The Depth Corps (, ) of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

(IDF) is a command formed in 2011 to coordinate the IDF's long range operations and operations deep in enemy territory. The command originally formed in the 1980s but was scaled down and then planned again in the 2000s. The decision for its formation in the current form was taken by Chief of Staff Benny Gantz in 2011. Its current commander is Major General Itai Veruv.

History

The command originally operated in 1982–1986. It was subordinated to the Southern Command and headed by Major General Doron Rubin. It was scaled down and commanded by a brigadier general until 2011. The last commander of the unit in this form was Gil Tamir.

Operations

The Depth Corps was recreated as a major command out of a feeling that Israel's special forces were underutilized in the nation's conflicts, and out of a lack of a body coordinating their operations behind enemy lines. This was made possible by preparations made by the major generals Shay Avital, Aviv Kokhavi, Ido Nehoshtan and Gadi Eizenkot. According to Israeli newspaper ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', it was also a means for Defense Minister

Ehud Barak Ehud Barak ( ; born Ehud Brog; 12 February 1942) is an Israeli former general and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister from 1999 to 2001. He was leader of the Israeli Labor Party, Labor Party between 1997 and 20 ...

to realize his vision of having more special forces veterans in the IDF's

General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

. Previously, many of IDF's special operations were commanded by the naval or air force chiefs by virtue of the soldiers being transported by sea or air, respectively, regardless of the essence of these operations. One of the primary missions for the new corps will be the special forces operations to prevent transfer of advanced weaponry of supplies to Groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. This may include new naval units and possibly a squadron of Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey aircraft.Opall-Rome, Barbara
, topnews, text, FRONTPAGE "Israel’s Growing Commando Force Eyes V-22s."
''DefenseNews'', 28 April 2012.

References

{{Israel Defense Forces Special forces units and formations Special forces of Israel Military units and formations established in 2011 2011 establishments in Israel