In a podcast episode of "Be Healthy" with Moshe Mans, Gidi Cohen, a 47-year-old reservist and founder of the combat-fitness group "Kal BeKarav," laid out the hierarchy of IDF elite units, the physical demands of service, and the significance of the new haredi brigade, Hashmonaim. Cohen, who has trained hundreds of teenagers for combat service, also discussed recruitment, fitness, and the growing role of yeshiva-track and haredi candidates preparing for army service.
Cohen divided the special-forces world into three layers. At the top are the four elite units, which he said do not reveal their full missions publicly: Sayeret Matkal, the Intelligence Corps elite unit specializing in deep operations behind enemy lines; Shaldag, the Air Force commando unit; Shayetet 13, the naval commando unit; and Unit 669, the Air Force tactical rescue unit that evolved from extracting downed pilots into a combat medical rescue force. One level below is the Commando Brigade, Brigade 89, which includes Duvdevan, Maglan, and Egoz. The bottom layer is the divisional reconnaissance units, or gadsar, in combat brigades such as Golani, Paratroopers, Givati, Nahal, Kfir, and the new Hashmonaim brigade.
He said Hashmonaim is different from the other infantry formations because its selection takes place only after four months to half a year of training, rather than before enlistment through the compressed two or three-day screening process used elsewhere. The army, he said, evaluates haredi soldiers over time, including both physical fitness and their halakhic world. Cohen also argued that October 7 proved even soldiers who did not pass special selection could find themselves in the fiercest fighting, citing Givati troops who entered Gaza first and fought fiercely.
Cohen said the notorious selection process is built around realism and pressure. To even qualify, candidates must run one kilometer in under 3:50, and in some places closer to 3:30. Day Sayeret then includes sack-carrying on sand, combined crawling drills, and the particularly harsh "sociometric stretcher" exercise, where only the first four of 20 runners to reach the stretcher score points. He described the outcome as a "meat market," where unit recruiters compete over candidates. He said combat soldiers carry 30 to 35 kilograms of gear, and his unit’s first ground entry into Gaza in the war involved a nine-kilometer march with full equipment, five kilometers inside Israel and four more to the first position.
Cohen linked the high injury rate among young recruits to their sedentary civilian routines, saying many arrive unprepared for even 7 to 10 kilometers of daily movement on base. He recommended professional nutrition guidance, daily movement rather than extreme workouts, climbing stairs instead of relying on gyms, and at least a year of consistent preparation before a combat selection. He also said all citizens, including Arabs and haredim except for those with genuine medical or psychological problems, should serve and know how to handle a weapon, warning that October 7 showed how dangerous it was to rely on fences and Iron Dome alone.
The episode ended with a tribute to Yona Bezalel Barif, one of Cohen’s standout trainees and a Duvdevan fighter from Modi'in. Barif was already wounded from an earlier operation on the morning of October 7, but still went out with his team to fight in Kibbutz Kfar Aza. He rescued civilians and pulled his commander to safety before being hit by 13 bullets. He survived in intensive care for 417 days, losing one body system after another, before dying from his wounds. Cohen called him a symbol of brotherhood, close combat, and excellence.
