Beyond the Battlefield – Yair Marton Shares His Warrior Ethos with the World

I met Yair Marton in August 2022 when, as then-national director of marketing and communications for Development Corporation for Israe/Israel Bonds, I led a staff delegation to Israel.

Yair was the featured guest at the opening dinner in Tel Aviv, introduced as the combat coordinator for Fauda. As an obsessive fan of the series, it was my good luck to be seated across from Yair, and we spent a good deal of time discussing the show, as well as his formidable warfare skills – over 70 combat disciplines encompassing diverse weaponry and hand-to-hand fighting.

We kept in touch, with the passage of time reinforcing my perception of him as a true renaissance man. When I asked Yair where he felt most at home – on the ground with tactical units, in the boardroom, or in government briefings – he answered, without hesitation, “All of them.”

Yair is not only a formidable combat specialist and instructor; he is also globally-renowned for his comprehensive skill set. He is a crisis management expert; an initiator of innovative PR and marketing campaigns; a highly-regarded motivational speaker; and a frequent consultant to government and private sector leadership. Most especially, Yair is a devoted husband to Shirly, an energy healer, and loving father to his two children, Liam, age 11, and Milan, 8.

And that’s not all. Yair has been a regular presence on the set of Fauda as it films its much-anticipated fifth season, and is engaged in his latest initiative, through which Israeli combat instructors share their battle-tested expertise on a global scale.

An intriguing odyssey brought Yair to this moment in time, one that had its beginnings in the post-WWII emigration of his family from Romania. Arriving in Israel, they were sent to ma’abarot, the primitive tin huts built to handle the massive influx of immigrants pouring in during the state’s formative years. They eventually moved to Rishon LeZion, a coastal town founded by Zionist pioneers five miles south of Tel Aviv, where Yair and his brother Barak were born.

A Life-Changing Moment

Karma comes in unforeseen ways. For Yair, his life-changing moment came at age 12, when he saw Operation Jonathan, the story of Entebbe hero Jonathan Netanyahu. “It really moved me,” Yair recalls, prompting him to read books not only about Netanyahu, but also Sayeret Matkal, the IDF’s legendary special forces unit. The film, he asserts, “influenced the course of my life.”

Determined to enlist in the Special Operations Command, Yair began preparing for the army “in a dedicated and serious way.” Although an injury prevented him from completing the course, Yair was instead recruited to the elite LUT counter-terrorism unit. “It was what I was always looking for. The universe brought me there.”

He describes the training as “grueling and very difficult, physically and mentally, and you must master everything. You must be the best and not get tired. Members of the team become family and brothers. This training shapes you for life. Looking back,” he reflects, “I understand how fortunate I was to undergo such training. It’s not just the strong mentality you acquire; it’s also the thousands of kilometers you walk through the Land of Israel. You learn to know it, love it, and connect with it. You understand how special it is, and why we fight to protect it.”

Moreover, “I continue my service to this day in the reserves, with the rank of lieutenant colonel. I am constantly learning and training, keeping up to date, understanding what is new, what has changed with terrorists, and how to arrive most prepared. This is also the reason I receive many offers from around the world to come and instruct.”

Building a Globe-Spanning Career

As his odyssey continued, Yair leveraged his combat experience to become a foremost business executive. “You don’t have to choose between the boardroom and the battlefield,” he observes. “You master both.”

A preeminent counterterrorism expert, weapons instructor and elite trainer of special forces, Yair has established himself as a prominent strategic advisor. He is trusted by presidents, cabinet ministers and heads of state, all of whom turn to him to handle sensitive national and geopolitical challenges.

He gives a recent example: “I was brought in to assist a government in Africa, and I didn’t just show up with combat expertise. I brought a complete package – training for special units, supply chain access for tactical gear, strategic communications, and high-level political consulting. That’s what is needed today.”

Yair runs a global network, with operational teams spanning Israel, Europe, Africa, and the Gulf. “I treat my work the way I treated elite operations — clear delegation, tight coordination, and 24/7 readiness. Every day, I prioritize. ‘Where am I needed most? What can the teams handle? Where is my personal attention?’ That,” he emphasizes, “is how you scale leadership without losing control.”

Combat Consultant for Fauda

Eleven years ago, Yair met with Lior Raz, co-creator of Fauda, who asked if he was interested in coming on board as a combat consultant. “I immediately replied in the affirmative,” and has subsequently provided his expertise every season.

“I have been grateful every day to do what I love, which is tactical combat training. Fauda is an amazing success story, and it is certainly thanks to Lior that I have advanced in the field of training for series and films. To my joy, I am in demand, busy and working hard.”

“Hell Descended on Israel”

On the morning of October 7 – what Yair calls “the blackest Sabbath the Jewish people have ever known” – his years of intensive combat training kicked in immediately. Within two hours of learning of the deadly Hamas assault, “I was already on the road, heading south towards my unit. There was lots of chaos, and information was coming in at a crazy pace. One combat zone turned into a hundred in less than half an hour.

“Hell descended on Israel. Upon arriving in the south, you see the smoke, the burned vehicles and the bodies, and I’m talking about hundreds. There were difficult moments at the beginning, real shock.”

Yair continues: “I don’t think it is possible to explain this nightmarish event in words. Everyone understood Israel had suffered a blow, and was no longer what it was. Your attention is drawn to the war that has befallen us, yet, on the other hand, your head is full of thoughts, worries for the children and my wife, for my mother who has already seen all the wars in Israel, for my teammates, for all the soldiers and fighters I know. I knew a lot of people who were at the Nova Festival. My heart rate was at 300 for at least the first week.”

In the aftermath of October 7, antisemitism has run rampant. Says Yair, “I see attacks on Jews in the world, in Canada, England, in Europe, and it’s like before the Holocaust.” In response, “I fly around the world and train Jewish communities and organizations looking to undergo life-saving combat training. There are also Jewish communities sending groups to Israel to train here.”

A Passionate Initiator and Innovator

Yair, a passionate initiator and innovator, describes his latest enterprise as being about “the desire and demand, from all over the world, for Israeli combat instructors, who will assist in establishing units to combat terrorism and provide personal security. I see a direct connection between two worlds – that of strategy for both governments and large bodies, and that of the security world.”

He explains, “In the modern era, it is not enough to be a successful politician, businessman, senior lawyer, and so on. There is a need to combine several branches of activity that together create broad and effective coverage. To achieve this, we meet with the client, investigate and study him, his environment, who is for and against him, and from whom he should be protected.

“Simultaneously,” Yair continues, “we constantly examine extreme scenarios that could develop into a crisis, endangering the client and the campaign’s success. After establishing the integrated strategic security base, we combine investigation, intelligence, a crisis management team, a media campaign, field activities and social networks.”

He notes, “Senior figures, including presidents, government heads, and military and security personal, are not familiar with the technique of combining capabilities as the ultimate solution for them in the modern era. Once they understand, they quickly adopt this method.”

As shared earlier, his entry into the IDF’s elite special forces, and the intense combat experiences and successful global achievements that ensued, all began with 12-year-old Yair watching Operation Jonathan. Today, nearly four decades later, the impetus and determination the film awoke within him show no signs of abating. For Yair Marton, the odyssey continues, firmly anchored in his warrior ethos.

(Photos courtesy of Yair Marton)