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LOTAR School (Combating Terrorism) (Israel)

Lochama Be'Terror

See also:

images located by Esteban Rivera
#1 (source) #2 (source)

(The) LOTAR (הלוט"ר) is a counter-terrorism Special Forces School within the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), also known as Unit 707 or The Counter-Terror School. LOTAR is a portmanteau of Hebrew לוחמה בטרור, romanized: Lochama Be'Terror, lit. 'combating terrorism'. The School was established in 1974 after Ma'alot massacre and the subsequent failed rescue operation by Sayeret Matkal which resulted in the deaths of 25 hostages, including 21 children, before the hostage takers were killed. This newly formed school and the units spawned from within were vital in the subsequent Entebbe raid (Operation Entebbe), officially codenamed "Operation Thunderbolt", retroactively codenamed "Operation Yonatan" (in memory of Yonatan Netanyahu, its Operational Commander), which was a counter-terrorist mission in Uganda that took place on July 4, 1976 carried out mainly to counter the abduction by the PFLP and the Revolutionäre Zellen (English: Revolutionary Cells), which became a model operation for other Special Forces worldwide, especially countering airplane hijackings, which were rising at the time.

The LOTAR School flag features the insignia pin over the white portion of a horizontal flag, diagonally divided into two, with red (towards the hoist) as an additional color (image #1 above). There are also flags with inverted colors (image #2 above).

Sources:
https://www.idf.il/en/
https://ct707.com/lotar-idf-ctu/
https://lotar.org.il/legacy
https://agilitegear.com/blogs/news/lotar-counter-terror-school
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOTAR

Insignia Pin

image located by Esteban Rivera
(source)

The insignia pin is a black cat with bat wings (created in the 1980–1990 decade).
The cat (displayed in its fighting/defensive pose) is an animal that embodies all the attributes for effective Counter Terror Warfare.
Counter Terrorism consists of the ability to very quickly and effectively react to a hostile attack (to defend) and the ability to effectively and surgically carry out pre-emptive actions against hostile threats to prevent their attacks from materializing (to hunt). The cat is the animal that possesses all these attributes and capabilities. The bat wings on the logo symbolize the nocturnal nature of the unit, given that the majority of the missions/operations are carried out out at night time under the cover of darkness, for various reasons.

LOTAR Association

images located by Esteban Rivera
Flag (source) Logo (source)

Additionally, there's the LOTAR Association, which is both, an academy graduate members association and a Non Governmental Organization to support regular and reserve personnel as well as their communities (source).
The LOTAR Association flag is the logo in the middle over a white horizontal background.

Fallen Soldier Commemorative Flag (LOTAR Association)

image located by Esteban Rivera
(source)

In this case, this flag reads in Hebrew "לזכרו של סא"ל אלי גינסברג ז"ל" (English: In memory of the late Lt. Col. Eli Ginsberg). Ginsberg was the Commander (November 2020 – September 2023) of the LOTAR School, until he was killed in the Be'eri massacre on October 7, 2023 (IDF commemoration page).

For additional information go to:
https://lotar.org.il (official website)
https://lotar.org.il (official website) (as part of the Al-Marom Division)

Esteban Rivera, 7 June 2024