Hi Ryan. I serve in the nahal brigade and I have some corrections about your video. No1 we don’t have eotechs, the sight in the video is an mepro m5 which is standard issue in the idf. No2 we do have m203 grenade launchers, at least 1 in each squad. Except those two the rest of your analysis is on point
I understand your frustration with how the prisoners were being treated but historically the U.S. military did basically the same thing with Japanese soldiers during WWII. The Japanese soldiers were forced to strip after surrender after Marines/soldiers were killed or wounded by hidden explosives while searching captives. With s-vests or other explosives a real possibility with Hamas, this seems like a logical alternative to risking more casualties.
It's hard to tell from this video, but It seems they were parading them around a bit after stripping them... That would be unneeded... By then you know they aren't carrying anything...
Again though, hard to say exactly how the events seen were sequenced in actual time from this video...
Looked to me like they were being led off to either temporary containment or maybe transport to wherever they would be held. Will probably get a jumpsuit there.
Overall great analysis, just a few comments stemming from my experience as a combat veteran of the IDF.
1. The unit depicted is a Sayeret (typically the lead recce unit of a brigade sized force). As such they are very well trained and equipped.
2. Grenade launchers are present in most IDF infantry units, both regular and reserve. These are typically M203.
3. There are a few reasons for making the combatants seen in the move strip down to their underwear is due to concealment of suicide vests/bombs. If the situation allows, you would make them undress at a distance and if cleared would allow them to approach. However, under combat conditions this must be done quickly and hence the scenario you are seeing.
Ryan, good analysis. Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one. I have some thoughts. Firstly, this does not look like "special forces" to me. It looks like any of the multiple Infantry platoons I was in during my career in the Army National Guard and Regular Army. That said, I agree, their movement techniques, weapons handling techniques and so forth show that they are well trained, and well led. It was interesting to me that they had rifles capable of automatic fire and were not afraid to use it. Took me back to when I first came in with my M16A1. Regarding the detainees. I agree, stripping them to their drawers (I think a couple had t shirts on) is a decent way to quickly search them. While I agree it may be used for propaganda, frankly the Muslim world is going to use anything for propaganda. Some supposed high Hamas leader in Quatar yesterday, being inteviewed about the prisoner swap, was claiming the October 7th Raid wasn't a raid at all, that Israel targeted their own people and kibbutz (not sure what the plural of that is) So I'd assume if this enters propaganda, it will not be the deciding difference on whether an "innocent" person joins Hamas or not. I will say, given the suicide vest they have found, and that propensity with these radical Islamists, I could see stripping them naked. Having done that, I would probably allow them to put on their pants and shirt again, with those having b een previously searched. The weapons mix was interesting. Your comment about some old ratty M-4 kind of made me smile. I remember when my Infantry Unit went to Bosnia for peacekeeping duty. We were basically all supposed to be equipped with M-4s by the TO&E, but there were so few, that the bulk of my platoon were carrying long barrel M16s. Did not make it easy to exit a vehicle and clear a building, but they cleared buildings in WWII with M1 Garands, so no room for me to complain.
About the treatment of prisoners...at least they're alive and unharmed. Yes, they should get their clothes back...but I believe that doing it like this is safer for EVERYONE.
Other than that "nit"...great video! I'm happy to have signed up for the year!
Every infantry brigade in the idf has a sayeret, they are more trained and have longer basic and advanced training periods. They also do “hell week” and more mental training then regular infantry. They are not exactly special units but they are tasked with more sophisticated missions then regular infantry and regularly operate with special forces
At 4:22, the picture of the Hamas prisoners, two or three of the IDF soldiers appeal to be Black. Are these Ethiopian Jews? If so, they appear over-represented in this elite force.
I served in the IDF division for Human Resources (אגף כח אדם) - the body responsible for the number of soldiers in every area of the IDF down to the platoon level, and I believe I may shed some light on it.
"Sayeret" is a voluntary structure. In the IDF conscription is mandatory but there's a fair bit of liberty as to where one serves, and not every combat soldier is within such a "Sayeret" - Only those who want to be. I doubt the video shows the entire unit, but its hard to say.
First there is the cultural component within Israel - Ethiopian Jews are among the most patriotic cultural groups within Israel, showing a higher percentage of people who want to serve in combat roles, and the more special the unit the better, it's a matter of pride. Their desire to serve is simply greater than other sub-cultures in Israel on average. So you tend to see a lot more of them in such roles. Secondly, the Nahal Brigade is predominantly in the South of the country (The Negev), where a lot of the cities have a higher Mizrahi and Ethiopian population as a result of immigration policies - They were settled there in new neighborhoods and towns that were built to support them (although not adequately). And generally speaking there is a preference within the IDF that people serve as close to home as they can (unless they serve at a role that has exclusive theater of operation restrictions such as Navy special units).
Yea, those American soldiers that pulled that stunt really screwed the pooch on that one... I imagine that Chain of Command felt a lot of heat over that as well... Just goes to prove that Stupid doesn't care where it is, or what it's supposed to be doing when it feels the need to rear it's head up...
Regarding the stripped Hamas fighters, given the tendency of Islamic militants to strap explosives to themselves to carry out suicide bomb attacks, I'm assuming the Israelis did this to make sure none of them could detonate themselves during the search.
They are terrorists, murderers and thugs. No they don't get treated like soldiers. The US stripped the Japanese prisoners during world war II because "surrendering" Japanese soldiers sometimes booby trapped themselves and Hamas and groups just like them have done the same thing.
I understand your comments about prisoner treatment. A couple of thoughts. Suicide bombs, etc. need to be found; assembling personal effects takes time they don’t have; and anyone radicalized by Israel taking prisoners and not just mowing them down (as they would do) is already radicalized.
But sir, this is the fastest way to determine if the enemy is carrying anything especially improvised explosive vests. I don’t like that it was videotaped but I don’t know under what circumstances the original video was filmed. If it was a training aid for other IDF personnel then it just shouldn’t have been mass copied. I really enjoy all your videos and look forward to seeing them when they come out
They are quickly approaching the point where even people that support them will not have the stomach for annihilation. Some are looking for an excuse to peel off anyway and it only took a handful of pictures during the Viet Nam police action to turn the youth against the US.
Context is important regarding that site - It is a domain bought by an Israeli millionaire and handed off to an Israeli group (haven't seen reports on who, but I've seen the Israeli WeRedDevils hacker group talk about it). The content is, indeed, what it is - Taken from bodycam footage that was recovered, security footage, and from the aftermath, same as the IDF's 11 minute video that was made public. But the titles of the video and generally the content of the site was made to look as though it is Hamas taking pride.
TL;DR - The content is as atrocious as it appears, but the presentation isn't Palestinian but Israeli.
Hi Ryan. I serve in the nahal brigade and I have some corrections about your video. No1 we don’t have eotechs, the sight in the video is an mepro m5 which is standard issue in the idf. No2 we do have m203 grenade launchers, at least 1 in each squad. Except those two the rest of your analysis is on point
I’ll make that correction. Stay safe.
I understand your frustration with how the prisoners were being treated but historically the U.S. military did basically the same thing with Japanese soldiers during WWII. The Japanese soldiers were forced to strip after surrender after Marines/soldiers were killed or wounded by hidden explosives while searching captives. With s-vests or other explosives a real possibility with Hamas, this seems like a logical alternative to risking more casualties.
It's hard to tell from this video, but It seems they were parading them around a bit after stripping them... That would be unneeded... By then you know they aren't carrying anything...
Again though, hard to say exactly how the events seen were sequenced in actual time from this video...
Looked to me like they were being led off to either temporary containment or maybe transport to wherever they would be held. Will probably get a jumpsuit there.
Overall great analysis, just a few comments stemming from my experience as a combat veteran of the IDF.
1. The unit depicted is a Sayeret (typically the lead recce unit of a brigade sized force). As such they are very well trained and equipped.
2. Grenade launchers are present in most IDF infantry units, both regular and reserve. These are typically M203.
3. There are a few reasons for making the combatants seen in the move strip down to their underwear is due to concealment of suicide vests/bombs. If the situation allows, you would make them undress at a distance and if cleared would allow them to approach. However, under combat conditions this must be done quickly and hence the scenario you are seeing.
Ryan, good analysis. Opinions are like belly buttons; everybody has one. I have some thoughts. Firstly, this does not look like "special forces" to me. It looks like any of the multiple Infantry platoons I was in during my career in the Army National Guard and Regular Army. That said, I agree, their movement techniques, weapons handling techniques and so forth show that they are well trained, and well led. It was interesting to me that they had rifles capable of automatic fire and were not afraid to use it. Took me back to when I first came in with my M16A1. Regarding the detainees. I agree, stripping them to their drawers (I think a couple had t shirts on) is a decent way to quickly search them. While I agree it may be used for propaganda, frankly the Muslim world is going to use anything for propaganda. Some supposed high Hamas leader in Quatar yesterday, being inteviewed about the prisoner swap, was claiming the October 7th Raid wasn't a raid at all, that Israel targeted their own people and kibbutz (not sure what the plural of that is) So I'd assume if this enters propaganda, it will not be the deciding difference on whether an "innocent" person joins Hamas or not. I will say, given the suicide vest they have found, and that propensity with these radical Islamists, I could see stripping them naked. Having done that, I would probably allow them to put on their pants and shirt again, with those having b een previously searched. The weapons mix was interesting. Your comment about some old ratty M-4 kind of made me smile. I remember when my Infantry Unit went to Bosnia for peacekeeping duty. We were basically all supposed to be equipped with M-4s by the TO&E, but there were so few, that the bulk of my platoon were carrying long barrel M16s. Did not make it easy to exit a vehicle and clear a building, but they cleared buildings in WWII with M1 Garands, so no room for me to complain.
I don’t mind stripping them, but they should put their clothes back on afterwards.
And, as you said, prevent filming (or at least enforce absolute control over soldiers spreading that footage)
hello ryan, i just made the payment for a monthly subscription, thanks for the videos and your work , regards!
I apreciate that.
About the treatment of prisoners...at least they're alive and unharmed. Yes, they should get their clothes back...but I believe that doing it like this is safer for EVERYONE.
Other than that "nit"...great video! I'm happy to have signed up for the year!
Every infantry brigade in the idf has a sayeret, they are more trained and have longer basic and advanced training periods. They also do “hell week” and more mental training then regular infantry. They are not exactly special units but they are tasked with more sophisticated missions then regular infantry and regularly operate with special forces
As always top quality content, the best of $5 bucks a month I've ever spent
At 4:22, the picture of the Hamas prisoners, two or three of the IDF soldiers appeal to be Black. Are these Ethiopian Jews? If so, they appear over-represented in this elite force.
Could be.
I served in the IDF division for Human Resources (אגף כח אדם) - the body responsible for the number of soldiers in every area of the IDF down to the platoon level, and I believe I may shed some light on it.
"Sayeret" is a voluntary structure. In the IDF conscription is mandatory but there's a fair bit of liberty as to where one serves, and not every combat soldier is within such a "Sayeret" - Only those who want to be. I doubt the video shows the entire unit, but its hard to say.
First there is the cultural component within Israel - Ethiopian Jews are among the most patriotic cultural groups within Israel, showing a higher percentage of people who want to serve in combat roles, and the more special the unit the better, it's a matter of pride. Their desire to serve is simply greater than other sub-cultures in Israel on average. So you tend to see a lot more of them in such roles. Secondly, the Nahal Brigade is predominantly in the South of the country (The Negev), where a lot of the cities have a higher Mizrahi and Ethiopian population as a result of immigration policies - They were settled there in new neighborhoods and towns that were built to support them (although not adequately). And generally speaking there is a preference within the IDF that people serve as close to home as they can (unless they serve at a role that has exclusive theater of operation restrictions such as Navy special units).
Wow! Thank you for the insights. I would never expected that!
Thanks for the explanation!
Yea, those American soldiers that pulled that stunt really screwed the pooch on that one... I imagine that Chain of Command felt a lot of heat over that as well... Just goes to prove that Stupid doesn't care where it is, or what it's supposed to be doing when it feels the need to rear it's head up...
I was in at the time. It was bad. What makes it worse is that it was an MP company who should have known better.
Lax supervision in that command? Did any one, of any significance, get legitimately punished?
SecDef at the time, Robert Gates, talks about how much of an issue this was in his book, "Duty".
Regarding the stripped Hamas fighters, given the tendency of Islamic militants to strap explosives to themselves to carry out suicide bomb attacks, I'm assuming the Israelis did this to make sure none of them could detonate themselves during the search.
They are terrorists, murderers and thugs. No they don't get treated like soldiers. The US stripped the Japanese prisoners during world war II because "surrendering" Japanese soldiers sometimes booby trapped themselves and Hamas and groups just like them have done the same thing.
I understand your comments about prisoner treatment. A couple of thoughts. Suicide bombs, etc. need to be found; assembling personal effects takes time they don’t have; and anyone radicalized by Israel taking prisoners and not just mowing them down (as they would do) is already radicalized.
But sir, this is the fastest way to determine if the enemy is carrying anything especially improvised explosive vests. I don’t like that it was videotaped but I don’t know under what circumstances the original video was filmed. If it was a training aid for other IDF personnel then it just shouldn’t have been mass copied. I really enjoy all your videos and look forward to seeing them when they come out
Excellent analysis and always interesting!
They are quickly approaching the point where even people that support them will not have the stomach for annihilation. Some are looking for an excuse to peel off anyway and it only took a handful of pictures during the Viet Nam police action to turn the youth against the US.
More pepole need to be aware to this .
after few minutes of view, i belive the will join the IDF...
https://www.hamas.com/
Context is important regarding that site - It is a domain bought by an Israeli millionaire and handed off to an Israeli group (haven't seen reports on who, but I've seen the Israeli WeRedDevils hacker group talk about it). The content is, indeed, what it is - Taken from bodycam footage that was recovered, security footage, and from the aftermath, same as the IDF's 11 minute video that was made public. But the titles of the video and generally the content of the site was made to look as though it is Hamas taking pride.
TL;DR - The content is as atrocious as it appears, but the presentation isn't Palestinian but Israeli.