“In these historic moments, we salute our fallen comrades who sacrificed their lives in the supreme mission of safeguarding Israel's security," the Navy’s commander in the welcoming ceremony.
The Israeli Navy received its new, US-built landing craft, the INS Komemiyut (Hebrew for “independence” or “sovereignty”), which docked at the Haifa Naval Base on Sunday, having completed its voyage from the port of Pascagoula in Mississippi.
"Today, alongside the intensified fighting by IDF soldiers in various sectors, the Navy has integrated a vessel of strategic significance for the State of Israel," said the Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral David Saar Salama, during the welcoming ceremony "In these historic moments, we salute our fallen comrades who sacrificed their lives in the supreme mission of safeguarding Israel's security."
"Sailors of INS Komemiyut, you have completed a voyage of thousands of miles today," he continued. "The end of the voyage is just the beginning for you. Your future actions will strengthen inter-branch cooperation, extend operational ranges, and ensure the security of the State of Israel."
This is the second of two new US-made landing crafts, procured using US military aid funds. The first vessel, the INS Nahshon, arrived in Israel in 2023 and is set to become operational this year.
The length of each vessel is approximately 95 meters, its width approximately 20 meters and its displacement exceeds 2500 tons. The Israeli navy notes that the team of the landing craft consists of dozens of naval combat soldiers, with a quarter of them being female.
“The landing crafts will act as a central pillar in adapting the Israeli Navy to the modern and multi-arena battlefield. Among other things, the landing crafts will serve as a logistical axis for transporting equipment as well as the soldiers in near and far areas,” said an official Navy statement in August of last year.
Image - IDF