Upfall

Therefore, the sarayet would deliberately carry Israeli weapons with them this time. Instead of the M-4 the each team member carried a new Israeli-made Tavor assault rifle. Many of the men still preferred the M-4, but technically, the Tavor was a superior weapon, with a compact bull-pup design and integral reflex combat sight. Easy to use attachment points allowed for the addition of more advanced sights, grenade launchers, and other paraphernalia.

While Lieutenant Belete claimed his gear, Yatom walked over to the capsule where a heap of other military equipment lay about. Mofaz and several other members of the sayeret joined him. The commandos would carry their personal gear on them in the capsule, but this did not account for all the extra equipment that the unit would carry on Slingshot. Since Feldhandler eased the load restrictions, even encouraged Yatom to cover contingencies with extra gear, the sayeret leader planned to take all that twelve men could reasonably handle.

Yatom divided the twelve into three squads of four, led by himself, Mofaz and Shapira. The men were all sergeants, except for the newly commissioned Belete, and for the most part in their early twenties. All had completed three years of mandatory service and signed on for an extra two years to gain entry into Sayeret Yatom. They were not professionals in the American or British sense, but all were combat veterans who had worked their way through the various IDF infantry and special-forces units. They were almost all single, supremely fit both mentally and physically, and their morale was outstanding. If they were not the best soldiers in the world, they were damn close.

Feldhandler wouldn't allow the sayeret to load the extra equipment themselves, and assigned a team of technicians to do the job. The first piece was Roi's Negev light machinegun. Although easily carried by one man, it was just big enough that it had to be stowed within the tight confines of the capsule.

The Negev was an Israeli-made gun, similar to the American SAW, and just as prone to jamming. Soldiers loved it when it worked, and hated it when it broke. During the course of a short mission maintenance usually wasn't an issue.

Next in were the squad radios. Each man carried his own personal radio set and Madonna, while each assistant team leader—Nir, Chaim, and Itzak—carried a larger more powerful squad unit which had to be stowed separately. The assistant team leaders also carried 40mm grenade launchers slung under their Tavors. In this way they were the team leader's communication and fire support center all in one. Extra cases of 40mm grenades followed the radios. It was highly unlikely the unit would need them, but Feldhander permitted the extra grenandes so Yatom took them.

Sergeant Ilan Gvir's SR-25 sniper rifle also had to be separately stowed. Like most snipers, llan didn't like strangers handling his weapon, but with the extra sights, camouflage and ammo that accompanied the weapon, Feldhandler insisted it be loaded as extra gear. Ilan winched as a technician bumped the gun case against the side of the capsule. Mike Bolander, standing next to him, shoved an elbow into the sniper's ribs.

"At least you get a real sniper rifle" groused Bolander. "I only get this." He patted the Tavor STAR hanging at his hip. STAR stood for Sharpshooting Tavor Assault Rifle, and was assigned to the unit's designated marksman, second fiddle to the sniper. The STAR didn't have to be loaded separately but was still an impressive weapon. A Tavor with a lengthened barrel, bipod and improved sights, it was a deadly and accurate rifle out to 500 meters. Beyond that, Ilan handled things.

"Don't cry baby" said Ilan mockingly in English. Ilan spoke excellent English, having attended the U.S. Marine Corps sniper school the year before, a fact that he hardly ever let Bolander—who had dual American citizenship—forget. Though both men had attended the IDF sniper academy, the Israeli school was considered much less demanding than the Marine Corps course. Instead of a challenging course staffed by experienced snipers as in the Marines, the IDF offered a decent, but relatively easy course on advanced marksmanship—not true sniping. Like many IDF courses, the trainers were mostly female soldiers who were smart and motivated, but not actual infantry snipers. As a result the instruction was well organized, efficient and theoretical—just not very taxing or practical. After the 2006 Lebanon War, where the Israeli sniping proved less than impressive, the IDF increasingly sought to get their most talented marksmen coveted billets in the Marine sniper course.

Ilan most impressive achievement was the assassination of Syrian General Mohammed Suleiman in 2008. llan had been detached from Sayeret Matkal to the Mossad for the mission. Suleiman, who ran arms to Hezbollah, liked to relax at his vacation home near the Syrian coastal city of Tartus, a fact that Israeli intelligence had picked up.