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28-524: The brigade participated in operations in the city of Jerusalem itself, including Yevusi , Kilshon , the battles of Ramat Rachel , Kedem and Yekev . The Etzioni Brigade was founded as part of the Haganah command's November 7, 1947 decision to create four infantry brigades based on the HISH — Levanoni , Alexandroni , Givati and Etzioni. In all, three battalions were envisioned and two initially deployed:

56-717: A Hebrew acronym for Heil HaSadeh ( Hebrew : חיל השדה ), lit. Field Corps ) was a corps formed by the Haganah in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1939, following the disbandment of the smaller mobilized force known as the Posh . It was the Haganah's main surface corps, alongside Him and the Palmach . 1939 was a turning point for the Jewish Defence forces. Orde Wingate was transferred out of Palestine and

84-748: The Tower of David failed. Following the Jordanian Arab Legion 's capture of Sheikh Jarrah and entrance to the Old City, all Israeli units in Jerusalem engaged it, including Etzioni, especially in northern Jerusalem between Sanhedriya and the Notre Dame. An attack by the Legion on Mount Scopus was repelled mostly by Etzioni troops stationed there. The brigade was a major participant in

112-565: The 61st " Moriah " Battalion, and the 63rd " Mikhmas " Battalion. The 62nd " Beit Horon " Battalion was added in May 1948, and the 63rd was disbanded during the same month. Guard Corps and Gadna units in the Jerusalem area, totalling five battalions, were also subordinated to the brigade. Altogether, on May 15, Moshe Zadok of the Manpower Directorate reported the strength of the brigade to be 3,166. The Jerusalem region, and hence

140-505: The Fosh was replaced by a less mobile but permanent "Field Force/Corps", Heil Sadeh or Hish. The forces were formed with men with basic military training into Home Guard units, Heil Mishmar , Him. With Plugot Meyuhadot (Pum) as covert "Special Companies" to wage a counter terror war against the Arabs. Hish had 9,500 members, largely untrained, ranging in age from 18 to 25. Hish consisted of

168-555: The Israel War of Independence Operation Yevusi [REDACTED] Yishuv Ibrahim Abu Daya Military engagements Massacres and civilian attacks 1948 Arab–Israeli War Southern front Central and Jerusalem front Northern front International Massacres Biological warfare Operation Yevusi ( Hebrew : מבצע יבוסי ; Eng. "Jebusite"), also known as the Second Battle of Nebi Samwil ,

196-590: The Jews remained in control of the area taken. While the attack on Katamon was taking place Arabs in the Old City fired on Jewish positions in Yemin Moshe and only stopped after action by the British Army. With the operation only partially successful, Sadeh left Jerusalem. Dov Joseph , the military governor of Jerusalem, ordered teams of men into Katamon to requisition all food they could find to alleviate

224-601: The announcement of the ceasefire. After the second truce of the war, Etzioni participated in Operation Yekev, meant to capture the mountains of Beit Jala , but failed in its mission and retreated. They took part in Operation Ha-Har , which cleared villages west of Jerusalem. The 6th Etzioni Brigade was disbanded following the war, in light of the IDF's overall reorganization only left three standing brigades in

252-579: The area. Despite this, Etzioni and regional Gadna units managed to take the Zion Gate , al-Maliha and Ein Karim on July 10–16. Etzioni's 62nd Battalion participated in Operation Kedem on July 16–17, to take over the Old City in a frontal assault, due to a lack of time imposed by the impending ceasefire, but failed to breach its walls. Despite some successes, the operation came to a halt with

280-725: The areas formerly held by the British. Sheikh Jarrah and the areas between Yemin Moshe and Rehavia were taken on May 14, followed by the German and Greek colonies, Baka , Camp Allenby, and most of "Bevingrad" on May 15. Abu Tor was captured on May 17–18, ending the operation. After Kilshon, Etzioni made further small gains by capturing the Notre Dame Monastery next to the New Gate on May 17–18. A simultaneous attack at

308-470: The battles of Ramat Rachel . On May 22, the kibbutz was taken and looted by Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood forces after heavy shelling. At 17:00, a unit from the 61st Battalion retook the village and handed it over to its Guard Corps units. This failed, and on May 23, the Arabs again captured the village. Etzioni recaptured it on the same night, leaving 75 defenders, 50 Irgun and 25 Etzioni. The third joint Muslim Brotherhood – Arab Legion attack came on May 24 and

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336-465: The brigade's theatre of operations, stretched from the Dead Sea in the east, Atarot in the north, Gush Etzion in the south and Hartuv in the west. According to Plan Dalet , Etzioni's job was to "Take key positions on the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road and establishment in the city of Jerusalem". Yisrael Amir , who had held several staff positions before the war, was appointed to command the brigade on

364-639: The discipline issues until in June 1948 the 61st Battalion rebelled and was subordinated to the Harel Brigade until August 1948. In May 1948, Yisrael Galili created a staff unit in Etzioni that was based in Tel Aviv, responsible for the Jerusalem region's outlying and isolated settlements. The command change did not help cooperation between the different units in the Jerusalem area. Shaltiel insisted that

392-486: The first operation in Haganah history that was carried out by more than one brigade, the other one being Harel . The 61st Battalion captured the Katamon neighbourhood on May 2–3 and connected with the previously isolated Mekor Haim . Upon British withdrawal from Jerusalem in May 1948, after Operation Shfifon in the Old City, Etzioni, assisted by Irgun and Lehi paramilitaries, initiated Operation Kilshon to capture

420-533: The head of the Jerusalem council, send a personal complaint to David Ben-Gurion about Shaltiel's recruitment practices. Moshe Dayan replaced David Shaltiel as the regional commander of Jerusalem on July 25, 1948, although he failed to affect significant territorial changes in the area. Dayan ended his tenure in February 1949. As the Etzioni Brigade had a smaller operational ( Field Corps ) force than

448-495: The highest point in the area; Sheikh Jarrah , an Arab residential quarter north of the city wall controlling the road to Mount Scopus ; Katamon , a middle class, mainly Arab Christian suburb of southwest Jerusalem; and Augusta Victoria east of the Old City . The Harel Brigade arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday 21 April. Their convoy had taken eight hours under fire to reach the city. The following day they started attacking

476-410: The monastery lasted all day, with the number of Jewish fighters killed given by one source as forty, though other estimates are much lower. Another source states eighty Arabs were killed. During the evening of 30 April the area was shaken by two large explosions. By the following day, 1 May, the Jews had complete control of the area. Once again the British intervened and demanded a ceasefire. But this time

504-543: The north of the country. MacMillan promised to prevent the return of the Arabs. After the British Army opened fire, the Palmach withdrew. The British declared Sheikh Jarrah a demilitarized zone which armed troops from either side could not enter. On 29 April, one week after the start of the operation, Sadeh switched the attack to Katamon. The main target was the Greek Orthodox San Simon monastery, which

532-617: The other brigades, it never left the Jerusalem theatre. In all, it suffered between 592 and 651 killed in action in the battles for Jerusalem and Gush Etzion , more than any other brigade's KIA in the entire war. Because of the lack of manpower and training among the Guard Corps units, during the first stages of the war Etzioni was mostly confined to guard duties, with no reserve units for initiating attacks. The Etzioni Brigade participated in Operation Yevusi (April–May 1948),

560-466: The recommendation Moshe Sneh . Before the Haganah reorganised its infantry forces in February 1948, the brigade was divided into two battalions; the first was responsible for northern Jerusalem, Motza , Atarot and Neve Ya'akov , and was commanded by Zalman Mart. The second was responsible for the Old City and Gush Etzion, under Shalom Dror. The brigade was, however, unprepared for the battles to come, and its commander Yisrael Amir did not cooperate with

588-792: The regional command should be responsible for all units in its area, including the Harel units, which according to Shaltiel only took orders from the Palmach HQ in Tel Aviv . Shaltiel was at odds with the Haganah high command over his unilateral agreements with the Irgun and Lehi , which were not approved by the command. The political and cultural leaders of Jerusalem did not accept the brigade's authority on security issues, especially under Shaltiel. Jerusalem's civilian population refused to provide Etzioni with necessary fuel and manpower, and Dov Yosef ,

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616-602: The rest of the units in the area. David Shaltiel , who replaced Amir as a brigade commander in the same month, reorganized the forces and divided Jerusalem into five regions, four of them going to the Guard Corps, with the Old City and southern neighbourhoods going to the operational battalions (61st and 63rd). The reorganization did not help, and in March 1948, Shaltiel commented that the unit had severe supply and discipline problems, and at that pace Jerusalem would not hold out even until May 15. Shaltiel's method of command worsened

644-553: The ridge of Nabi Samuel ( Battle of Nebi Semwil (1948)  [ he ] ), but on the 23rd a company from Harel was ambushed and forced to retreat, losing 30-40 men. On the night of 24/25 April, Sadeh occupied Sheikh Jarrah, where 40 Arabs were killed and 20 homes were blown up. General Macmillan, commander of the British forces in Palestine, called on the Jewish forces to retreat because British forces used this road to reach

672-574: The severe food shortages caused by the Arab blockade which led to draconian rationing in March 1948. The district was then looted. By the end of the war Israel had control of 12 of Jerusalem's 15 Arab residential quarters. An estimated minimum of 30,000 people had become refugees. About 750 non-Jews remained in the occupied Arab neighbourhoods; many of them Greeks living in the Greek Colony . Hish (Haganah corps) Hish ( Hebrew : חי"ש ,

700-508: The summer of 1949. It was re-created as a Central Command reserve brigade in 1955. In September 1958 it was transferred to the southern command and re-designated as the 14th Brigade. In 2010, the reserve 408th Infantry Brigade was renamed to Etzioni Brigade and given the number 6. Ehrnwald, Moshe. The Military Campaign in Jerusalem in the War of Independence – November 1947 – April 1949 Pail, Meir . External Lines vs. Internal Lines in

728-527: Was a Palmach military operation carried out during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War to assert Jewish control over Jerusalem . The operation, commanded by Yitzhak Sadeh , lasted two weeks, from 22 April 1948 to 3 May 1948. Not all objectives were achieved before the British enforced a ceasefire. Operation Yevusi was mounted in the wake of the Battle for Jerusalem . The operation had four objectives: Control of Nabi Samuel , an Arab village northwest of Jerusalem and

756-531: Was held by local Arab fighters with a contingent of volunteers from Iraq . There was also a unit from the Arab Legion guarding the empty Iraqi Consulate. John Bagot Glubb ordered them to withdraw after the surrounding buildings had been taken. The attack began with a mortar and machine gun barrage, before members of Harel's 4th and 5th Battalions, aided by Etzion's 4th Battalion and totaling 120 men, struck south and eastwards from Neve Shaanan . The battle for

784-688: Was mainly fended off by Irgun units. Etzioni and Harel reinforcements drove the Arab forces out and captured the Mar Elias Monastery to the southwest. During the Battles of the Ten Days , Etzioni was set to significantly expand Jewish control of Jerusalem and its surroundings, including capturing the Old City. In northern Jerusalem, the initiative was held by the Arab Legion, which attacked Mandelbaum and Musrara and drew IDF units to

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