The background for the formation of Unit 101 emerged in part from the low morale the officers and soldiers felt while serving in the IDF after the War of Independence. This is seen in this quote from a report Moshe Dayan presented while Deputy Commander-in-Chief:
"Despite the winnowing out of the good soldiers (to courses, to the professional corps), soldiers that were border-line cases with regard to discipline were posted to battalions, command headquarters or various military installations. Soldiers who smoked hashish, criminals and thieves ('graduates of the prisons'), pimps and the like were sometimes sent as reinforcements to battalions. The health classification given to soldiers before their recruitment changes within a short time after their recruitment. Within the first month of military service ten per cent of the soldiers manage to obtain low health classifications and are released from military duty or are transferred to other units. The health level of low-ranking officers is also low. The number of officers in infantry units is miniscule. There are almost no platoon commanders of officer rank. The length of stay of an officer in a unit is generally brief. The level of NCOs is low. The level of shooting in target practice is extremely poor...Given these facts, the units lack the capacity to become combat units. They remain only as units entered in an officially-listed ledger."
Source: Drory, Ze'ev. Israel's Reprisal Policy 1953-1956: The Dynamics of Military Retaliation. Frank Cass Military Studies, Oxon, UK. 2005.
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