Day War in June 1967, naval tensions rose on internal waterways. On 15 August 1966 an engagement occurred between Israeli and Syrian forces on the waters of the Sea of Galilee, resulting in the sinking of an Israeli patrol boat.^[23] When war erupted on 5 June 1967, the navy's missile craft were still under construction in Cherbourg, forcing the fleet to rely on its destroyers, torpedo boats, and submarines. On the night of 5–6 June, an Israeli surface group led by the destroyer INS Yafo engaged two Egyptian Project 205 Osa-class missile boats off Port Said with 20 mm gun fire, driving them into the fortified harbor without allowing them to launch missiles, thereby eliminating the threat of a naval bombardment of Tel Aviv.^[24]

Shayetet 13 naval commandos were deployed to raid enemy anchorages at Port Said, Alexandria, and three Syrian ports, but these missions achieved limited operational success. In the Alexandria harbor raid, six Israeli naval divers were captured and held as prisoners of war by Egyptian authorities.^[25] Naval anti-submarine groups utilizing destroyers, coastal patrol boats, and INS Noga conducted search patterns that successfully prevented Egyptian submarines from attacking merchant shipping off the Israeli coastline. In the Red Sea theater, landing craft were transported overland on trailers to the Gulf of Aqaba. Naval personnel moved the craft during daylight and removed them after dark, creating the deception that a landing on the Gulf of Suez was being prepared, which succeeded in drawing Egyptian naval forces into the Red Sea.^[20] Following the collapse of Egyptian land defenses in the Sinai, naval units occupied Sharm el-Sheikh without resistance, reopening the Straits of Tiran to Israeli navigation.

The USS Liberty Incident

On 8 June 1967, during the fourth day of the Six-Day War, Israeli Air Force fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats attacked the United States Navy technical research ship USS Liberty (AGTR-5), which was collecting electronic signals intelligence in international waters approximately 25.5 nautical miles (47.2 km; 29.3 mi) northwest of the Egyptian city of El Arish off the Sinai Peninsula.^[26][27][28] The joint air-sea attack commenced with strafing runs and napalm strikes by four Mirage III and Super Mystère jet aircraft, followed by gun attacks and torpedo launches from three Israeli torpedo boats, one of which struck the Liberty amidships on the starboard side.^[26][29] The assault lasted 23 minutes, killing 34 American crewmen (including naval officers, sailors, two marines, and one civilian National Security Agency employee), wounding 171, and severely damaging the hull.^[30]

Israeli military authorities terminated the attack after the torpedo impact, having believed the ship was sinking, and stated that the vessel had been misidentified as the out-of-service Egyptian coastal transport El Quseir.^[29][31] Both the Israeli and United States governments held official inquiries that concluded the attack was an accident caused by confusion over the ship's identity during active combat operations.^[32] The Israeli government apologized and paid financial compensation to the families of victims and to the United States government for ship repairs. However, survivors of the attack and certain senior American military leaders, including Admiral Thomas H. Moorer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, contended that the attack was carried out intentionally.^[33][34][35] In 2004 Captain Ward Boston, chief counsel to the US Navy Board of Inquiry that investigated the attack, signed a sworn affidavit alleging that President Lyndon B. Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara had ordered the naval board to conclude the assault was an accident despite contrary evidence.^[36]

The War of Attrition and Interwar Buildup (1967–1973)

On the night of 11–12 July 1967, one month after the Six-Day War, the destroyer INS Eilat and two torpedo boats intercepted two Egyptian motor torpedo boats patrolling off the coast of Romani on the northern Sinai shore. In a short surface action, the Israeli ships sank both Egyptian torpedo craft without sustaining damage.^[37][38] Three months later, on the afternoon of 21 October 1967, INS Eilat was conducting a regular coastal patrol approximately 14.5 miles off Port Said. Two Egyptian Komar-class missile boats moored inside the harbor entrance launched Soviet-supplied P-15 Termit (SS-N-2 Styx) anti-ship missiles, which according to Israeli statements were fired on the personal order of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.^[39][40] The radar signals of the missiles were obscured by land clutter until the final moments of flight. Despite defensive evasive maneuvers and machine gun fire, two missiles struck Eilat above the waterline, disabling its boiler and machinery spaces. A third missile struck the listing hull an hour later, and the ship sank with the loss of 47 crew members killed and 41 wounded out of 199 on board.^[40][41] This marked the first sinking of a major warship by anti-ship missiles in naval history.^[39][42]

Three days after the sinking of Eilat, Israeli artillery positioned along the eastern bank of the Suez Canal fired heavily upon the city of Suez for three hours, destroying port oil refineries.^[42] In 1968 the T-class submarine INS Dakar was lost in the Mediterranean Sea while sailing from Portsmouth in Britain to Israel.^[18] The wreckage was found in 1999, and its sail was raised in 2000 and placed in the Naval Museum in Haifa.^[18] Following the twin losses of Eilat and Dakar, Aluf Avraham Botzer was appointed commander of the navy, initiating a comprehensive organizational and cultural modernization across the service.

Egyptian Harbor Raids and Commando Actions

During the War of Attrition, Egyptian naval frogmen launched attacks against Israeli naval shipping anchored in the port of Eilat. In the early morning hours of 16 November 1969, Egyptian divers infiltrated Eilat harbor from the adjacent Jordanian coast at Aqaba, affixing limpet mines that damaged three civilian transport ships.^[43][44] On the night of 4–5 February 1970, Egyptian combat swimmers penetrated the anchorage again, planting explosive charges that sank the auxiliary vessel INS Bat Galim and the 1,150-ton tank landing craft INS Bat Sheva.^[44][45][46] Bat Sheva was beached, salvaged, and repaired, but salvage operations on Bat Galim were unsuccessful.^[46] A secondary underwater detonation aboard Bat Galim killed Israeli military diver Avi Shahak and wounded three others.^[47] Additional casualties occurred in the Eilat military harbor when an ordnance truck laden with naval mines exploded, killing 24 Israeli personnel.

Israeli naval forces also executed raids along the Gulf of Suez and Mediterranean coasts. In July 1969 Shayetet 13 commandos, operating alongside Sayeret Matkal, assaulted Green Island, an artificial fortress equipped with radar and anti-aircraft artillery in the northern Gulf of Suez, neutralizing the radar station and garrison. On 9 September 1969, during Operation Raviv, Israeli naval landing craft disembarked an armored column equipped with captured Soviet-built tanks and armored personnel carriers onto the western coast of the Gulf of Suez, raiding Egyptian military installations over ten hours without opposition.^[20] In April 1973, in Operation Spring of Youth, missile boats transported commandos to Beirut and Sidon, landing squads from Zodiac inflatables to assassinate senior figures of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

On 13 May 1970 an Egyptian missile boat launched two P-15 Styx missiles that struck and sank the Israeli civilian fishing trawler Orit off the Sinai coast north of El Arish, killing two fishermen while two others swam ashore. Following the incident, the patrol craft INS Sa'ar detected the fire-control radar of an Egyptian Osa-class craft and engaged in evasive maneuvering while deploying experimental Avshalom chaff rockets. Concurrently, naval electronic engineers under Herut Tzemach perfected frequency memory loop (FML) radar jammers and the Amnon self-defense countermeasure rocket, enabling Israeli missile boats to identify missile launch radars and decoy incoming missiles away from surface hulls.

Operation Noa: The Cherbourg Boats Escape

Following the Six-Day War, French President Charles de Gaulle declared an arms embargo on military sales to Middle Eastern combatants, which expanded in January 1969 to include naval craft constructed for Israel. Three completed Sa'ar-class boats had slipped out of Cherbourg on 4 January 1969 without hindrance, but five newly built missile boats (INS Ga'ash, INS Herev, INS Hanit, INS Hetz, and INS Soufa) remained impounded by French customs in the port of Cherbourg.^[48] To recover the vessels, the Israeli Ministry of Defense and the Mossad orchestrated a front purchase through the Starboat maritime firm, purporting to acquire the vessels for offshore oil exploration in the North Sea under the direction of Norwegian industrialist Martin Siem.

On the night of 24–25 December 1969, during Christmas celebrations and in the midst of a winter storm, Israeli naval crews under the command of Captain Hadar Kimhi and Major Binyamin Telem quietly cast off from the Cherbourg wharves in Operation Noa.^[48] The five unarmed craft navigated through heavy seas down the Atlantic coast of France and Portugal, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, and replenished at sea from commercial Israeli tankers before arriving in Haifa on 31 December 1969. Upon arrival, the boats were taken into the naval shipyards where Israeli weapons technicians mounted Otobreda 76 mm automatic guns, Gabriel anti-ship missile launchers, and electronic countermeasures suites.

The Yom Kippur War (1973)

When the Yom Kippur War began on 6 October 1973, Aluf Binyamin Telem commanded the Israeli Navy, which was prepared with new missile boat operational doctrine and electronic warfare capabilities. The surface strike inventory included 12 Cherbourg-built Sa'ar 1, Sa'ar 2, and Sa'ar 3 missile boats and two Israeli-built Sa'ar 4 craft (INS Reshef and INS Keshet) completed at Israel Shipyards in Haifa. Under the operational leadership of the 3rd Flotilla commander, Captain Michael Barkai, the missile boat force shifted immediately to offensive operations in enemy waters, neutralizing Arab naval forces and securing Mediterranean sealanes, which permitted commercial shipping to sustain arms deliveries to Israel.^[49][50]

Battle of Latakia

On the night of 6–7 October 1973, five Israeli missile boats (INS Miznak, INS Ga'ash, INS Hanit, INS Mivtach, and INS Reshef) approached the Syrian naval base at Latakia. During the approach, Israeli ships encountered a Syrian torpedo boat on patrol, sinking it with 76 mm and 40 mm gun fire. Continuing toward the coast, they detected and sank a Soviet-built T-43 minesweeper with Gabriel missiles and gun strikes. Three Syrian missile boats (two Komar-class and one Osa-class) exited the port and launched Styx anti-ship missiles at maximum range, approximately 40 to 45 kilometers.^[51][52][53]

Deploying the Amnon and Avshalom chaff rockets, radar-deception decoys, and shipboard jammers designed by Herut Tzemach, the Israeli craft caused all incoming Styx missiles to lose radar lock and detonate harmlessly in the sea.^[51] Closing the range to 20 kilometers, the Israeli flotilla returned fire with radar-guided Gabriel missiles, scoring direct hits that sank all three Syrian missile boats.^[51] The Battle of Latakia was the first missile-against-missile surface naval engagement in world history.^[51][52][53] The Syrian Arab Navy lost five vessels without causing casualties or damage to the Israeli force, and its remaining craft stayed bottled up inside fortified harbors for the duration of the war.^[52][53][54]

Battle of Baltim and Coastal Operations

On the night of 8–9 October 1973, six Israeli missile boats intercepted four Egyptian Osa-class missile boats off Baltim, between Damietta and Port Said on the Nile Delta. In the ensuing Battle of Baltim (also known as the Battle of Damietta), the Egyptian boats launched Styx missiles at long range, but electronic countermeasures decoyed the weapons into the water. The Israeli vessels pursued the Egyptian force, sinking three Osa boats using Gabriel missiles and 76 mm gun fire, while the fourth craft fled back to Alexandria. Two nights later, on 11–12 October, Israeli missile boats bombarded the Syrian port of Tartus, sinking two Syrian Komar-class missile boats; during the crossfire, the Soviet merchant freighter Ilya Mechnikov was struck and later sank in the harbor.^[55]

Following these surface victories, Israeli missile boats conducted shore bombardments against military coastal targets, oil storage tank farms, power stations, and transport infrastructure in Latakia, Tartus, Baniyas, and Egyptian installations along the Nile Delta. Concurrently, Shayetet 13 commando divers conducted covert harbor incursions into Hurghada and Port Said, destroying naval patrol craft and motor torpedo vessels in port to disrupt Egyptian infiltration runs.^[56][57] According to the post-war assessment by the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG), Israel lost zero combat vessels in the Yom Kippur War, although an intelligence assessment by the US Central Intelligence Agency dated 16 October 1973 reported four Israeli craft lost.^[58][59] Israeli naval casualties totaled four personnel killed and 24 wounded.^[54]

Red Sea Operations and Mining

In the Red Sea theater, naval operations were constrained by the presence of Egyptian naval forces enforcing a distant blockade at the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Israeli Dabur-class patrol boats based at Sharm el-Sheikh engaged Egyptian coastal installations and small vessels in the Gulf of Suez, suffering minor damage from coastal fire, while two Sa'ar missile craft grounded on sandbanks and required dockyard repairs.^[54] Egyptian forces laid naval minefields across transport waterways in the Gulf of Suez and Red Sea. On 25 October 1973, the first day of the declared ceasefire, the Israeli-chartered oil tanker Sirius (42,000 tons displacement) struck an Egyptian mine and sank, becoming the largest ship lost during the Arab–Israeli wars.^[60][61] On 10 November 1970 the smaller tanker The Cyrenia (2,000 tons displacement) detonated another mine near El Tor but remained afloat.^[58]

Interwar Expansion and Operations in Lebanon (1974–2000)

Following the 1973 war, the navy expanded its Sa'ar 4 missile boat inventory through construction at Israel Shipyards under the leadership of engineer Haim Schachal. The vessels were outfitted with American-manufactured Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles alongside domestic Gabriel systems. To reinforce the naval command at Sharm el-Sheikh and Eilat, missile craft undertook historic long-distance circumnavigations of the African continent via the Cape of Good Hope, known as Operation Monitin.^[62] In 1974 the Sa'ar 4 craft INS Reshef and INS Keshet completed the passage from Haifa to Sharm el-Sheikh. Shortly thereafter, the Sa'ar 4 boats INS Romach and INS Kidon, accompanied by the French-built Sa'ar 2 boats INS Akko and INS Haifa, executed the voyage around Africa to reinforce the Red Sea theater.^[62]

In 1977 the navy commissioned three Gal-class diesel-electric submarines (INS Gal, INS Tanin, and INS Rahav) designed by IKL in Germany and constructed under contract by Vickers Shipbuilding in Barrow-in-Furness, England.^[18] These compact, 500-ton vessels replaced the aging British T-class submarines. In 1981 the Sa'ar 4 missile boat INS Ga'ash accidentally ran aground on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast due to navigational errors. Israeli naval engineering units salvaged and refloated the warship with passive cooperation from Saudi authorities, avoiding armed confrontation.

1982 Lebanon War and the Awali Landing

During the 1982 Lebanon War (Operation Peace for Galilee), the Israeli Navy conducted the largest amphibious assault in the history of the Israel Defense Forces.^[63] Three tank landing ships (INS Bat Sheva and two 60-meter landing craft) ferried hundreds of armored vehicles, mechanized infantry, and paratroopers commanded by Colonel Yoram Yair to an amphibious landing beachhead at the mouth of the Awali River north of Sidon. This amphibious pincer movement bypassed coastal defensive strongpoints and established a containment line blocking the retreat of Palestinian and Syrian forces southward from Beirut.

Naval missile boats maintained a strict maritime blockade off the Lebanese coastline, delivering precision shore bombardments with Otobreda 76 mm automatic guns against Palestinian armed command posts and road junctions along coastal highways.^[63] On 16 June 1982, in an operation designated Operation Dreyfus, the Gal-class submarine INS Gal torpedoed and sank the Lebanese commercial freighter Transit off the Lebanese coast on suspicion that it was ferrying armed militants. The vessel was carrying civilian refugees fleeing the war, and 25 passengers aboard were killed in the sinking.

Following the war, the amphibious landing flotilla was disbanded due to budget cuts. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the navy focused on coastal security and maritime counter-terrorism, using Dabur and Dvora patrol craft in conjunction with coastal radar stations to intercept armed vessels. In 1985 four Sa'ar 4.5 missile boats provided command, transport, and communication support for the long-range assassination of PLO leader Abu Jihad in Tunis.^[16] Until the IDF withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000, naval personnel maintained Outpost Rotem (Ras Bayada) inside the southern Lebanon security zone to safeguard coastal waters.

Twenty-First Century Operations and Maritime Interdictions

In the 1990s and 2000s, Shayetet 13 commandos expanded their role to conduct special reconnaissance, targeted raids, and counter-terrorist operations on land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including an engagement in Nablus on 6 July 2004 during which Captain Moran Vardi was killed. Senior naval commando officers transitioned to leadership roles across the IDF, including Yoav Gallant, who commanded the Gaza Division and Southern Command, and Erez Zuckerman, the founding commander of the Egoz reconnaissance unit. During the August 2005 Gaza disengagement, naval forces evacuated shore control outposts at Tel Ridan, Outpost Aluf, and Outpost Erez, establishing a new permanent coastal control station at Zikim while mounting detection sensors on the cooling chimneys of the Rutenberg and Eshkol power plants.^[64]

Arms Smuggling Interdictions

The navy carried out long-range maritime interdictions against covert arms shipments that Israel said came from Iran and were intended for Palestinian militant groups and Hezbollah: On 3 January 2002, in Operation Noah's Ark, Shayetet 13 commandos fast-roped from air force helicopters onto the freighter Karine A in the Red Sea, 500 kilometers south of Israel. The ship carried 50 tons of armaments concealed in 83 sealed Iranian-made containers, including 345 Katyusha rockets, 10 9M14 Malyutka (AT-3 Sagger) anti-tank guided missiles, 211 anti-tank mines, mortar rounds, and rifles intended for Gaza.[he, Rde5]

On 3 November 2009, in Operation Four Species (Mivtza Arba'at HaMinim), missile boats led by INS Eilat intercepted the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged container vessel Francop approximately 100 nautical miles west of Israel.^[65][66] About 300 tons of hidden weapons were on board.^[65][66]

On 15 March 2011, in Operation Iron Law, naval commandos boarded the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel Victoria 200 kilometers off the Israeli coast in the Mediterranean Sea.^[67] Inspection in Ashdod harbor revealed four containers holding Iranian arms shipped via Syria and Turkey, including six C-704 anti-ship missiles, radar guidance units, 2,000 mortar rounds, and 66,960 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition, with operation manuals printed in Persian.^[67]

On 5 March 2014, in Operation Full Disclosure, Shayetet 13 boarded the Panamanian-flagged merchant ship Klos-C in the Red Sea off the coast between Sudan and Eritrea, 1,500 kilometers from Israel. Under the direction of Aluf Ram Rothberg from INS Hanit, commandos uncovered Syrian-manufactured M-302 surface-to-surface artillery rockets with ranges up to 100 kilometers, mortar shells, and a large quantity of small-arms ammunition concealed beneath bags of Iranian cement destined for the Gaza Strip.

Gaza Blockade and the Mavi Marmara Incident

Following the 2007 takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas, the Israeli Navy enforced a naval blockade to prevent maritime weapons smuggling. Activist groups organized flotillas to breach the perimeter. On 31 May 2010, in Operation Sea Breeze 7 (Ruhot Shamayim 7), naval vessels and Shayetet 13 commandos intercepted six flotilla vessels in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Five vessels surrendered without active resistance, but commandos fast-roping onto the Turkish passenger vessel MV Mavi Marmara were attacked by a group of passengers armed with iron bars, and small arms taken from the commandos were aimed at them. In the fighting, commandos opened fire, killing nine passengers (a tenth later died of injuries), while ten commandos and over thirty passengers sustained wounds.^[68] The incident drew a wide international reaction and disputes over the legality of the actions taken by Israel and by the flotilla organizers.

2006 Lebanon War and the INS Hanit Attack

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli warships enforced a total naval blockade of Lebanese ports and shelled Hezbollah positions. On the evening of 14 July 2006, the Sa'ar 5-class corvette INS Hanit, operating approximately 10 nautical miles off Beirut, was struck on the after superstructure by an Iranian-supplied C-802 anti-ship cruise missile launched by a Hezbollah shore battery with assistance from Lebanese coastal radar stations.^[69][70][71] The missile impact killed four crew members and started fires that damaged the aft flight deck and an embarked Eurocopter AS565 Panther helicopter.^[69] Shipboard damage control parties contained the fires, and the vessel returned to Ashdod under its own power for repairs, returning to active service four weeks later.^[71]

The ship's missile defense systems had not been turned on at the time of the attack.^[69] Naval intelligence had underestimated information that Hezbollah held Iranian-made missiles, and the findings of a commission of inquiry into the incident were not published. A second C-802 fired in the same engagement bypassed Hanit and struck a Cambodian-flagged merchant freighter, which sank shortly thereafter. Despite the hit, the navy sustained its blockade of Lebanese ports until a formal ceasefire took effect.

Gaza Strip Operations (2008–2023)

Between 27 December 2008 and 18 January 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, naval craft enforced a tight blockade of the Gaza Strip and supported ground forces with precision gun fire. Warships fired Otobreda 76 mm cannons and guided missiles at Hamas rocket-launching teams, coastal outposts, command bunkers, and weapon depots, while destroying boats belonging to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian naval police. In November 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, naval vessels operated in coordination with the air force and artillery, launching precision sea-to-shore missiles that killed Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant Ahmad Nahel and struck dozens of underground rocket-launch sites.

On 26 March 2014 a Dvora patrol boat intercepted and sank two Palestinian smuggling boats carrying weapons off the Gaza coastline, triggering secondary explosions from ammunition in their holds.^[72] During Operation Protective Edge in July 2014, naval coastal surveillance operators detected a squad of five Hamas naval commandos infiltrating the shore near Kibbutz Zikim from the sea. Coastal controller Corporal Noa Teitel directed patrol craft of Squadron 916, infantry units, and aircraft to intercept and eliminate the infiltrators on the beachhead.^[73][74] Captain Ori Nissim, commander of the Karish patrol boat detachment, received the Chief of General Staff Citation for his role in thwarting the incursion.^[73] In May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, naval vessels struck Hamas naval commando weapons caches, vessels, and shore command centers, while a Sa'ar corvette fitted with the naval C-Dome system was stationed off Ashkelon to defend offshore gas extraction rigs from rocket attacks.^[75][76]

Syrian Civil War and Swords of Iron War

During the Syrian Civil War, the Israeli Navy targeted maritime arms transfer networks in the Levant. On 17 September 2024, Israeli missile boats struck the naval unit of Hezbollah off the Lebanese coast, destroying dozens of small craft and killing dozens of militants.^[77] Following the collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Israeli missile boats and naval strike elements conducted Operation Arrow of Bashan (Mivtza Hetz HaBashan) on 9 December 2024, launching strikes into the port of Latakia that sank six Syrian Arab Navy Osa II-class missile boats and destroyed Syrian naval vessels at their moorings.^{[78][79][80][81]}

On 7 October 2023 Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel that included an amphibious assault toward Zikim beach. Seven watercraft carrying 38 naval commandos attempted to breach Israeli coastal lines; patrol craft from Patrol Squadron 916 engaged them at sea, destroying five vessels and killing 22 fighters in the water, though surviving militants reached the shore and attacked civilians at Zikim beach.^[82][83] During subsequent fighting, Squadron 916 killed dozens of militants at sea and on land, and the Snapir unit took part in foiling infiltrations from the sea.^[84][85][86] The navy foiled possible Hamas attempts to launch uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs), and Shayetet 13 captured the deputy commander of the southern brigade of Hamas's naval force.^{[83][85][86][87]}

During the war, the navy committed its newly commissioned Sa'ar 6-class corvettes (INS Magen, INS Oz, INS Atzmaut, and INS Nitzachon) to combat for the first time.^[88][89] Warships fired precision guided munitions and 76 mm guns into weapons production plants, coastal observation towers, and command compounds in the Shati camp in support of ground maneuvering divisions.^[89][90][91] In the Red Sea, the corvette INS Atzmaut intercepted incoming uncrewed aerial vehicles launched from Yemen by the Houthi movement using its naval C-Dome battery, and subsequently shot down approximately 30 Iranian one-way attack drones over the Gulf of Aqaba during Operation With Lion Strength using its Barak Magen (Barak MX) air defense system, recording the operational combat debut for both surface-to-air missile systems.^[92]

Organizational Structure and Bases

The Israeli Navy is headed by the Commander of the Navy, an officer holding the rank of Aluf.^[93] The service headquarters (Mifkedet Heil HaYam, or Mafhi) is located at the Kirya (Camp Rabin) military complex in Tel Aviv, having relocated from Stella Maris on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa in 1972.^[94] Headquarters is organized into five divisions.^[95]

Headquarters Divisions (Mispanim)

The navy command sets guidelines for naval defence policy and is responsible for building and operating the force, and it comprises five divisions: * Naval Staff Division.^[95] * Sea Division, responsible for naval operations.^[68][95] * Naval Intelligence Division.^[95] * Materiel Division, responsible for equipment.^[95] * Personnel Division.^[95]

Combat Flotillas and Patrol Squadrons

Operational forces are grouped into dedicated flotillas and patrol squadrons: * 3rd Flotilla (Shayetet 3): Based at Haifa Naval Base; the navy's main surface combat formation. Comprises the 31st and 32nd Missile Boat Squadrons (operating Sa'ar 4.5 craft) and the 33rd and 36th Corvette Squadrons (operating Sa'ar 5 and Sa'ar 6 corvettes). It is tasked with defending commercial sealanes, enforcing blockades on adversary harbors, preventing blockades of Israeli ports, providing fire support to ground forces, and conducting surface strike operations. * 7th Flotilla (Shayetet 7): Based at Haifa; operates Israel's fleet of diesel-electric Dolphin 1 and Dolphin 2-class submarines. An all-volunteer unit founded in 1959, its missions include anti-surface warfare, clandestine intelligence gathering, and deployment and recovery of naval commandos, and it is believed to maintain an offshore nuclear second-strike capability.[en, he, ru, Rnl14, Rda2] Candidates holding dual nationality must renounce other citizenships prior to entering submarine service.^[96] * 13th Flotilla (Shayetet 13): Based at Atlit Naval Base; the elite naval commando unit of the IDF. It specializes in maritime and terrestrial incursions, counter-terrorism, underwater demolition, hostage rescue, reconnaissance, and maritime boarding operations. * 11th Flotilla (Shayetet 11): Re-established in May 2022 to conduct amphibious logistics, coastal resupply, and landing operations following the procurement of two landing craft utility vessels.^[97] * Patrol Squadrons: Patrol Boat Squadron 914 (Haifa, defending northern coastal waters), Patrol Boat Squadron 915 (Eilat, securing the Gulf of Aqaba and Red Sea), and Patrol Boat Squadron 916 (Ashdod, securing the southern Mediterranean approaches and the Gaza coastline).

Specialized Units and Bases

Specialized auxiliary formations include: * YALTAM 707 (Underwater Missions Unit): The navy's professional diving and salvage unit, based at Haifa. Originally formed as the repair and damage control branch of the naval shipyards, it incorporates veteran military divers and is tasked with underwater explosive ordnance disposal, hull inspections, deep-water salvage, and submerged construction work. * Snapir Unit (Force Protection and Harbor Security): Deployed across Haifa, Ashdod, and Eilat; tasked with perimeter defense of military bases, armed escort of merchant shipping in harbor approaches, and boarding inspections of civilian vessels entering Israeli ports. * MFTAH (Computing and Information Systems Center): Located at the Equipment and Supply Base; manages logistics software, tactical command and control networks, communication links, and cyber security across naval networks, staffed by computer scientists and software engineers. * Coastal Surveillance System (Ma'arach HaShlita HaYamit): A chain of coastal radar towers, day/night optronic stations, and command posts monitored by female operations controllers (Bakashiot) along the Mediterranean and Red Sea shorelines.

The navy operates four principal naval bases and several auxiliary installations: * Haifa Naval Base: The largest naval installation, home to the 3rd Flotilla, 7th Flotilla, Patrol Squadron 914, YALTAM, and the central naval shipyard complex, commanded by a Tat-Aluf. * Atlit Naval Base: Located south of Haifa on the Mediterranean coast; home to Shayetet 13 and its specialized maritime training facilities, situated adjacent to the historical Crusader fortress of Château Pèlerin. * Ashdod Naval Base: Situated in the southern Mediterranean sector; home to Patrol Squadron 916 and the homeport of the newly procured amphibious landing ships. * Eilat Naval Base: Founded in 1951 on the Gulf of Aqaba; has managed the Red Sea theater since 1981 following the evacuation of Sharm el-Sheikh under the Camp David Accords. Home to Patrol Squadron 915, securing 14 kilometers of sovereign coastline. * Training Base 600 (BHD 600): Located in Haifa; contains the Israeli Naval Academy (Kurs Hovelim), the Naval Command School, the Submarine Operations School, and the Missile Boat Warfare School, alongside the Tzur Yam technical academy. * Equipment and Transport Base (Batzet): Located at Camp HaHotrim south of Tirat Carmel; houses materiel depots, spare part inventories, and the MFTAH software unit.

Fleet Inventory and Equipment

All commissioned warships of the Israeli Navy carry the ship prefix INS (Israeli Navy Ship), corresponding to the Hebrew acronym Ahi (אח"י), standing for Aniyat Heil HaYam (אֳנִיַּת חֵיל הַיָּם, Ship of the Sea Corps).^[98]

Surface Combatants: Corvettes and Missile Boats

The surface strike force comprises 15 principal combatants: * Sa'ar 6-class corvettes (4 ships): Built in Kiel, Germany, by ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems with outfitting completed in Haifa: INS Magen (commissioned November 2020), INS Oz (2021), INS Atzmaut (2023), and INS Nitzachon (2023).[he, ru, pl, Rzh2] They are equipped with the C-Dome system, a naval version of Iron Dome.^[99] INS Atzmaut has used the Barak Magen system, the naval version of Barak MX, to intercept unmanned aircraft.^[92] * Sa'ar 5-class corvettes (3 ships): Built in Pascagoula, Mississippi, by Ingalls Shipbuilding: INS Eilat (501, commissioned 1994), INS Lahav (502, 1994), and INS Hanit (503, 1995).[he, ru, pl, Rcs2] * Sa'ar 4.5-class missile boats (8 ships), built in Israel, with the year each entered service: INS Romach (1981), INS Keshet (1982), INS Hetz (1991), INS Kidon (1994), INS Tarshish (1995), INS Yaffo (1998), INS Herev (2002), and INS Sufa (2003).^[100]

Submarine Fleet

The submarine force consists of two batches of German-built Dolphin-class submarines: * Dolphin 1 class (3 boats): INS Dolphin (commissioned 1999), INS Livyathan (1999), and INS Tekumah (2000).^{[101][102][103][104][105]} Displacing 1,900 tons submerged, each boat features six standard 533 mm torpedo tubes and four oversized 650 mm torpedo tubes, capable of launching DM2A4 Seehecht wire-guided torpedoes, UGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and Popeye Turbo submarine-launched cruise missiles assessed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads with a range exceeding 1,500 kilometers.[he, ru, pl, Rda2, Rfa6] * Dolphin 2 class (3 boats): INS Tanin (commissioned 2014), INS Rahav (2016), and INS Drakon (handed over July 2026, delivery transit August 2026).^{[106][107][108][109][110]} These boats are fitted with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system.^[101][102] Drakon features an enlarged sail structure widely reported to house vertical launch tubes for advanced ballistic or cruise missiles.

Patrol Craft and Uncrewed Systems

Patrol Squadrons 914, 916 and 915 serve at the Haifa, Ashdod and Eilat naval bases, which are responsible for maritime security and patrols.^[95] * Super Dvora Mk III (13 boats), built in Israel.^[99][101] * Super Dvora Mk II (2 to 4 boats) and Dvora class (9 boats).^[101][111] * Shaldag class (5 boats), built by Israel Shipyards.^[99][101] * Defender class boats, built in the United States by Safe Boats International. * Tzira and Nachshol patrol craft; the Nachshol boats were built in South Africa by Stingray Marine. * Uncrewed surface vessels: the Rafael Protector, which carries a machine gun and is used for security patrols in the south and off the Gaza Strip coast.^[112][113]

Amphibious, Special Warfare, and Auxiliary Craft

The navy maintains specialized auxiliary craft and amphibious transport ships: * Landing ships: in May 2022 it was announced that the navy had decided to re-establish Shayetet 11, and the IDF then bought two LSV vessels for amphibious landings and supply transport.^[97] * Auxiliary and support craft: INS Bat Yam, a multipurpose support vessel that was formerly the German Stollergrund-class vessel Kalkgrund, and Ce'ela tugs.^[99][101] * Small craft: Morena hybrid boats and Snunit boats.^[101]

Naval Aviation, Sensors, and Weaponry

The navy's helicopters are operated by Israeli Air Force personnel and belong to the air force.^[114] * 193rd Squadron: Operates Eurocopter AS565MA Panther (Atalef) maritime helicopters from the flight decks of Sa'ar 5 and Sa'ar 6 corvettes for over-the-horizon targeting, reconnaissance, and search-and-rescue (slated for replacement by Sikorsky SH-60F/MH-60R Seahawks upon the Atalef's retirement).^[115][116] * Fixed-Wing Patrol: Previously operated IAI 1124N Sea Scan (Shahaf) twin-engine coastal reconnaissance aircraft, retired in 2017. * Unmanned Aerial Systems: Sa'ar corvettes carry Aeronautics Defense Orbiter lightweight UAS and shipborne uncrewed rotorcraft systems for real-time video surveillance and battle damage assessment.^[117][118]

Shipboard weapon systems, radar suites, and electronics include: * Anti-ship missiles: Gabriel II and Gabriel V, and the RGM-84 Harpoon.^[99] * Air and missile defense: Barak-1 tactical surface-to-air missiles, Barak-8 short- and medium-range surface-to-air missiles, and C-Dome, a naval version of the Iron Dome missile defense system fitted to the Sa'ar 6 corvettes.^[99] * Torpedoes: Mark 46 and Mark 54 torpedoes fired from Mark 32 surface vessel torpedo tubes, and SeaHake Mod 4 torpedoes for submarine torpedo tubes.^[99]

Personnel, Traditions, and International Cooperation

The Israeli Navy has an active-duty personnel strength of 9,500 sailors and officers, supported by approximately 10,000 reserve personnel.^{[119][120][121]} Shayetet 13 commands approximately 300 active combat operators.^[120][122] Officers are commissioned through the Israeli Naval Academy (Kurs Hovelim) at BHD 600 in Haifa, undergoing an intensive curriculum spanning 28 months that incorporates academic university degrees alongside maritime command certifications.

Rank Structure and Insignia

The Israeli Navy utilizes the standard military rank titles common to all branches of the Israel Defense Forces, rather than unique naval designations: * Commissioned officers: Segen Mishne, Segen, Seren, Rav Seren, Sgan Aluf, Aluf Mishne, Tat Aluf and Aluf.^[123] * Non-Commissioned Officers: Samal (Petty Officer 2nd Class), Samal Rishon (Petty Officer 1st Class), Rav Samal (Chief Petty Officer), Rav Samal Rishon (Senior Chief Petty Officer), Rav Samal Mitkadem (Master Chief Petty Officer), Rav Samal Bakhir (Senior Master Chief), Rav Nagad Mishne (Warrant Officer, introduced in 2011), and Rav Nagad (Chief Warrant Officer).^[124] * Enlisted ranks: Turai and Rav Turai.^[125]

Beginning under Chief of General Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, the Commander of the Navy has had special permission, as a custom toward foreign navies only, to wear a sleeve rank equivalent to that of Rav Aluf.^[126] In domestic military hierarchy, however, the commander remains an Aluf (OF-7, Rear Admiral / Major General). Similarly, a naval Tat-Aluf (OF-6) wears sleeve lace corresponding to a Rear Admiral Upper Half (OF-7) on ceremonial dress uniforms while remaining a commodore or brigadier general within the IDF command structure.

Uniforms and Naval Flags

Service uniforms (Madei Alef) consist of light khaki shirts and trousers for enlisted sailors and shore officers up to Segen, while senior NCOs from Rav Samal and commissioned sea officers from Seren wear dark blue trousers with white shirts.^[127] All personnel wear a dark blue beret bearing a gold-colored metal naval insignia composed of a vertical sword entwined with an olive branch, superimposed on a fouled anchor and flanked by seaweed foliage. For formal ceremonies, Independence Day, Memorial Day, and commissioning parades, officers and warrant officers wear dress white uniforms (Madei Eru'im), complete with white peaked service caps, white belts, and white dress shoes.^[127] Work clothing is the Dagmach uniform.^[127]

The official Naval Ensign of the Israeli Navy features an ultramarine blue field charged with a white triangle resting against the hoist, enclosing a blue Star of David, flown from the stern jackstaff of commissioned warships. The national flag of Israel serves as the naval jack and is hoisted at the bow when moored in port. A commission pennant is flown from the mainmast head, while personal rank flags are broken out when the Chief of the General Staff, Minister of Defense, Prime Minister, or State President is embarked aboard ship.

Women in the Israeli Navy

Until the mid-1970s, female service members were restricted to shore-based administrative, logistics, communication, and intelligence roles.^[128] In the mid-1970s the navy opened shipboard radar and communications ratings to women.^[129] In September 1977 the service concluded its first sea operations officer course (Ktzinot Agam Yam) that included nine female graduates, some of whom were posted to sea billets.^{[130][131][132][133]} In May 1979 three female personnel, including the head of the naval history branch, were embarked aboard three naval vessels executing the historic official transit through the Suez Canal.^[134]

In 1998 the Israeli Naval Academy opened its officer course (Kurs Hovelim) to female cadets. In 2018 three female cadets graduated in a single class of 30 officers, the highest proportion up to that time.^[135] In 2004 the YALTAM underwater diving unit began enlisting women, and the Snapir force protection unit has operated as a fully mixed-gender combat formation since its founding in 2006.^[136][137] In 2011 Colonel Michal Tsuba was appointed head of the Naval Personnel Division, becoming the first female officer to lead a naval headquarters division, serving until 2015. Women do not serve aboard the 7th Flotilla's submarines.^[138]

International Exercises and Partnerships

Since joining the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue framework in 1994, the Israeli Navy has expanded operational cooperation with Western and regional navies, conducting mutual port visits and joint exercises.^[139] In 2009 Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG-2) visited Haifa, and in December 2017 Israeli warships joined NATO naval forces from the United States, Britain, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, and Romania in fleet maneuvers off Crete.^[140] Joint bilateral drills have been carried out with the French Navy (2018), and annual anti-submarine exercises have been held under the Noble Dina banner with Greek, French, Cypriot, and US naval forces.^{[141][142][143][144]} In August 2019 the navy hosted Exercise Mighty Waves (Nahsholim Adirim), a multi-nation disaster response maneuver off Haifa involving naval components from ten countries and NATO.^[145]

Following Israel's reassignment to the US Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility in 2021, cooperation expanded into the Red Sea. In August 2021 the Israeli Navy conducted its first combined exercise with the United States Fifth Fleet in the Red Sea, followed in November 2021 by a multilateral Red Sea maritime exercise alongside the United States, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.^[146][147] In February 2022 Israeli naval units participated in International Maritime Exercise (IMX 2022), the largest multilateral naval exercise in the Middle East, comprising 60 nations in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.^[148] Subsequent joint drills with the US Fifth Fleet have included Intrinsic Defender, the uncrewed surface integration exercise Digital Shield in September 2022, and Exercise Juniper Oak in January 2023, during which Israeli missile boats conducted tactical maneuvering alongside a US aircraft carrier strike group.^{[149][150][151]}

Future Procurement and Strategic Evolution

In response to operational lessons from recent regional conflicts and long-range threats, the Israeli Navy is undergoing a fleet renewal program: In January 2022 the Ministry of Defense signed a 3 billion euro agreement with ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems to construct three Dakar-class submarines, scheduled to replace the three first-generation Dolphin 1 boats starting in the early 2030s.[he, Rzh5]^[152]

To modernize its light surface fleet, the Ministry of Defense concluded an agreement with Israel Shipyards to design and build a new class of 76-meter corvettes known as the Reshef class, based on the commercial Sa'ar 72 design.^{[153][154][155]} Eight Reshef-class corvettes are to be built, each replacing a Sa'ar 4.5 missile boat when commissioned, and they are to carry the C-Dome air-defense system.^[154] Another source gives the number of ships as five.[he, Rcs7] Concurrently, naval planners are studying dedicated sea-based launch platforms for uncrewed aerial combat vehicles (UCAVs) to provide independent reconnaissance and strike capabilities across distant maritime theaters.^[152][155]

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