Tag Archives: Syria

Jew of the Week: Meir Har-Zion

Israel’s Real-Life Rambo

Meir Har-Zion (1934-2014) was born in the new town of Herzliya in 1934. His mother’s side hailed from Sephardic-Turkish heritage, while his father’s side came from Romania and Russia. He spent his early years on a number of different kibbutzim and moshavim. He loved hiking and exploring the Holy Land, together with his younger sister, and the two youths were once arrested by Syrian authorities when they wandered a little too far. It happened again in 1951, and it took negotiations mediated by the UN to secure their release. Two years later, Har-Zion was a co-founder of Unit 101, Israel’s first special forces commando team. While sometimes brutal, the operations of Unit 101 were essential in securing Israel’s borders and maintaining its defenses in the early years. They also made it clear that the new IDF is a force to be reckoned with, and that Israel would respond forcefully if provoked. In 1954, Har-Zion joined the 890^th Paratroopers, led by Ariel Sharon. The following year, Har-Zion’s beloved sister and her boyfriend were abducted by Bedouin Arabs, tortured, and murdered. Despite being ordered to restrain himself, Har-Zion vowed revenge. He took three fellow soldiers and infiltrated the Bedouin town, capturing six men, killing five of them, and sending the sixth back to relay what happened. Har-Zion was heavily condemned for his actions, and temporarily imprisoned. Still, David Ben-Gurion described the act as “the kind of ritual revenge the Bedouins understood perfectly.” In one 1956 paratrooper mission, Har-Zion was nearly killed by being shot in the throat and arm. He survived, though forced to retire due to his injuries. He was awarded the Medal of Courage. During the Six-Day War, Har-Zion was called up again and, despite having just one arm, participated in the liberation of Jerusalem. He played a key role, hunting down a Jordanian sniper that was holding up the Israeli advance, and killing him with a grenade. In the Yom Kippur War, Har-Zion volunteered again to battle for the country’s survival, and fought deep in Syrian territory, even managing to save the lives of several soldiers. Har-Zion lived out the rest of his life on a farm that he named after his sister. He married, had four children, and wrote memoirs and political commentary. Moshe Dayan described Har-Zion as “the best soldier ever to emerge in the IDF”.

Words of the Week

It is manifestly right that the Jews should have a National Home where some of them may be reunited. And where else could that be but in this land of Palestine, with which for more than 3,000 years they have been intimately and profoundly associated?
– Winston Churchill

Jew of the Week: Moshe Dayan

The Military Genius Who Made War—and Peace

Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) was born on the first kibbutz, Degania Alef, to Jewish-Ukrainian parents. He was named after Moshe Barsky, a kibbutznik from Degania who was murdered in an Arab attack. At just 14 years of age, Dayan joined the Haganah defense force. In 1936, he began training with a British military unit headed by his hero, Major General Wingate. During World War II, Dayan was part of a unit that ran covert operations in Nazi-allied Vichy French territory and participated in the Allied invasion of Syria and Lebanon. In one battle, a sniper bullet missed his head, but the resulting shrapnel destroyed his left eye. His eye muscles were ruined, too, so he could not be fitted with a glass eye, and henceforth wore his characteristic black patch. During Israel’s Independence War, Dayan commanded the Jordan Valley units, and was able to stop the Syrian advance. He also led the takeover of towns like Ramle and Lod, and was part of the negotiating team that brought the war to an end. In 1949, Dayan took charge of the Southern Command and worked to secure Israel’s borders. This meant a policy of strong retaliation for Arab attacks, at times brutal. While it brought him a lot of condemnation, Dayan insisted that it was “the only method that proved effective”. In 1953, Ben-Gurion appointed Dayan the new Chief of Staff, and the latter went on to implement Ben-Gurion’s “three-year defence programme” to reorganize the IDF. Among his accomplishments was founding a military academy for high-ranking officers and establishing new intelligence units. In 1955, Dayan and Shimon Peres signed a series of deals with France to strengthen the IDF, leading to the purchase of over 100 jets, 260 tanks, and 300 trucks. In 1956, Dayan led Israel’s operation in the Sinai (jointly with France and England) and proved his military genius. The French later awarded Dayan with a Legion of Honour. After retiring from the IDF, Dayan joined Ben-Gurion’s government as Minister of Agriculture. During the Six-Day War, he took the military reins again as defense minister and oversaw the liberation of Jerusalem. He remained defense minister until the Yom Kippur War, after which he resigned due to what is generally considered to be his greatest failure. He subsequently fell into a deep depression. In 1977, Dayan returned to government as foreign minister and, no longer the hawk he once was, played a key role in the peace treaty with Egypt. Dayan spoke Arabic fluently, and lamented that more Israelis didn’t. He wrote four books and was also an amateur archaeologist, amassing a large collection of antiques which are now at the Israel Museum. In 1981, he founded a new political party, Telem, but passed away shortly after from a heart attack and complications of cancer. The New York Times eulogized him as “a general who made war, a diplomat who made peace.”

Words of the Week

We cannot save each water pipe from explosion or each tree from being uprooted. We cannot prevent the murder of workers in orange groves or of families in their beds. But we can put a very high price on their blood, a price so high that it will no longer be worthwhile for the Arabs, the Arab armies, for the Arab states to pay it.
– Moshe Dayan

Jew of the Week: Avigdor Ben-Gal

The Man Who Saved Israel

Avigdor Ben-Gal

Janusz Ludwig (1936-2016) was born in Lodz, Poland. At the outbreak of World War II, his family managed to escape to the Soviet Union. Unfortunately, they were soon mired in Siberia, where Ludwig’s parents disappeared. Thankfully, Ludwig and his sister made it to Israel, together with a group of other Polish children (many of whom were orphans) by way of Iran. They settled in Tel-Aviv, and were raised by their cousin. In Israel, Ludwig adopted a new name: Avigdor Ben-Gal. Though he initially aspired to be a physician, Ben-Gal enjoyed his military service with the IDF, and decided to be a career military man. He saw his first action in Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis. Just over a decade later, he was an operations chief during the Six-Day Way. By 1973, Ben-Gal was commander of the 7th Armored Brigade. He sensed that a war would soon break out, but was ridiculed by most others within the political and military sphere. Nonetheless, he began preparing his own brigade for war. When the Yom Kippur War did indeed break out, Ben-Gal’s brigade was the only one ready for combat. They were able to miraculously defeat the Syrians in the Golan Heights despite being heavily outnumbered (700 Syrian tanks vs. 175 Israeli tanks). Ben-Gal’s skill and heroics turned back the Syrian invasion after just 3 days of combat. He then led a brave counter-offensive that brought the IDF within 20 miles of Damascus just 4 days later. At the war’s conclusion, Ben-Gal was credited with having “saved the State of Israel” by defense minister Moshe Dayan. In 1976, Ben-Gal helped to plan the rescue operation of Israeli hostages in Entebbe. A year later, he was put in charge of Israel’s Northern Command. After retiring from the military, Ben-Gal served on the board of Israel Aerospace Industries, the state-owned aviation manufacturer (and one of Israel’s largest employers). He was also on the board of Tahal – an engineering and infrastructure company that is an important defense contractor – as well as the NSO Group, an Israeli tech start-up focusing on surveillance and security. Sadly, Ben-Gal passed away last Saturday.

Words of the Week

I will always stand with Israel. I can’t tolerate people who criticize Israel without walking in their shoes. I hate the lies they spread and their lack of knowledge. I’m proud to stand up for the Israelis.

– Adam Sandler