[3] The unit was founded at the same time as the IDF in 1948, shortly after Israel's declaration of independence, and has been involved in all the country's wars and conflicts.

The name "Modi'in" (Hebrew: מודיעין) derives from the village of the high priest Mattathias who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt.

[4] In January 2020, a senior officer in the unit was sentenced to 28 days incarceration and another demoted for using an agent to purchase tahini as a gift for their superiors and for attempting to cover-up the affair.

[8] Yossi Melman of Haaretz has claimed that the unit "has had a reputation of acting unscrupulously, lacking inhibition and proper supervision, whose commanders will whitewash investigations and turn a blind eye to questionable operations," saying that the unit has been accused of using torture and of being involved in drug smuggling.

[9] Chris McGreal of The Guardian has written that the unit "has a hard reputation, and some of its members have badly blemished records.