Operation Pleshet
Encyclopedia
Operation Pleshet named for the geographical region
where it took place, was an Israel
i military operation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was carried out from May 29 to June 3, 1948, in the Isdud/Ad Halom
area of the southern front, against the Egyptian Army
. The aim of the operation was to capture Isdud and stop the Egyptian advance northwards. While only the June 2–3 engagements are officially named Operation Pleshet, the events immediately preceding are historiographically joined with it.
The preceding events consisted of an aerial bombardment, followed by small-scale Israeli harassment of the Egyptian lines, and later a ground assault (Operation Pleshet). The original plan was to attack on June 1–2, but this was canceled due to an impending ceasefire, and re-attempted on June 2–3. The Israelis, under the Givati Brigade
's umbrella command, attacked in two main forces: one from the north (3 companies) and one from the south (4 reinforced companies). The Israelis had little intelligence on their enemy and were forced to retreat. They failed to capture territory, and suffered heavy casualties. However, following the operation, Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, thus halting their advance northwards.
Two unsettled historiographic debates exist revolving around the operation: whether the Egyptians were intending to advance toward Tel Aviv
, which most historians agree was not the case; and whether the operation was a turning point on the Israeli southern front. Traditional Israeli historiography, supported by early Arab accounts, maintains that it was a turning point, while later Arab sources, and New Historians
, dispute this.
leadership anticipated an attack by regular Arab armies, of which Egypt's was the strongest in terms of manpower, arms and equipment. As such, Plan Dalet
took stopping a potential Egyptian attack into account, and the Ad Halom
(Sukrir) dual bridge over the Lakhish River was blown up as part of Operation Barak
on May 12. In the eyes of the Givati command, this part of the operation was of marginal importance. A platoon from the 54th Battalion, two mules and 300 kilogram
s of explosives were allocated for it. The mules fled the scene, and the explosives were divided among the soldiers, who delivered them to the bridge. It took two attempts to destroy it, as some of the explosives did not work the first time.
The original bridge was built over the Lakhish River (Wadi Sukrir/Wadi Fakhira) during the Roman
period, and re-built by the Ottoman Empire
at the end of the 19th century. A parallel railway bridge was added when the coastal railway (Lebanon
–Egypt
) was laid. After numerous armed raids in the area during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, the British authorities set up a series of pillboxes in the area, one of them next to the bridges.
Egypt invaded the newly-declared State of Israel on May 15, 1948. Their strength was approximately one division, commanded by Major General Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi
. Their advance was three-pronged: The main column moved north through what is today the Gaza Strip
and attacked Kfar Darom
, another column went east toward Beersheba
, and a third attacked
kibbutz Nirim
. On May 17, a small force split off from Beersheba to link up with more Egyptian forces at Auja al-Hafir, on May 19 the main column attacked Yad Mordechai
, and on May 20, the main force in Beersheba set out to link with the Jordanian Arab Legion
in Hebron
.
On May 21, Cairo
sent an urgent message to its units in Palestine, saying "we want al-Majdal today". Following the Israeli Operation Bin Nun, on May 25, the Jordanian Arab Legion pressured the Egyptians to move northwards to the Ramla
–Aqir
–Yibna
area, in order to connect later with the legion at Bab al-Wad. Doing so would divide the Israeli forces into two—the Negev
, and the rest of Israel. The Egyptian commander al-Mwawi, was opposed to such a move, but the leadership in Cairo dismissed his worries, and on May 28 ordered a quarter of his total combat forces to move north from Majdal
.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
wrote in his memoirs that already by May 25, the Egyptian forces were spread so thin that they had no mobile reserves to assault a Jewish force, and considered it strange that they would be ordered to allocate a major contingent to fight in an unfamiliar area. Following-up his victory in the Battle of Yad Mordechai
on May 23–24, al-Mwawi pushed north along the coast, bypassing the relatively well-defended Israeli village of Nitzanim
. His column was reinforced by sea near Majdal, where he sent part of his force to the Majdal–Hebron road
, hoping it would be able to link with another column, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Abd el-Aziz, south of Jerusalem. Reduced to about 2,500 men, al-Mwawi resumed his march northwards. Brigadier General Muhammad Naguib
was put in charge of the column by al-Mwawi, because the original commander was on vacation in Egypt.
On the afternoon of May 29, 1948, the observation post in Nitzanim spotted an Egyptian column, including tanks, armoured fighting vehicle
s and artillery moving north up the coastal road
. The figure it reported at 16:45 was about 1,300 vehicles, although Yehoshua Goldrat, the operations officer of the Givati Brigade, being familiar with Egyptian formations, estimated that it was a brigade with about 500 vehicles. Estimates from the General Staff stood at 200 vehicles and 2,000–3,000 soldiers. At the time, the Israeli decision makers did not know where the Egyptians were headed. They envisioned one of three possibilities: A march on Tel Aviv
, about 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) northwards—the view adopted by David Ben-Gurion
; an attempt to connect to the Transjordanian Arab Legion
in the Hebron
area and capture the Negev
—proposed by Nahum Sarig of the Negev Brigade
; or an attempt to connect with the remaining Arab forces in Lydda
and Ramla
.
The IDF command did not see the forces in the western Negev as sufficient to fully stop an Egyptian invasion, wherever it was headed, and ordered an operation to stop or delay the advancing column. The command also feared that the Arab forces would try to create facts on the ground
before the impending UN-imposed ceasefire
. The two Arab forces that were considered a threat were the Iraqis in the Triangle (Jenin
–Nablus
–Tulkarm
) and the Egyptians at Majdal–Isdud. Thus, Golani
and Carmeli were to attack Jenin, Alexandroni
was to harass Tulkarm, and Givati was to attack Isdud.
At 11:00 on May 29, the Egyptian 2nd Battalion passed through Isdud, and at 12:00–13:00, the 9th Battalion took the village itself, their progress hampered only by occasional machine gun fire from Nitzanim
. Later on the same day, the 2nd Battalion stopped at the Lakhish River, about 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Isdud. The Egyptians began preparations to cross the river by erecting a Bailey bridge
. Volunteers from Sudan
and Saudi Arabia
also joined the Isdud position.
Shimon Avidan
, the commander of the Givati Brigade
, which was responsible for the southern Shephelah
area (including most southern Israeli villages at the time), asked to allocate forces to stop or hinder the Egyptian advance. A number of 65 mm Napoleonchik cannons were given to Givati, and units from the Palmach
's Negev Brigade
were poised to assist it, despite a severe shortage of manpower and munitions in the brigade. On May 28, Czech technicians at the Ekron Airbase
finished assembling four Avia S-199
planes (a Messerschmitt
variant) brought from Czechoslovakia
, which were meant to harass the Egyptian air force base at El Arish, thus forming the IDF's first fighter squadron. Despite being untested, the Chief of Operations Yigael Yadin
ordered the planes to assist Avidan's forces. According to Lou Lenart, an American pilot who flew one of the fighters, Avidan told the pilots that Givati "were desperate because between the Egyptian army of ten thousand men with several hundred vehicles and Tel Aviv stood only about 250 Israeli soldiers. The Egyptians were so confident of victory that they were lined up bumper to bumper behind the bridge".
. Alon also made three runs, on a large concentration of vehicles south of Isdud. He returned to Ekron through the sea. Weizmann circled and attacked the Egyptians from the south, then the west, and then the south again. His cannons stopped firing after one round.
The Egyptian army unleashed its full anti-aircraft arsenal and hit Alon's plane, but he managed to crash-land unharmed at 20:05, performing a ground loop
. Weizmann landed at 20:15. Eddie Cohen, a volunteer pilot from South Africa
, crashed and died, although it is unknown whether he was hit by anti-aircraft fire, or a technical problem caused the plane to malfunction. A report by Dan Tolkovsky
, the Israeli Air Force
operations officer at the time, stated that Cohen likely attempted to land at the Hatzor Airbase
instead of Ekron, where eyewitnesses saw a burning plane crashing in the distance. He was the first Israeli Air Force KIA
, and was buried in Tel Aviv
(Nahalat Yitzhak
) after his remains were found at the end of 1949.
Even so, the Egyptians were caught by complete surprise and the attack had a profound psychological effect. This was the first time that such aircraft had been used. The Arab armies had previously had complete air superiority and had no knowledge of the existence of fighter aircraft in the Israeli Air Force
. An intercepted Egyptian radio message stated: "We have been heavily attacked by enemy aircraft, we are dispersing". The official Egyptian report assessed that there were only two airplanes, and that they were Spitfire
s. According to Ezer Weizmann, the airplanes had not been tested before the attack, and there was no evidence that they could fly or fire their weapons. However, the pilots considered this a minor issue in light of the fact that they were making history by being the first to fly Israeli fighter planes. The combination of the appearance of the IAF, the introduction of Israeli artillery, the Israeli defenses and the threat to his flank convinced al-Mwawi to stop. He concluded that his forces were overstretched and that his positions needed to be consolidated. He left Brigadier General Muhammad Naguib
in command of Isdud and ordered him to dig in.
Between May 29 and June 2, the Israel Defense Forces
constantly bombarded the Egyptians in Isdud with Napoleonchik cannons and Givati patrols harassed the Egyptian lines. The 51st Battalion was tasked with laying mines along the main road near Isdud, Yavne and Hill 69. The 3rd Company of the 53rd Battalion, commanded by Yosef Geva, was tasked with harassing the enemy lines, while the 1st Company of the 54th Battalion, commanded by Aryeh Kotzer, was ordered to assault several targets. In his book In the Fields of Philistia, Uri Avnery
, who participated in the battles, wrote of the harassment operation that during those days the Egyptians were fearing an Israeli attack and were firing in all directions and launching flares in hopes of discovering their enemy.
Of the preparations, he wrote:
On the night of May 30, the 54th Battalion's 1st Company attacked the area around Isdud's railway station, but was outgunned and had to retreat with four wounded. According to the company's report, the food that was given to them was rotten and further deteriorated the soldiers' ability to fight. On May 31, the Egyptian radio described the attack as a victory, and claimed hundreds of dead Israelis. The 3rd Company was unsuccessful, as intelligence on precise Egyptian positions was sparse, while the company gave its position away quickly. An Egyptian mortar scored a direct hit on one of the company's squads, which caused casualties and panic. One of the soldiers ran for cover, but lost direction, and ended up in Isdud. He walked around the village unnoticed and found a chance to return to Givati, and provided the command with invaluable information for the operation.
On May 30, the General Staff ordered the creation of a new battalion in Givati, the 57th, that would consist of about 200 Irgun
ists. A hundred rifles for the battalion were provided by Givati, with 50–80 more provided by the General Staff. The brigade commander Avidan also created two new companies, one in the 54th Battalion, and one in the 55th, consisting of 80 persons each. These combined forces were tasked with the mission of capturing the Arab Yibna
(May 31), although the attack never materialized because the battalion took off completely unprepared, lost its way, and returned to its starting position. Also on May 30, four light planes set out from Sde Dov Airport
to bomb the area of Isdud, although only one Rapide
pilot spotted his target. He could not tell if any of the bombs actually exploded.
The General Staff issued an order to attack the Egyptian positions with a force three battalions strong (from the Givati
and Palmach
's Negev
brigades). The attack was meant to take place on the night of June 1–2, and at about midnight the units involved took up positions from which the assault was meant to take off. The 51st Battalion set up positions in the Yavne
–Gan Yavne
–Hatzor
area, the 53rd Battalion—in the Be'er Tuvia
–Kfar Warburg
area, and the 54th entered a company into the Gedera
–Bashit
area. At the last minute, the General Staff cancelled the order because of an imminent ceasefire
. The ceasefire did not take effect however, and the attack was postponed to the night of June 2–3. The Egyptians discovered the original plan, and were prepared to engage the Israeli forces.
regiment from Negev, three companies from Yiftach
, a 65 mm artillery battery
, and 4.2"
and 25-pounder
platoons. The order also said, however, and if all forces and equipment were not assembled by zero hour, Givati would have to do with the forces that were mustered.
Immediately upon receiving the order, Shimon Avidan
called an emergency meeting at Hatzor
. Yehoshua Goldrat, the only officer in the brigade who had experience from the British Army
operating a combined force of infantry, armor, artillery and air, wrote the operational order. The order was in English, as Goldrat was not fluent in Hebrew, and was handed out to the battalion commanders on June 1. The battalion commanders translated the document into Hebrew for the company commanders. According to the plan, six companies (3 Palmach
and 3 Irgun
) would attack the Egyptians from the south. Three companies (2 from the 52nd and one from the 51st battalions) would attack from the north, and two companies (one from the 53rd Battalion and one from Irgun) would prevent a retreat to the east. A company from the 53rd Battalion would block reinforcement from Majdal
. Only senior officers knew of the full plans however. Simha Shiloni, commander of the Palmach forces (Negev Beasts Battalion), commented that his forces came exhausted and completely unprepared to the assembly points, and he had given consent for their deployment only after being assured that they would serve as the operational reserve (the plan in fact called for these forces to lead the southern assault).
Zero hour was set for 03:00 on the night of June 1–2, but at the last moment an order came down to cancel the attack. This was a significant blow to the troops' morale, especially because before the operation, Abba Kovner
, the culture officer of Givati, made a speech claiming that the attack would be an historic moment when the IDF would annihilate the Egyptian forces. Shraga Gafni, in his book The Good Sapper Alex, and Uri Avnery
in In the Fields of Philistia, provided excerpts from the speech:
Orders were immediately issued (at 06:00) to start new preparations. Under the new ones, two companies from the 51st Battalion were to base themselves in Hatzor and Barqa, respectively. The 52nd Battalion was to prepare at Camp Bilu (next to Kfar Bilu
). The 53rd Battalion was to put two companies in Be'er Tuvia
, two platoons in Negba
, and one in Kfar Warburg
. Two companies from the 54th were to be placed at Tel Nof (Eqron Airbase). Six platoons from the 55th were to be based between al-Maghar
and al-Qubayba
. The 8th Brigade was to be based between Gat, Gal On
and Nitzanim
, as well as remaining in the Gedera
–Bashit
area. A battalion was also temporarily transferred from Kiryati
to Givati (now referred to as the 56th), preparing in Abu Shusha
and Hulda
. The 57th Battalion (Irgun) was to be placed in Zarnuqa
. Of the Negev Brigade
, two companies would be in Camp Julis
and one in Camp Beit Daras
. Finally, the artillery forces were to keep their former positions, as well as taking new ones in Bitzaron
.
On the same day, the Egyptian forces also changed the disposition of their forces, moving the 9th Battalion to the Ad Halom bridge, the 2nd to Isdud itself, and the 1st to Iraq Suwaydan and Faluja
. Heavy machine gun and armored units were dispersed in between. Staff soldiers and those who manned Bren carrier
s took positions together with regular infantry soldiers. The Israeli side did not know of this development, but was aware that they had been detected in the previous night's preparations. The army was against attacking Isdud soon, but the order was given by the political echelon. The attack was expected to be a tactical failure; Avraham Ayalon writes that it could have succeeded if only the southern Egyptian force in Isdud itself was attacked, but attributes that lack of such a plan to the inexperience of the command and the heterogeneous nature of the Israeli force, which according to him could not have pulled off such an offensive.
The new IDF plans put forth for the June 2–3 operation were slightly changed from the original. These included 1,150 fighters, as opposed to 1,300 in the initial plan. The forces consisted of the following: two Palmach companies from the Beersheba Battalion and one from the Negev Beasts Battalion, under Yohanan Zariz, a light vehicle company, two companies from the 54th Battalion and one from the 51st, under Zvi Zur, three Irgun companies, a reinforced company and platoon from the 53rd Battalion and eight artillery pieces (six Napoleonchiks and two 4.2" mortar
s). Another light vehicle company would be in the operational reserve. Against them were placed Egypt's 2nd Brigade, including the 2nd and 9th Battalions, three medium gun platoons, the brigade headquarters, and 12 pieces of artillery.
The operation officially began when a lone Israeli S-199
bombed Egyptian positions in Isdud at 18:00 on June 2. Five light planes—two Fairchild 24s, two Rapide
s and one Bonanza
—also made bombing runs between 20:25 and 21:30. The bombardment did not make an impression on the readying Israeli soldiers, and in light of the noise created by the Egyptian anti-aircraft guns, the Israelis considered that the plane was lucky to have survived the run. In addition, the troops were exhausted, not having had proper sleep in the four days preceding the operation. At 22:00, the Israeli forces started moving against the Egyptian positions.
A soldier from the 54th Battalion said of the airstrike:
) set out from Gan Yavne
at 22:20: the 3rd Company of the 51st Battalion (commanded by Yosef "Yosh" Harpaz), a mixed company from the 54th (from the 2nd and 3rd companies) under Asher Dromi, and the 54th's 1st Company under Aryeh Kotzer. The overall commander was Zvi Zur, who was accompanied by the battalion staff, soldiers from a light vehicle company, and from the 54th's 3rd Company. According to plan, Zur was meant to flank the Egyptians from the west and achieve surprise. When they reached Wadi Fakhira however, about 700 m from the Egyptian position, it proved difficult to cross and caused a significant delay.
The movement was discovered at about 00:30 on June 3, and Zur's force lost the element of surprise. The Egyptian position that engaged the Israelis had two companies, but Harpaz, the 51st's 3rd Company's commander, underestimated the force and reported that it contained only one platoon. Zur decided to regroup in the wadi
and ordered Aryeh Kotzer's 1st Company to stay and engage the Egyptians at the spot where they were originally discovered and assault the pillbox there, while the rest of the forces would try a turning movement
.
Kotzer estimated that a frontal assault against the Egyptians would be useless, as they were dug in on both sides of the pillbox. In complete darkness, the 1st Company made its way south through the wadi hoping to avoid enemy fire from superior positions and weapons until they were close enough to respond. At 03:00, the Israeli artillery barrage started, but did not do significant damage and only alerted all Egyptian positions to the Israeli presence. The only Israeli unit close to engagement at the time was Kotzer's company. About 100 m away from the Egyptian defense line, they stepped into an ambush and the leading squad was eliminated. Kotzer ordered the machine gunners to climb to the east bank of the wadi to provide cover for a counterattack, and this move also led to Israeli casualties. The counterattack was difficult and only destroyed some small Egyptian entrenchments.
Even though some of his soldiers came within 60 meters of the pillbox, after 19 of them (over a third) were killed and the sun began rising in the horizon, Kotzer decided to retreat, unable to receive official permission due to communication problems. He ordered all of his troops to collect the wounded and any weapons they could carry, helping with the task himself. The dead were left in the field, including the medic
s (not a single medic survived). The injured were brought under fire into the wadi and at about 07:00 the force made its way to an unoccupied two-storey building on the east bank. After the Egyptians started shelling the building with mortars, Kotzer's company began to move towards Gan Yavne
.
A soldier who witnessed the events stated:
Zur's maneuver sent Israel's forces into unknown territory, and they encountered an Egyptian entrenchment that caught them unawares. His original plan was to send Yosef Harpaz and the 3rd Company and then Dromi's company, but when fire was opened on Harpaz's men (at approximately 04:00), Zur ordered him to execute a frontal assault. Harpaz decided to do this in three single-platoon waves: the first two would attack the Egyptians, while the third would provide cover for the forces. The first platoon was inexperienced and had never fought against Egypt's army
. After advancing, they encountered what were probably Bren carrier
s, which their commander reported were tanks. Harpaz then sent the second, more experienced, platoon of 15 men, who were also able to better utilize the cover fire. Eventually, the first platoon fled from the battlefield without being ordered to do so and the attack was only two platoons strong. However, this still assisted Aryeh Kotzer on the other side of the Egyptian positions to evacuate his injured troops.
At dawn, after his attacked failed to overtake any major positions, Zur decided to withdraw, for the first time in his life. He ordered Harpaz's company, which had the most casualties, to go first, and at 06:00 told Dromi's company to follow. Harpaz's company had five men missing in action, four of whom were picked up by Dromi's people. One of Dromi's platoons remained on top of a sand dune to provide cover fire for the retreat. Meanwhile, the rest of the company made its way under the road and the railway through culvert
s. On the eastern side, Dromi met Harpaz. They sent the cover platoon home with the injured, and remained in their place to wait for Zur. Their lookout also spotted Kotzer's retreating company and Harpaz requested artillery cover using the only working communication device they had. The Napoleonchiks missed their targets, but deterred the Egyptians, who stopped following Kotzer.
Zur was extremely reluctant to withdraw his personal forces. He decided to do so only at 09:00, when it became clear that the other two companies were at a safe distance, and the Egyptians were massing for a counterattack. First, the injured were evacuated, then the rest of the forces made their way back, each squad providing cover for the next. The Egyptian artillery caused the forces to scatter, and the commanders had difficulty diverting them to the general retreat path. After they came to a small grove to the west of the main road, it was discovered that three were missing and 17 injured, who were treated by the only remaining medic. Approximately at noon, Zur's men met with Dromi and Harpaz, and the working communication device was used to summon vehicles to take the soldiers to Gan Yavne
.
left Be'er Tuvia
. They set up a position of 4.2 inch mortar
s and medium machine guns about mid-way between Isdud and Beit Daras
, to shell Isdud from the southeast. A reinforced company also left Be'er Tuvia and took up positions between Hill 69 and the military base near Nitzanim
to cut off Egyptian reinforcements coming from Majdal
. The 57th Battalion (consisting of Irgun
veterans) left Hatzor to assault Isdud from the northeast. The 53rd Battalion was accompanied by a reinforced platoon of 44 soldiers from the temporary 58th Battalion (a new recruit unit), which made its way to Nitzanim in order to be replaced by a more experienced platoon from the 53rd.
When the Negev forces reached the coastal road
, they realized that they could not continue on their vehicles, which could not travel in the sand dunes to the west of the road. The vehicles were therefore left with a platoon to the south of Isdud to block a possible Egyptian retreat. The other soldiers continued on foot into the sand dunes in an attempt to flank the Egyptian positions. On the second try, the Negev forces successfully captured several key points in the village, and destroyed a cannon. Nahum Sarig, the Negev Brigade commander, later wrote that the lack of intelligence
on the enemy prevented the Israeli force from continuing its assault, while the Egyptians had time to regroup.
Despite Negev's achievements, they were also given an order to retreat, as the Israeli command did not wish to fight in broad daylight. The retreating forces had no choice but to use a route similar to the ones they came from, which slowed down their movement. Most of the machine guns that they had brought had broken down in the sandy environment, and could not provide them with cover. They were also carrying a multitude of wounded soldiers. Muhammad Naguib
decided to use the armored vehicles in his operational reserve against the retreating forces, fearing a possible cut-off from the rest of the Egyptian forces in Palestine. According to Simha Shiloni, commander of the Negev Beasts battalion, the Israelis, especially the wounded, thought that all was lost when this happened. However, the vehicles stopped eventually as they got bogged down in the sands, and the troops made it back to Nitzanim
. Sixteen Israeli soldiers were killed in the retreat.
Meanwhile, the 57th Battalion made its way via Barqa towards Isdud. These troops were meant to serve as a diversionary force. As such, when they reached Wadi al-Jurf, about 750 m (820.2 yd) from the Egyptian position, they decided not to cross the wadi and instead fired on the Egyptians from the other side. They were too far away however to inflict concrete damage, but also did not suffer any casualties. Nahum Sarig later accused this force of also falsely reporting their positions, undermining the efforts of his Negev Brigade.
On Hill 69 and the coastal road
, the 53rd Battalion intercepted and engaged a contingent of Egyptian reinforcements from Majdal. After the battles, the 53rd Battalion reported that at 03:00, they had been ready to ambush possible reinforcements, and at 06:00, an Egyptian convoy of two armored vehicles and 4 other vehicles made their way to Isdud. They were hit by Israeli mines, operated by Avraham Schwarzstein's platoon (see Battle of Nitzanim
), and only two vehicles made it out and back to Majdal. At 09:00 the general retreat order was given, and after reaching Nitzanim, Schwarzstein's platoon set out to assist the Negev forces' retreat, helping carry the 20-so casualties. The forces on Hill 69 retreated only at noon to Be'er Tuvia.
In all, 45 Israelis were killed, 50 were wounded, and 5 captured by Egypt. Of them, 29 killed and 34 wounded were from Zur's 54th Company. Egyptian sources reported 15 killed and 30 wounded, although this does not include the casualties suffered by the intercepted reinforcements from Majdal. Even before the final retreating troops came home, the Givati command had issued a new operation order, calling for renewed artillery and air bombardment of Isdud, and small harassment operations. The 57th Battalion, which gained a bad reputation after its failures in Yibna
and Isdud, carried out several such successful operations, regaining prestige in the brigade.
While the Israelis suffered a major tactical defeat in Operation Pleshet, it is generally believed in Israel that the strategic goal of the operation—stopping the Egyptian advance—was achieved, unbeknown to the Israeli command at the time. This also allowed the capture of Arab Yibna, where the remaining residents expected the Egyptian Army to reach them, and mostly fled following the battle. Since the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine line ran between Isdud and Yibna, the outcome of the battle meant that on the coastal strip, the Egyptians had failed to cross over into territory assigned to the State of Israel. The bridge over the Lakhish River has since been known as Ad Halom
("thus far").
Even though in his 1955 book Egypt's Destiny, Naguib wrote that his brigade's successful stand was a glorious victory with few consequences, estimating 450 Israeli dead (out of a perceived 4,000 attackers), a logbook captured by Israel during the war revealed that he was extremely worried about the future fate of his forces. He requested immediate assistance, including air support to determine the location of the Israeli cannons, a medevac unit, reinforcements, munitions and communication wires. It is also likely that he believed that the 53rd Battalion's force blocking the road from Majdal was still in place, and therefore thought that he was surrounded.
Sizable reinforcements—the 6th Battalion—came to Naguib only when his 9th Battalion was poised to attack Nitzanim
. Aside from Nitzanim (June 7), the Egyptian Army shifted its entire concentration on clearing it flanks, successfully clearing a path between Majdal
and al-Faluja
. The Israeli chronicler and officer Avraham Ayalon wrote that the Israeli retreat from Hill 69 on June 3, along with the rest of the forces, which he believed unnecessary, was a major contributing factor to the subsequent Egyptian victories.
, and whether or not the battle was one of the turning points of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. On June 18, after the first truce of the war took effect, Nahum Sarig said in a staff meeting, attended by the Minister of Defense, that at the time the Egyptian plans were not clear, but that now their plans were to penetrate the Negev. Ben Gurion, on the other hand, noted in his diary that the Egyptians were set on taking Tel Aviv and advancing north. In 1958, Major General Yitzhak Rabin
addressed the issue; he felt that the Egyptian stop at Isdud was the result of technical difficulties, following fifteen days of continuous movement, including battles along the way. This, Rabin thought, along with ground and aerial counterattacks, eventually delayed their drive on Tel Aviv. Later, he said, the Egyptians tried to make contact with the Jordanian forces at Latrun
and, after a failed pincer movement, tried to cut the Negev off from Israel. According to Israeli historian Reuven Aharoni, the battle's glorification and idealization suited the sentimental needs of the Israeli people. He believes that there is still no definite answer to the question of whether or not the Egyptians planning to drive on to Tel Aviv.
Israeli Arab
historian Mustafa Kabha wrote that Egyptian and other Arab historians did not attribute as much importance to the battle as Israeli ones. They ask what the Egyptian objective was, and whether or not it was wise to advance without securing their lines of communication. Abdullah el Tell
, commander of the Jordanian Legion in Jerusalem, thought that the Egyptians did not consider the Legion's needs. Aware of their weaknesses, they did not let anything distract them from reaching Tel Aviv. The Egyptian war log, from 19:00 on May 28, 1948, showed concern over the lines of communication. Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari
wrote that while the Egyptians publicly declared that the target was Tel Aviv, they never actually meant to advance farther than their Isdud fortifications. As evidence, he cited the Egyptian refusal to take the undefended Yibna despite the villagers' repeated cries for help. Bahjat Abu-Gharbiyeh, one of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
's deputies and commander of the Beit Jibrin area, wrote that the Egyptians never had a clear plan, because their leadership were not really interested in a war. Therefore, their efforts were improvised. Kabha concludes that Arab historiography considers the battle the successful realization of a tactical move, designed to serve the actions of the badly coordinated Arab armies.
The Egyptian officer Kamal Ismail ash-Sharif commented in his memoirs that this was a turning point in the war on the Egyptian–Israeli front:
Israeli historian David Tal
agreed with this view; Yoav Gelber
, when asked about this, commented that the significance of the attack, along with two other major tactical failures—Latrun and Jenin
—was in the fact that the initiative passed to the Israeli side, and the Arabs conducted only small assaults after these operations. Scholar Fawaz Gerges
noted that the Egyptians originally assumed that the further their army advances, the weaker the Israeli resistance would become.
Unlike traditional Israeli historiography, Arab sources in general do not see it as a turning point in the war. They agree that the Egyptian declarations regarding Tel Aviv as the main strategic objective were ostentatious rather than operative. In his book 1948, New Historian
Benny Morris
also disagrees with the traditional Israeli view, and states that portraying the operation as the catalyst for the Egyptian halt is a mistake. However, in a March 15, 2007 panel of historians, Morris said that at least in the Egyptian expeditionary force, the Israeli attack did lead to a decision to stop advancing.
Pleshet
Pleshet is the Hebrew name for what might otherwise be called the "land of the Philistines" according to the Hebrew Bible ....
where it took place, was an Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i military operation during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was carried out from May 29 to June 3, 1948, in the Isdud/Ad Halom
Ad Halom
Ad Halom is a site at the eastern entrance to the city of Ashdod, Israel.-Battle:Ad Halom refers to the northernmost point reached by the Egyptian army in Operation Pleshet, one of the battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War....
area of the southern front, against the Egyptian Army
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
. The aim of the operation was to capture Isdud and stop the Egyptian advance northwards. While only the June 2–3 engagements are officially named Operation Pleshet, the events immediately preceding are historiographically joined with it.
The preceding events consisted of an aerial bombardment, followed by small-scale Israeli harassment of the Egyptian lines, and later a ground assault (Operation Pleshet). The original plan was to attack on June 1–2, but this was canceled due to an impending ceasefire, and re-attempted on June 2–3. The Israelis, under the Givati Brigade
Givati Brigade
The Givati Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, and serves as its amphibious force. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
's umbrella command, attacked in two main forces: one from the north (3 companies) and one from the south (4 reinforced companies). The Israelis had little intelligence on their enemy and were forced to retreat. They failed to capture territory, and suffered heavy casualties. However, following the operation, Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, thus halting their advance northwards.
Two unsettled historiographic debates exist revolving around the operation: whether the Egyptians were intending to advance toward Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, which most historians agree was not the case; and whether the operation was a turning point on the Israeli southern front. Traditional Israeli historiography, supported by early Arab accounts, maintains that it was a turning point, while later Arab sources, and New Historians
New Historians
The New Historians are a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians who have challenged traditional versions of Israeli history, including Israel's role in the Palestinian Exodus in 1948 and Arab willingness to discuss peace. The term was coined in 1988 by one of the leading New Historians, Benny...
, dispute this.
Background
Prior to the founding of the State of Israel, the YishuvYishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
leadership anticipated an attack by regular Arab armies, of which Egypt's was the strongest in terms of manpower, arms and equipment. As such, Plan Dalet
Plan Dalet
Plan Dalet, or Plan D, was a plan worked out by the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary group and the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces, in Palestine in autumn 1947 to spring 1948. Its purpose is much debated...
took stopping a potential Egyptian attack into account, and the Ad Halom
Ad Halom
Ad Halom is a site at the eastern entrance to the city of Ashdod, Israel.-Battle:Ad Halom refers to the northernmost point reached by the Egyptian army in Operation Pleshet, one of the battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War....
(Sukrir) dual bridge over the Lakhish River was blown up as part of Operation Barak
Operation Barak
Operation Barak was a Haganah offensive launched just before the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. It was part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to capture villages North of Gaza in anticipation of the arrival of the Egyptian army...
on May 12. In the eyes of the Givati command, this part of the operation was of marginal importance. A platoon from the 54th Battalion, two mules and 300 kilogram
Kilogram
The kilogram or kilogramme , also known as the kilo, is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units and is defined as being equal to the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram , which is almost exactly equal to the mass of one liter of water...
s of explosives were allocated for it. The mules fled the scene, and the explosives were divided among the soldiers, who delivered them to the bridge. It took two attempts to destroy it, as some of the explosives did not work the first time.
The original bridge was built over the Lakhish River (Wadi Sukrir/Wadi Fakhira) during the Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
period, and re-built by the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
at the end of the 19th century. A parallel railway bridge was added when the coastal railway (Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
–Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
) was laid. After numerous armed raids in the area during the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, the British authorities set up a series of pillboxes in the area, one of them next to the bridges.
Egypt invaded the newly-declared State of Israel on May 15, 1948. Their strength was approximately one division, commanded by Major General Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi
Ahmed Ali al-Mwawi
Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mwawi , also Mawawi or Muwawi, was a Major General in the Egyptian Army. He served as the General Commander of the Egyptian expeditionary force during 1948 Arab–Israeli War....
. Their advance was three-pronged: The main column moved north through what is today the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...
and attacked Kfar Darom
Kfar Darom
Kfar Darom was a kibbutz and an Israeli settlement within the Gush Katif bloc in the Gaza Strip.-Original kibbutz:Kfar Darom was founded on 250 dunams of land purchased in 1930 by Tuvia Miller for a fruit orchard on the site of an ancient Jewish settlement of the same name mentioned in the Talmud...
, another column went east toward Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
, and a third attacked
Battle of Nirim
The Battle of Nirim, also Battle of Dangour, was a military engagement between the Egyptian army and the Jewish Haganah on May 15, 1948, the first day of the Egyptian invasion of Israel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. It was fought in kibbutz Nirim , founded just two years earlier as part of the 11...
kibbutz Nirim
Nirim
Nirim is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev in Israel. Located near the border with the Gaza Strip, about 7 kilometers east of Khan Yunis, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council...
. On May 17, a small force split off from Beersheba to link up with more Egyptian forces at Auja al-Hafir, on May 19 the main column attacked Yad Mordechai
Yad Mordechai
Yad Mordechai is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located 10 km south of Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 710.-History:...
, and on May 20, the main force in Beersheba set out to link with the Jordanian Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
.
On May 21, Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
sent an urgent message to its units in Palestine, saying "we want al-Majdal today". Following the Israeli Operation Bin Nun, on May 25, the Jordanian Arab Legion pressured the Egyptians to move northwards to the Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
–Aqir
Ekron
The city of Ekron , was one of the five cities of the famed Philistine pentapolis, located in southwestern Canaan. Ekron lies 35 kilometers west of Jerusalem, and 18 kilometers north of ancient Gath, on the eastern edge of Israel's coastal plain.-History:...
–Yibna
Yibna
Yibna was a Palestinian village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla. Yibna was occupied by Israeli forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.-History:...
area, in order to connect later with the legion at Bab al-Wad. Doing so would divide the Israeli forces into two—the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
, and the rest of Israel. The Egyptian commander al-Mwawi, was opposed to such a move, but the leadership in Cairo dismissed his worries, and on May 28 ordered a quarter of his total combat forces to move north from Majdal
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
.
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
wrote in his memoirs that already by May 25, the Egyptian forces were spread so thin that they had no mobile reserves to assault a Jewish force, and considered it strange that they would be ordered to allocate a major contingent to fight in an unfamiliar area. Following-up his victory in the Battle of Yad Mordechai
Battle of Yad Mordechai
The Battle of Yad Mordechai was fought between Egypt and Israel in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, at the Israeli kibbutz of Yad Mordechai. The Egyptians attacked the communal village several times throughout May 19 and May 20, but failed to capture it...
on May 23–24, al-Mwawi pushed north along the coast, bypassing the relatively well-defended Israeli village of Nitzanim
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 343....
. His column was reinforced by sea near Majdal, where he sent part of his force to the Majdal–Hebron road
Highway 35 (Israel)
Highway 35 is a highway in south-central Israel. It runs roughly from west to east. It begins in Ashkelon, passes through the Lakhish region and Kiryat Gat, crosses the Green Line and terminates at a junction with Highway 60 near Hebron. Highway 35 is 58 km long.-Junctions and interchanges on...
, hoping it would be able to link with another column, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Abd el-Aziz, south of Jerusalem. Reduced to about 2,500 men, al-Mwawi resumed his march northwards. Brigadier General Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib was the first President of Egypt, serving from the declaration of the Republic on June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954. Along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, he was the primary leader of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which ended the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt and Sudan...
was put in charge of the column by al-Mwawi, because the original commander was on vacation in Egypt.
On the afternoon of May 29, 1948, the observation post in Nitzanim spotted an Egyptian column, including tanks, armoured fighting vehicle
Armoured fighting vehicle
An armoured fighting vehicle is a combat vehicle, protected by strong armour and armed with weapons. AFVs can be wheeled or tracked....
s and artillery moving north up the coastal road
Highway 4 (Israel)
Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
. The figure it reported at 16:45 was about 1,300 vehicles, although Yehoshua Goldrat, the operations officer of the Givati Brigade, being familiar with Egyptian formations, estimated that it was a brigade with about 500 vehicles. Estimates from the General Staff stood at 200 vehicles and 2,000–3,000 soldiers. At the time, the Israeli decision makers did not know where the Egyptians were headed. They envisioned one of three possibilities: A march on Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, about 40 kilometres (24.9 mi) northwards—the view adopted by David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
; an attempt to connect to the Transjordanian Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
in the Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
area and capture the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
—proposed by Nahum Sarig of the Negev Brigade
Negev Brigade
The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...
; or an attempt to connect with the remaining Arab forces in Lydda
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
and Ramla
Ramla
Ramla , is a city in central Israel. The city is predominantly Jewish with a significant Arab minority. Ramla was founded circa 705–715 AD by the Umayyad Caliph Suleiman ibn Abed al-Malik after the Arab conquest of the region...
.
The IDF command did not see the forces in the western Negev as sufficient to fully stop an Egyptian invasion, wherever it was headed, and ordered an operation to stop or delay the advancing column. The command also feared that the Arab forces would try to create facts on the ground
Facts on the ground
Facts on the ground is a diplomatic term that means the situation in reality as opposed to in the abstract. It originated in discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, where it was used to refer to Israeli settlements built in the occupied West Bank, which were intended to establish permanent...
before the impending UN-imposed ceasefire
United Nations Security Council Resolution 50
United Nations Security Council Resolution 50, adopted on May 29, 1948, called upon all governments and authorities involved in the conflict in Palestine to order a cessation of all acts of armed force of four weeks, to refrain from introducing any fighting personnel into Palestine, Egypt, Iraq,...
. The two Arab forces that were considered a threat were the Iraqis in the Triangle (Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
–Nablus
Nablus
Nablus is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 126,132. Located in a strategic position between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a Palestinian commercial and cultural center.Founded by the...
–Tulkarm
Tulkarm
Tulkarem or Tulkarm is a Palestinian city in the northern Samarian mountain range in the Tulkarm Governorate in the extreme northwestern West Bank adjacent to the Netanya and Haifa districts to the west, the Nablus and Jenin Districts to the east...
) and the Egyptians at Majdal–Isdud. Thus, Golani
Golani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
and Carmeli were to attack Jenin, Alexandroni
Alexandroni Brigade
The Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun Alef .The unit is currently a reserve unit.-Katz controversy:In 1998, Teddy Katz...
was to harass Tulkarm, and Givati was to attack Isdud.
Prelude
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 343....
. Later on the same day, the 2nd Battalion stopped at the Lakhish River, about 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Isdud. The Egyptians began preparations to cross the river by erecting a Bailey bridge
Bailey bridge
The Bailey bridge is a type of portable, pre-fabricated, truss bridge. It was developed by the British during World War II for military use and saw extensive use by both British and the American military engineering units....
. Volunteers from Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
also joined the Isdud position.
Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan , born Shimon Koch , was an Israeli soldier and officer, the commander of the Givati Brigade during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war....
, the commander of the Givati Brigade
Givati Brigade
The Givati Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, and serves as its amphibious force. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
, which was responsible for the southern Shephelah
Shephelah
The Shephelah is a designation usually applied to the region in south-central Israel of 10-15 km of low hills between the central Mount Hebron and the coastal plains of Philistia within the area of the Judea, at an altitude of 120-450 metres above sea level. The area is fertile, and a temperate...
area (including most southern Israeli villages at the time), asked to allocate forces to stop or hinder the Egyptian advance. A number of 65 mm Napoleonchik cannons were given to Givati, and units from the Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
's Negev Brigade
Negev Brigade
The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...
were poised to assist it, despite a severe shortage of manpower and munitions in the brigade. On May 28, Czech technicians at the Ekron Airbase
Tel Nof Airbase
Tel Nof Israeli Air Force , also known as Air Force Base 8, is one of three principal airbases of the Israeli Air Force. Tel Nof is located near Rehovot, Israel.-History:...
finished assembling four Avia S-199
Avia S-199
|-See also:-External links: *** with more pictures and further information...
planes (a Messerschmitt
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109, often called Me 109, was a German World War II fighter aircraft designed by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser during the early to mid 1930s...
variant) brought from Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, which were meant to harass the Egyptian air force base at El Arish, thus forming the IDF's first fighter squadron. Despite being untested, the Chief of Operations Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin
Yigael Yadin on 21 March 1917, died 28 June 1984) was an Israeli archeologist, politician, and the second Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces.-Early life and military career:...
ordered the planes to assist Avidan's forces. According to Lou Lenart, an American pilot who flew one of the fighters, Avidan told the pilots that Givati "were desperate because between the Egyptian army of ten thousand men with several hundred vehicles and Tel Aviv stood only about 250 Israeli soldiers. The Egyptians were so confident of victory that they were lined up bumper to bumper behind the bridge".
Airstrike
At 18:00, the four fighter planes left Ekron to bomb and strafe the Egyptian lines concentrated near the bridge. Each plane had two 70 kilogram bombs, two 13 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannons. The pilots were Lou Lenart, Mordechai Alon (Kalibansky), Ezer Weizmann and Eddie Cohen, in that order. The attack was disorganized, and the damage it did was minimal. Lenart came from the north and dropped his bombs in the middle of Isdud. He them circled and strafed the Egyptians from the southeast and then the north again, before his cockpit was hit and he decided to return to Ekron. According to him, the cannons ceased to fire after the first ten rounds, and he began to smell corditeCordite
Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...
. Alon also made three runs, on a large concentration of vehicles south of Isdud. He returned to Ekron through the sea. Weizmann circled and attacked the Egyptians from the south, then the west, and then the south again. His cannons stopped firing after one round.
The Egyptian army unleashed its full anti-aircraft arsenal and hit Alon's plane, but he managed to crash-land unharmed at 20:05, performing a ground loop
Ground loop (aviation)
In aviation, a ground loop is a rapid rotation of a fixed-wing aircraft in the horizontal plane while on the ground. Aerodynamic forces may cause the advancing wing to rise, which may then cause the other wingtip to touch the ground...
. Weizmann landed at 20:15. Eddie Cohen, a volunteer pilot from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, crashed and died, although it is unknown whether he was hit by anti-aircraft fire, or a technical problem caused the plane to malfunction. A report by Dan Tolkovsky
Dan Tolkovsky
Aluf Dan Tolkovsky was the commander of the Israeli Air Force from May 1953 to July 1958. Tolkovsky entered the military in 1943, when the Royal Air Force sent a Jewish unit from Palestine to train at a flight school in Rhodesia ...
, the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
operations officer at the time, stated that Cohen likely attempted to land at the Hatzor Airbase
Hatzor Airbase
Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base , also titled Kanaf 4 is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel, near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named...
instead of Ekron, where eyewitnesses saw a burning plane crashing in the distance. He was the first Israeli Air Force KIA
Killed in action
Killed in action is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own forces at the hands of hostile forces. The United States Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to...
, and was buried in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(Nahalat Yitzhak
Nahalat Yitzhak
Nahalat Yitzhak is a neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel.-History:Nahalat Yitzhak was founded in 1925, east of the Ayalon River and the Ayalon Highway, by a group of Jews who came from Kaunas....
) after his remains were found at the end of 1949.
Even so, the Egyptians were caught by complete surprise and the attack had a profound psychological effect. This was the first time that such aircraft had been used. The Arab armies had previously had complete air superiority and had no knowledge of the existence of fighter aircraft in the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
. An intercepted Egyptian radio message stated: "We have been heavily attacked by enemy aircraft, we are dispersing". The official Egyptian report assessed that there were only two airplanes, and that they were Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
s. According to Ezer Weizmann, the airplanes had not been tested before the attack, and there was no evidence that they could fly or fire their weapons. However, the pilots considered this a minor issue in light of the fact that they were making history by being the first to fly Israeli fighter planes. The combination of the appearance of the IAF, the introduction of Israeli artillery, the Israeli defenses and the threat to his flank convinced al-Mwawi to stop. He concluded that his forces were overstretched and that his positions needed to be consolidated. He left Brigadier General Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib was the first President of Egypt, serving from the declaration of the Republic on June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954. Along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, he was the primary leader of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which ended the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt and Sudan...
in command of Isdud and ordered him to dig in.
Operations on May 30 – June 1
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
constantly bombarded the Egyptians in Isdud with Napoleonchik cannons and Givati patrols harassed the Egyptian lines. The 51st Battalion was tasked with laying mines along the main road near Isdud, Yavne and Hill 69. The 3rd Company of the 53rd Battalion, commanded by Yosef Geva, was tasked with harassing the enemy lines, while the 1st Company of the 54th Battalion, commanded by Aryeh Kotzer, was ordered to assault several targets. In his book In the Fields of Philistia, Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement.A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and 1979–81...
, who participated in the battles, wrote of the harassment operation that during those days the Egyptians were fearing an Israeli attack and were firing in all directions and launching flares in hopes of discovering their enemy.
Of the preparations, he wrote:
We passed through the streets of Gedera. It was not a celebratory parade – we passed in a combat formation, wearing steel helmets, in a rear-front line. The civilians and the evacuated women [from Kfar Warburg and Be'er Tuvya] looked at us. They did not applaud. However, their eyes followed us. They also knew: this thin line of khaki shirts is their last line of defense, of Tel Aviv, of the State of Israel. |
עברנו את רחובות גדרה. לא היה זה מצעד חגיגי – עברנו במבנה קרבי, חבושים כובעי פלדה, בשורה ערפית. האזרחים והנשים המפונות הסתכלו בנו. הם לא מחאו לנו כף. אך עיניהם ליוונו בדרכנו. גם הם ידעו: השורה הדקה הזאת של חולצות־האקי היא ההגנה האחרונה לביתם, לתל־אביב למדינת־ישראל. |
On the night of May 30, the 54th Battalion's 1st Company attacked the area around Isdud's railway station, but was outgunned and had to retreat with four wounded. According to the company's report, the food that was given to them was rotten and further deteriorated the soldiers' ability to fight. On May 31, the Egyptian radio described the attack as a victory, and claimed hundreds of dead Israelis. The 3rd Company was unsuccessful, as intelligence on precise Egyptian positions was sparse, while the company gave its position away quickly. An Egyptian mortar scored a direct hit on one of the company's squads, which caused casualties and panic. One of the soldiers ran for cover, but lost direction, and ended up in Isdud. He walked around the village unnoticed and found a chance to return to Givati, and provided the command with invaluable information for the operation.
On May 30, the General Staff ordered the creation of a new battalion in Givati, the 57th, that would consist of about 200 Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
ists. A hundred rifles for the battalion were provided by Givati, with 50–80 more provided by the General Staff. The brigade commander Avidan also created two new companies, one in the 54th Battalion, and one in the 55th, consisting of 80 persons each. These combined forces were tasked with the mission of capturing the Arab Yibna
Yibna
Yibna was a Palestinian village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla. Yibna was occupied by Israeli forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.-History:...
(May 31), although the attack never materialized because the battalion took off completely unprepared, lost its way, and returned to its starting position. Also on May 30, four light planes set out from Sde Dov Airport
Sde Dov Airport
Sde Dov Airport , also known as Dov Hoz Airport is an airport located in Tel Aviv, Israel which mainly handles scheduled domestic flights to Eilat and , northern Israel , and the Israeli Golan Heights. It is Tel Aviv's largest airport and the second largest in the area, after Ben Gurion...
to bomb the area of Isdud, although only one Rapide
De Havilland Dragon Rapide
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s.-Design and development:Designed by the de Havilland company in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the...
pilot spotted his target. He could not tell if any of the bombs actually exploded.
The General Staff issued an order to attack the Egyptian positions with a force three battalions strong (from the Givati
Givati Brigade
The Givati Brigade is an infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, and serves as its amphibious force. Givati soldiers are designated by purple berets...
and Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
's Negev
Negev Brigade
The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...
brigades). The attack was meant to take place on the night of June 1–2, and at about midnight the units involved took up positions from which the assault was meant to take off. The 51st Battalion set up positions in the Yavne
Yavne
Yavne is a city in the Central District of Israel. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics , at the end of 2009 the city had a population of 33,000.-History:...
–Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne is a in the Center District of Israel, located adjacent to the city of Ashdod. It was founded in 1931 and declared a local council in 1950.Gan Yavne lies east of the Tel-Aviv–Ashkelon highway...
–Hatzor
Hatzor Airbase
Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base , also titled Kanaf 4 is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel, near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named...
area, the 53rd Battalion—in the Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel near the city of Kiryat Malakhi. It is affiliated with the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council....
–Kfar Warburg
Kfar Warburg
Kfar Warburg is a large moshav in central Israel. Located near Kiryat Malakhi with 98 farms covering an area of 6,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 873....
area, and the 54th entered a company into the Gedera
Gedera
-External links:** *...
–Bashit
Neve Mivtah
Neve Mivtah is a small moshav in the north end of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, south near Bnei Ayish and Gedera. It borders Moshav Bitzaron to the south, the agricultural school Kannot to the east, Moshav Misgav Dov to the north, and Kvutzat Yavne to the west.The Moshav was founded in 1950 on...
area. At the last minute, the General Staff cancelled the order because of an imminent ceasefire
United Nations Security Council Resolution 50
United Nations Security Council Resolution 50, adopted on May 29, 1948, called upon all governments and authorities involved in the conflict in Palestine to order a cessation of all acts of armed force of four weeks, to refrain from introducing any fighting personnel into Palestine, Egypt, Iraq,...
. The ceasefire did not take effect however, and the attack was postponed to the night of June 2–3. The Egyptians discovered the original plan, and were prepared to engage the Israeli forces.
Cancelled attack on June 1–2 and subsequent reorganizations
The Israeli General Staff called for a full-scale assault on the Egyptian positions, but backed out at the last minute due to ceasefire talks. The General Staff's order, sent among others to the Givati, 7th and Negev brigades, estimated that the Egyptian forces consisted of 2,000 troops between Ashdod and the bridges to the north. The order called for the annihilation of the force on the night of June 1–2, first by staging a major attack on the supply lines, and later by assaulting and capturing Isdud. The command was officially given to Givati. The forces outlined were: seven Givati companies (of them three from the Irgun), three infantry companies and one JeepJeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
regiment from Negev, three companies from Yiftach
Yiftach Brigade
The Yiftach Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade...
, a 65 mm artillery battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
, and 4.2"
M2 4.2 inch mortar
-External links:* early detailed article on 4.2 mortar...
and 25-pounder
Ordnance QF 25 pounder
The Ordnance QF 25 pounder, or more simply, 25-pounder or 25-pdr, was introduced into service just before World War II, during which it served as the major British field gun/howitzer. It was considered by many to be the best field artillery piece of the war, combining high rates of fire with a...
platoons. The order also said, however, and if all forces and equipment were not assembled by zero hour, Givati would have to do with the forces that were mustered.
Immediately upon receiving the order, Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan
Shimon Avidan , born Shimon Koch , was an Israeli soldier and officer, the commander of the Givati Brigade during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war....
called an emergency meeting at Hatzor
Hatzor Airbase
Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base , also titled Kanaf 4 is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel, near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named...
. Yehoshua Goldrat, the only officer in the brigade who had experience from the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
operating a combined force of infantry, armor, artillery and air, wrote the operational order. The order was in English, as Goldrat was not fluent in Hebrew, and was handed out to the battalion commanders on June 1. The battalion commanders translated the document into Hebrew for the company commanders. According to the plan, six companies (3 Palmach
Palmach
The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
and 3 Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
) would attack the Egyptians from the south. Three companies (2 from the 52nd and one from the 51st battalions) would attack from the north, and two companies (one from the 53rd Battalion and one from Irgun) would prevent a retreat to the east. A company from the 53rd Battalion would block reinforcement from Majdal
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
. Only senior officers knew of the full plans however. Simha Shiloni, commander of the Palmach forces (Negev Beasts Battalion), commented that his forces came exhausted and completely unprepared to the assembly points, and he had given consent for their deployment only after being assured that they would serve as the operational reserve (the plan in fact called for these forces to lead the southern assault).
Zero hour was set for 03:00 on the night of June 1–2, but at the last moment an order came down to cancel the attack. This was a significant blow to the troops' morale, especially because before the operation, Abba Kovner
Abba Kovner
Abba Kovner was a Lithuanian Jewish Hebrew poet, writer, and partisan leader. He became one of the great poets of modern Israel. He was a cousin of the Israeli Communist Party leader Meir Vilner.-Biography:...
, the culture officer of Givati, made a speech claiming that the attack would be an historic moment when the IDF would annihilate the Egyptian forces. Shraga Gafni, in his book The Good Sapper Alex, and Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery
Uri Avnery is an Israeli writer and founder of the Gush Shalom peace movement.A member of the Irgun as a teenager, Avnery sat in the Knesset from 1965–74 and 1979–81...
in In the Fields of Philistia, provided excerpts from the speech:
Kfar Bilu
Kfar Bilu is a moshav in central Israel. Located between Rehovot and Kiryat Ekron, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In December 2010 it had a population of 1,318....
). The 53rd Battalion was to put two companies in Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel near the city of Kiryat Malakhi. It is affiliated with the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council....
, two platoons in Negba
Negba
Negba is a kibbutz in the northern Negev, Israel. Located near the cities of Kiryat Malakhi and Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Yoav Regional Council...
, and one in Kfar Warburg
Kfar Warburg
Kfar Warburg is a large moshav in central Israel. Located near Kiryat Malakhi with 98 farms covering an area of 6,000 dunams, it falls under the jurisdiction of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 873....
. Two companies from the 54th were to be placed at Tel Nof (Eqron Airbase). Six platoons from the 55th were to be based between al-Maghar
Al-Maghar
al-Maghar was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramla. It was depopulated by the Givati Brigade during Operation Barak on 18 May 1948. It was located 12 km southwest of Ramla, situated north of Wadi al-Maghar....
and al-Qubayba
Al-Qubayba
al-Qubayba was a Palestinian village, located 24 kilometers northwest of Hebron.-History:Known in Crusader times as Deirelcobebe, the ruins of the ancient Canaanite city of Lachish lay adjacent to the village, which was subject to extensive archaeological excavations by the British Mandatory...
. The 8th Brigade was to be based between Gat, Gal On
Gal On
Gal On is a kibbutz in Israel's southern lowlands associated with the Hashomer Hatzair movement and its Kibbutz Artzi settlement organisation . Established as part of the 1946 11 points in the Negev settlement drive, it is located approximately ten kilometers north east of Kiryat Gat and two...
and Nitzanim
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 343....
, as well as remaining in the Gedera
Gedera
-External links:** *...
–Bashit
Neve Mivtah
Neve Mivtah is a small moshav in the north end of Be'er Tuvia Regional Council, south near Bnei Ayish and Gedera. It borders Moshav Bitzaron to the south, the agricultural school Kannot to the east, Moshav Misgav Dov to the north, and Kvutzat Yavne to the west.The Moshav was founded in 1950 on...
area. A battalion was also temporarily transferred from Kiryati
Kiryati Brigade
The Kiryati Brigade was formed in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion and was one of the original nine brigades that made up the Haganah. The Kiryati Brigade was initially responsible for securing the area in and around Tel Aviv...
to Givati (now referred to as the 56th), preparing in Abu Shusha
Abu Shusha
Abu Shusha was an Arab village in Palestine, 8 km southeast of Ramle which was depopulated in 1948.Abu Shusha was located on the slope of Tel Jazar, which is commonly identified with the ancient city of Gezer....
and Hulda
Hulda, Israel
Hulda is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located in the Shephelah near the Hulda forest and the Burma Road, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 332...
. The 57th Battalion (Irgun) was to be placed in Zarnuqa
Zarnuqa
Zarnuqa was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Ramla.In 1924, the land was sold by Shukri brothers, and Abd al-Rahman al-Taji al-Farouqi....
. Of the Negev Brigade
Negev Brigade
The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...
, two companies would be in Camp Julis
Julis, Gaza
Julis was a Palestinian Arab village in the District of Gaza located northeast of Gaza on a slight elevation along the southern coastal plain. In 1945, there were 1,030 inhabitants in the village. It was depopulated during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War....
and one in Camp Beit Daras
Beit Daras
Bayt Daras was a Palestinian Arab town located on the Lachish River, northeast of Gaza and approximately above sea level, which was depopulated in 1948.-History:...
. Finally, the artillery forces were to keep their former positions, as well as taking new ones in Bitzaron
Bitzaron
Bitzaron is a moshav in the South District of Israel and part of the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. It is located on local road 3811, between Gan Yavne and Bnei Ayish. The moshav's population is approximately 1,000, and its area is about 5,000 dunams ....
.
On the same day, the Egyptian forces also changed the disposition of their forces, moving the 9th Battalion to the Ad Halom bridge, the 2nd to Isdud itself, and the 1st to Iraq Suwaydan and Faluja
Al-Faluja
al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...
. Heavy machine gun and armored units were dispersed in between. Staff soldiers and those who manned Bren carrier
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...
s took positions together with regular infantry soldiers. The Israeli side did not know of this development, but was aware that they had been detected in the previous night's preparations. The army was against attacking Isdud soon, but the order was given by the political echelon. The attack was expected to be a tactical failure; Avraham Ayalon writes that it could have succeeded if only the southern Egyptian force in Isdud itself was attacked, but attributes that lack of such a plan to the inexperience of the command and the heterogeneous nature of the Israeli force, which according to him could not have pulled off such an offensive.
The new IDF plans put forth for the June 2–3 operation were slightly changed from the original. These included 1,150 fighters, as opposed to 1,300 in the initial plan. The forces consisted of the following: two Palmach companies from the Beersheba Battalion and one from the Negev Beasts Battalion, under Yohanan Zariz, a light vehicle company, two companies from the 54th Battalion and one from the 51st, under Zvi Zur, three Irgun companies, a reinforced company and platoon from the 53rd Battalion and eight artillery pieces (six Napoleonchiks and two 4.2" mortar
M2 4.2 inch mortar
-External links:* early detailed article on 4.2 mortar...
s). Another light vehicle company would be in the operational reserve. Against them were placed Egypt's 2nd Brigade, including the 2nd and 9th Battalions, three medium gun platoons, the brigade headquarters, and 12 pieces of artillery.
Operation
Avia S-199
|-See also:-External links: *** with more pictures and further information...
bombed Egyptian positions in Isdud at 18:00 on June 2. Five light planes—two Fairchild 24s, two Rapide
De Havilland Dragon Rapide
The de Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide was a British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s.-Design and development:Designed by the de Havilland company in late 1933 as a faster and more comfortable successor to the DH.84 Dragon, it was in effect a twin-engined, scaled-down version of the...
s and one Bonanza
Beechcraft Bonanza
The Beechcraft Bonanza is an American general aviation aircraft introduced in 1947 by The Beech Aircraft Corporation of Wichita, Kansas. , it is still being produced by Hawker Beechcraft, and has been in continuous production longer than any other airplane in history...
—also made bombing runs between 20:25 and 21:30. The bombardment did not make an impression on the readying Israeli soldiers, and in light of the noise created by the Egyptian anti-aircraft guns, the Israelis considered that the plane was lucky to have survived the run. In addition, the troops were exhausted, not having had proper sleep in the four days preceding the operation. At 22:00, the Israeli forces started moving against the Egyptian positions.
A soldier from the 54th Battalion said of the airstrike:
Close to sunset, while we were in the staging area in Gan Yavne, our airplane appeared above us and turned to Ashdod. We blessed it in our hearts. A few minutes hadn't passed when the skies that were red because of the sunset, became several times redder from the anti-aircraft positioned in the Ashdod area that flooded the sky, chasing this airplane. The fire was great, and its impression on us – with all our excitement about the view – was most difficult. 'Great fire the Egyptians have' said the soldiers and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the orphan airplane manage to escape alive. ... And the opinions varied: some claimed, that tomorrow a Hebrew airplane would be able to fly over Ashdod easily, because it would fall into our hands, and others prayed for a similar fate – to dip in the fire and escape alive. |
קרוב לשקיעת החמה, בהיותנו בשטח הכינוס בגן־יבנה, הופיע אוירון שלנו מעלינו ופנה לאשדוד. ברכנוהו בלבנו. לא עברו דקות ספורות והשמים האדומים בשל שקיעת השמש האדימו, פי כמה, מפגזי התותחים הנגד־מטוסיים המוצבים באיזור אשדוד שהציפו את הרקיע בדרכם אחרי אוירון זה. האש היתה עצומה ורישומה עלינו – עם כל התפעלותנו מן הנוף – היה קשה ביותר. אש עצומה יש למצרים' אמרו החברים ונשמו לרוחה כשראו את אוירוננו היתום מצליח להסתלק בשלום. – – – והדעות נחלקו: היו שטענו, שמחר יוכל אוירון עברי לטוס בשקט מעל אשדוד, כיון שנפול תיפול בידינו, והיו שהתפללו לגורל דומה – לטבול באש אך לצאת ממנה בשלום |
Northern effort
The forces that were to attack the Isdud bridge (today Ad HalomAd Halom
Ad Halom is a site at the eastern entrance to the city of Ashdod, Israel.-Battle:Ad Halom refers to the northernmost point reached by the Egyptian army in Operation Pleshet, one of the battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War....
) set out from Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne is a in the Center District of Israel, located adjacent to the city of Ashdod. It was founded in 1931 and declared a local council in 1950.Gan Yavne lies east of the Tel-Aviv–Ashkelon highway...
at 22:20: the 3rd Company of the 51st Battalion (commanded by Yosef "Yosh" Harpaz), a mixed company from the 54th (from the 2nd and 3rd companies) under Asher Dromi, and the 54th's 1st Company under Aryeh Kotzer. The overall commander was Zvi Zur, who was accompanied by the battalion staff, soldiers from a light vehicle company, and from the 54th's 3rd Company. According to plan, Zur was meant to flank the Egyptians from the west and achieve surprise. When they reached Wadi Fakhira however, about 700 m from the Egyptian position, it proved difficult to cross and caused a significant delay.
The movement was discovered at about 00:30 on June 3, and Zur's force lost the element of surprise. The Egyptian position that engaged the Israelis had two companies, but Harpaz, the 51st's 3rd Company's commander, underestimated the force and reported that it contained only one platoon. Zur decided to regroup in the wadi
Wadi
Wadi is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some cases, it may refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain or simply an intermittent stream.-Variant names:...
and ordered Aryeh Kotzer's 1st Company to stay and engage the Egyptians at the spot where they were originally discovered and assault the pillbox there, while the rest of the forces would try a turning movement
Turning movement
In military tactics, a turning movement involves an attacker's forces reaching the rear of a defender's forces, separating the defender from their principal defensive positions and placing them in a pocket...
.
Even though some of his soldiers came within 60 meters of the pillbox, after 19 of them (over a third) were killed and the sun began rising in the horizon, Kotzer decided to retreat, unable to receive official permission due to communication problems. He ordered all of his troops to collect the wounded and any weapons they could carry, helping with the task himself. The dead were left in the field, including the medic
Combat medic
Combat medics are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury...
s (not a single medic survived). The injured were brought under fire into the wadi and at about 07:00 the force made its way to an unoccupied two-storey building on the east bank. After the Egyptians started shelling the building with mortars, Kotzer's company began to move towards Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne is a in the Center District of Israel, located adjacent to the city of Ashdod. It was founded in 1931 and declared a local council in 1950.Gan Yavne lies east of the Tel-Aviv–Ashkelon highway...
.
A soldier who witnessed the events stated:
I will never forget the parting look that Aryeh gave toward the wadi and in fact toward his dead who remained in the cursed wadi. Only five of us were still in the wadi: Kotzer, Izi the staff sergeant, and three guards, including myself. Kotzer commanded us to run towards the house in the grove, while he stayed last and a world of grief in his eyes. For another moment he glanced at the wadi, as if to say goodbye to his friends-subordinates, and then turned to run after us. |
לעולם לא אשכח את מבט הפרידה ששלח אריה קוצר לעבר הואדי ולמעשה לעבר ההרוגים שלו שנשארו בואדי הארור. נשארנו בואדי חמישה: קוצר, איזי הרס"פ ושלושה מבטיחים, בתוכם אנוכי. קוצר פקד עלינו לקפוץ לעבר הבית שבפרדס ואילו הוא נשאר אחרון ויגון עולם בעיניו. רגע הפנה עוד מבטו לואדי, להיפרד כביכול מחבריו־פקודיו, ואחר פנה לרוץ בעקבותינו |
Egyptian Army
The Egyptian Army is the largest service branch within the Egyptian Armed Forces and holds power in the current Egyptian government. It is estimated to number around 379,000, in addition to 479,000 reservists for a total of 858,000 strong. The modern army was created in the 1820s, and during the...
. After advancing, they encountered what were probably Bren carrier
Universal Carrier
The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrong. Produced between 1934 and 1960, the vehicle was used widely by British Commonwealth forces during the Second World War...
s, which their commander reported were tanks. Harpaz then sent the second, more experienced, platoon of 15 men, who were also able to better utilize the cover fire. Eventually, the first platoon fled from the battlefield without being ordered to do so and the attack was only two platoons strong. However, this still assisted Aryeh Kotzer on the other side of the Egyptian positions to evacuate his injured troops.
At dawn, after his attacked failed to overtake any major positions, Zur decided to withdraw, for the first time in his life. He ordered Harpaz's company, which had the most casualties, to go first, and at 06:00 told Dromi's company to follow. Harpaz's company had five men missing in action, four of whom were picked up by Dromi's people. One of Dromi's platoons remained on top of a sand dune to provide cover fire for the retreat. Meanwhile, the rest of the company made its way under the road and the railway through culvert
Culvert
A culvert is a device used to channel water. It may be used to allow water to pass underneath a road, railway, or embankment. Culverts can be made of many different materials; steel, polyvinyl chloride and concrete are the most common...
s. On the eastern side, Dromi met Harpaz. They sent the cover platoon home with the injured, and remained in their place to wait for Zur. Their lookout also spotted Kotzer's retreating company and Harpaz requested artillery cover using the only working communication device they had. The Napoleonchiks missed their targets, but deterred the Egyptians, who stopped following Kotzer.
Zur was extremely reluctant to withdraw his personal forces. He decided to do so only at 09:00, when it became clear that the other two companies were at a safe distance, and the Egyptians were massing for a counterattack. First, the injured were evacuated, then the rest of the forces made their way back, each squad providing cover for the next. The Egyptian artillery caused the forces to scatter, and the commanders had difficulty diverting them to the general retreat path. After they came to a small grove to the west of the main road, it was discovered that three were missing and 17 injured, who were treated by the only remaining medic. Approximately at noon, Zur's men met with Dromi and Harpaz, and the working communication device was used to summon vehicles to take the soldiers to Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne
Gan Yavne is a in the Center District of Israel, located adjacent to the city of Ashdod. It was founded in 1931 and declared a local council in 1950.Gan Yavne lies east of the Tel-Aviv–Ashkelon highway...
.
Southern effort
Four motorized companies from the Negev BrigadeNegev Brigade
The 12th Negev Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade that served in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. It was commanded by Nahum "Sergei" Sarig and consisted of four Palmach battalions...
left Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia
Be'er Tuvia is a moshav in the Southern District of Israel near the city of Kiryat Malakhi. It is affiliated with the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council....
. They set up a position of 4.2 inch mortar
M2 4.2 inch mortar
-External links:* early detailed article on 4.2 mortar...
s and medium machine guns about mid-way between Isdud and Beit Daras
Beit Daras
Bayt Daras was a Palestinian Arab town located on the Lachish River, northeast of Gaza and approximately above sea level, which was depopulated in 1948.-History:...
, to shell Isdud from the southeast. A reinforced company also left Be'er Tuvia and took up positions between Hill 69 and the military base near Nitzanim
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 343....
to cut off Egyptian reinforcements coming from Majdal
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
. The 57th Battalion (consisting of Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
veterans) left Hatzor to assault Isdud from the northeast. The 53rd Battalion was accompanied by a reinforced platoon of 44 soldiers from the temporary 58th Battalion (a new recruit unit), which made its way to Nitzanim in order to be replaced by a more experienced platoon from the 53rd.
When the Negev forces reached the coastal road
Highway 4 (Israel)
Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
, they realized that they could not continue on their vehicles, which could not travel in the sand dunes to the west of the road. The vehicles were therefore left with a platoon to the south of Isdud to block a possible Egyptian retreat. The other soldiers continued on foot into the sand dunes in an attempt to flank the Egyptian positions. On the second try, the Negev forces successfully captured several key points in the village, and destroyed a cannon. Nahum Sarig, the Negev Brigade commander, later wrote that the lack of intelligence
Intelligence (information gathering)
Intelligence assessment is the development of forecasts of behaviour or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organization, based on a wide range of available information sources both overt and covert. Assessments are developed in response to requirements declared by the leadership...
on the enemy prevented the Israeli force from continuing its assault, while the Egyptians had time to regroup.
Despite Negev's achievements, they were also given an order to retreat, as the Israeli command did not wish to fight in broad daylight. The retreating forces had no choice but to use a route similar to the ones they came from, which slowed down their movement. Most of the machine guns that they had brought had broken down in the sandy environment, and could not provide them with cover. They were also carrying a multitude of wounded soldiers. Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib
Muhammad Naguib was the first President of Egypt, serving from the declaration of the Republic on June 18, 1953 to November 14, 1954. Along with Gamal Abdel Nasser, he was the primary leader of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, which ended the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt and Sudan...
decided to use the armored vehicles in his operational reserve against the retreating forces, fearing a possible cut-off from the rest of the Egyptian forces in Palestine. According to Simha Shiloni, commander of the Negev Beasts battalion, the Israelis, especially the wounded, thought that all was lost when this happened. However, the vehicles stopped eventually as they got bogged down in the sands, and the troops made it back to Nitzanim
Nitzanim
Nitzanim is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon and Ashdod on the Nitzanim dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 343....
. Sixteen Israeli soldiers were killed in the retreat.
Meanwhile, the 57th Battalion made its way via Barqa towards Isdud. These troops were meant to serve as a diversionary force. As such, when they reached Wadi al-Jurf, about 750 m (820.2 yd) from the Egyptian position, they decided not to cross the wadi and instead fired on the Egyptians from the other side. They were too far away however to inflict concrete damage, but also did not suffer any casualties. Nahum Sarig later accused this force of also falsely reporting their positions, undermining the efforts of his Negev Brigade.
On Hill 69 and the coastal road
Highway 4 (Israel)
Highway 4 is an Israeli highway that runs along Israel's entire coastal plain of the Mediterranean Sea, its route in the north runs from the Rosh HaNikra border crossing with Lebanon until the Erez Border Crossing with the Gaza Strip...
, the 53rd Battalion intercepted and engaged a contingent of Egyptian reinforcements from Majdal. After the battles, the 53rd Battalion reported that at 03:00, they had been ready to ambush possible reinforcements, and at 06:00, an Egyptian convoy of two armored vehicles and 4 other vehicles made their way to Isdud. They were hit by Israeli mines, operated by Avraham Schwarzstein's platoon (see Battle of Nitzanim
Battle of Nitzanim
The Battle of Nitzanim was a battle fought between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, on June 7, 1948...
), and only two vehicles made it out and back to Majdal. At 09:00 the general retreat order was given, and after reaching Nitzanim, Schwarzstein's platoon set out to assist the Negev forces' retreat, helping carry the 20-so casualties. The forces on Hill 69 retreated only at noon to Be'er Tuvia.
Aftermath and significance
Yibna
Yibna was a Palestinian village of 5,420 inhabitants, located 15 kilometers southwest of Ramla. Yibna was occupied by Israeli forces on June 4, 1948, and was depopulated during the military assault and expulsion.-History:...
and Isdud, carried out several such successful operations, regaining prestige in the brigade.
While the Israelis suffered a major tactical defeat in Operation Pleshet, it is generally believed in Israel that the strategic goal of the operation—stopping the Egyptian advance—was achieved, unbeknown to the Israeli command at the time. This also allowed the capture of Arab Yibna, where the remaining residents expected the Egyptian Army to reach them, and mostly fled following the battle. Since the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine line ran between Isdud and Yibna, the outcome of the battle meant that on the coastal strip, the Egyptians had failed to cross over into territory assigned to the State of Israel. The bridge over the Lakhish River has since been known as Ad Halom
Ad Halom
Ad Halom is a site at the eastern entrance to the city of Ashdod, Israel.-Battle:Ad Halom refers to the northernmost point reached by the Egyptian army in Operation Pleshet, one of the battles of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War....
("thus far").
Even though in his 1955 book Egypt's Destiny, Naguib wrote that his brigade's successful stand was a glorious victory with few consequences, estimating 450 Israeli dead (out of a perceived 4,000 attackers), a logbook captured by Israel during the war revealed that he was extremely worried about the future fate of his forces. He requested immediate assistance, including air support to determine the location of the Israeli cannons, a medevac unit, reinforcements, munitions and communication wires. It is also likely that he believed that the 53rd Battalion's force blocking the road from Majdal was still in place, and therefore thought that he was surrounded.
Sizable reinforcements—the 6th Battalion—came to Naguib only when his 9th Battalion was poised to attack Nitzanim
Battle of Nitzanim
The Battle of Nitzanim was a battle fought between the Israel Defense Forces and the Egyptian Army in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, on June 7, 1948...
. Aside from Nitzanim (June 7), the Egyptian Army shifted its entire concentration on clearing it flanks, successfully clearing a path between Majdal
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
and al-Faluja
Al-Faluja
al-Faluja was an Arab village in the British Mandate of Palestine, located 30 kilometers northeast of Gaza City. The village and the neighbouring village of Iraq al-Manshiyya formed part of the Faluja pocket, where 4,000 Egyptian troops were besieged for four months by the newly established Israel...
. The Israeli chronicler and officer Avraham Ayalon wrote that the Israeli retreat from Hill 69 on June 3, along with the rest of the forces, which he believed unnecessary, was a major contributing factor to the subsequent Egyptian victories.
Historiography
The main points of historiographical dispute about the battle are whether or not the Egyptians were planning to advance northward toward Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, and whether or not the battle was one of the turning points of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. On June 18, after the first truce of the war took effect, Nahum Sarig said in a staff meeting, attended by the Minister of Defense, that at the time the Egyptian plans were not clear, but that now their plans were to penetrate the Negev. Ben Gurion, on the other hand, noted in his diary that the Egyptians were set on taking Tel Aviv and advancing north. In 1958, Major General Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
addressed the issue; he felt that the Egyptian stop at Isdud was the result of technical difficulties, following fifteen days of continuous movement, including battles along the way. This, Rabin thought, along with ground and aerial counterattacks, eventually delayed their drive on Tel Aviv. Later, he said, the Egyptians tried to make contact with the Jordanian forces at Latrun
Latrun
Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley in Israel overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...
and, after a failed pincer movement, tried to cut the Negev off from Israel. According to Israeli historian Reuven Aharoni, the battle's glorification and idealization suited the sentimental needs of the Israeli people. He believes that there is still no definite answer to the question of whether or not the Egyptians planning to drive on to Tel Aviv.
Israeli Arab
Arab citizens of Israel
Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....
historian Mustafa Kabha wrote that Egyptian and other Arab historians did not attribute as much importance to the battle as Israeli ones. They ask what the Egyptian objective was, and whether or not it was wise to advance without securing their lines of communication. Abdullah el Tell
Abdullah el Tell
Abdullah el-Tell, served in the Transjordanian Arab Legion during the 1948 war in Palestine rising from the rank of company commander to become Military Governor of the Old City of Jerusalem...
, commander of the Jordanian Legion in Jerusalem, thought that the Egyptians did not consider the Legion's needs. Aware of their weaknesses, they did not let anything distract them from reaching Tel Aviv. The Egyptian war log, from 19:00 on May 28, 1948, showed concern over the lines of communication. Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari
Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari
Muhammad Nimr al-Hawari was a Nazareth-born Bedouin who studied law in Jerusalem, graduating in 1939. al-Hawari served in the British Mandate administration as chief interpreter in the district court of Jaffa and chairman of the Association of Government second-division officers...
wrote that while the Egyptians publicly declared that the target was Tel Aviv, they never actually meant to advance farther than their Isdud fortifications. As evidence, he cited the Egyptian refusal to take the undefended Yibna despite the villagers' repeated cries for help. Bahjat Abu-Gharbiyeh, one of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni
Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni was a Palestinian Arab nationalist and fighter who in late 1933 founded the secret militant group known as the Organization for Holy Struggle, , which he and Hasan Salama commanded as the Army of the Holy War during the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt and during the 1948...
's deputies and commander of the Beit Jibrin area, wrote that the Egyptians never had a clear plan, because their leadership were not really interested in a war. Therefore, their efforts were improvised. Kabha concludes that Arab historiography considers the battle the successful realization of a tactical move, designed to serve the actions of the badly coordinated Arab armies.
The Egyptian officer Kamal Ismail ash-Sharif commented in his memoirs that this was a turning point in the war on the Egyptian–Israeli front:
Israeli historian David Tal
David Tal (historian)
David Tal is an Israeli historian and professor. Since 2009, he has been the Kahanoff Chair in Israeli Studies at the University of Calgary, Canada. He is an expert on Israel's security and diplomatic history, as well as U.S...
agreed with this view; Yoav Gelber
Yoav Gelber
Yoav Gelber is a professor of history at the University of Haifa, and was formerly a visiting professor at The University of Texas at Austin....
, when asked about this, commented that the significance of the attack, along with two other major tactical failures—Latrun and Jenin
Jenin
Jenin is the largest town in the Northern West Bank, and the third largest city overall. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate and is a major agricultural center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, the city had a population of 120,004 not including the adjacent refugee...
—was in the fact that the initiative passed to the Israeli side, and the Arabs conducted only small assaults after these operations. Scholar Fawaz Gerges
Fawaz Gerges
Fawaz A. Gerges is a professor and author with expertise on the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, international relations, Al Qaeda, and relations between the world of Islam and the West....
noted that the Egyptians originally assumed that the further their army advances, the weaker the Israeli resistance would become.
Unlike traditional Israeli historiography, Arab sources in general do not see it as a turning point in the war. They agree that the Egyptian declarations regarding Tel Aviv as the main strategic objective were ostentatious rather than operative. In his book 1948, New Historian
New Historians
The New Historians are a loosely-defined group of Israeli historians who have challenged traditional versions of Israeli history, including Israel's role in the Palestinian Exodus in 1948 and Arab willingness to discuss peace. The term was coined in 1988 by one of the leading New Historians, Benny...
Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
also disagrees with the traditional Israeli view, and states that portraying the operation as the catalyst for the Egyptian halt is a mistake. However, in a March 15, 2007 panel of historians, Morris said that at least in the Egyptian expeditionary force, the Israeli attack did lead to a decision to stop advancing.