New postage stamp salutes elite IDF engineering unit Yahalom
Marking 30 years since establishment, unit has operated in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, destroying tunnels, helping to rescue hostages and handling dangerous weapons and ammunition
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
The Israel Post’s Philatelic Service has launched a new stamp to mark the 30th birthday of the Yahalom unit, the elite arm of the Israel Defense Forces’ Combat Engineering Corps.
Yahalom (diamond), a Hebrew acronym for “engineering unit for special tasks,” was established in 1995 through a merger of the IDF’s bomb disposal unit and Yael reconnaissance squadron. It has served a particularly prominent role during the past two wars in Gaza: 2014’s Operation Protective Edge, and the war sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas invasion of southern Israel.
Since the morning of October 7, when Hamas terrorists overran the Gaza border, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped 251 to the Gaza Strip (all of whom have since been returned, alive or dead), Yahalom has seen action in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, locating and destroying underground tunnels, helping to rescue hostages, and handling dangerous weapons and ammunition.
The unit’s role includes special engineering missions, such as demolition of tunnels and buildings, sabotaging enemy infrastructure, handling explosives and bombs, as well as reconnaissance and intelligence gathering.
It has also helped IDF troops move through booby-trapped areas by neutralizing explosives.
Yahaom also operates a national institute for weapons research.
The new stamp, designed by Ronen Goldberg, features a Yahalom fighter and the unit’s diamond emblem, overlayed on 53 smaller diamonds that symbolize the number of fallen soldiers in the unit since its establishment.
The stamp has a face value of NIS 9.1 ($2.95) and can be purchased on the Israel Post Philatelic Service website.
On Monday, Post Office Director General David Laron presented the first issue of the new stamp to the unit’s commander, Col. A., at the Yahalom Base in central Israel.
The Times of Israel Community.