Palmach

Palmach
Palmach.jpg
Palmach badge
Active 1941-1948
Country British Mandate of Palestine
Type Strike force
Part of Haganah
Motto "Always at your command"
"לפקודה תמיד אנחנו"
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Yigal Allon, Yitzhak Sadeh,
Yitzhak Rabin, Moshe Dayan

The Palmach (Hebrew: פלמ"ח, acronym for Plugot Macḥatz (Hebrew: פלוגות מחץ), lit. "strike force") was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941. By the outbreak of the Israeli War for Independence in 1948, it consisted of three fighting brigades and auxiliary aerial, naval and intelligence units. With the creation of Israel's army the three Palmach Brigades were disbanded. This and political reasons led to many of the senior Palmach officers resigning in 1950.[1]

The Palmach contributed significantly to Israeli culture and ethos, well beyond its military contribution. Its members formed the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command for many years, and were prominent in Israeli politics, literature and culture.

Contents

History

Women of the Palmach at Ein Gedi, 1942
Beit Keshet, First Palmach outpost, 1944

The Palmach was established by the Haganah High Command on May 14, 1941. Its two primary aims where to protect the Yishuv against attacks by Arabs in the event of a British retreat from Palestine; and defence of Palestine against an Axis invasion. Yitzhak Sadeh was named as Palmach commander.[2] Initially the group consisted of around one hundred men. In the early summer of 1941 the British military authorities agreed to joint operations against Vichy French forces in Lebanon and Syria. The first action was a sabotage mission against oil installations at Tripoli, North Lebanon. Twenty-three Palmach members and a British liaison officer set out by sea but were never heard of again.[3] On 8 June mixed squads of Palmach and Australians began operating in Lebanon and Syria. The success of these operations lead the British GHQ to fund a sabotage training camp for three hundred men at Mishmar Ha'emek. Since the Palmach consisted of unpaid volunteers, the funding was used to cover the needs of twice that number of men.[4] However, after the Allied victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1943, the British ordered the dismantling of Palmach. The whole organization went underground instead.

Underground

Since British funding had stopped, Yitzhak Tabenkin, head of the Kibbutzim union suggested the Palmach could be self-funding by having its members work in the Kibbutzim. Each Kibbutz would host a Palmach platoon and supply them with food, homes and resources. In return the platoon would safeguard the kibbutz and carry out work such as agricultural work.[5] The proposal was accepted in August 1942, when it was also decided that each month Palmach members would have eight training days, 14 work days and seven days off.

Combining military training with agricultural work meant:

  1. Maintenance of an independent, easily mobilized military force.
  2. A force in which members' labor funded 80% of Palmach's budget. Money from Haganah was dedicated to weapons and training.
  3. The force would be hard to track down.
  4. Easier recruitment of people from Kibbutzim and Moshavim.
  5. The creation of groups of settlers, who could form the base for future settlements.
  6. Education of soldiers in Zionist values.

The program of combined military training, agricultural work and Zionist education was called "Hach'shara Meguyeset" הכשרה מגויסת (meaning "Drafted/Recruited Training").

Later on, it was agreed with the Zionist youth movements that each person from the ages of 18-20 ("Gar'een" meaning "nucleus" or "core group") would undergo training. This was the base for the Nahal settlements. The training enabled Palmach to expand its numbers and recruit more people.

Basic training included physical fitness, small arms, mêlée and Kapap, basic marine training, topography, first aid and squad operations. Most of the Palmach members received advance training in one or more of the following areas: sabotage and explosives, reconnaissance, sniping, communications and radio, light and medium machine guns, and operating 2-inch and 3-inch mortars. Platoon training included long marches, combined live-fire drills with artillery support and machine guns and mortars.

The Palmach put great emphasis on training independent and broadminded field commanders who would take the initiative and set an example for their troops. It trained squad commanders and company commanders. The major commanders training course was in the Palmach and many Haganah commanders were sent to be trained in the Palmach. The Palmach commanders' course was the source for many field commanders which were the backbone of Haganah, and, later, the Israeli Defense Forces.

Post World War II Operations

For seven months after the assassination of Lord Moyne, members of the Palmach under the command of Shimon Avidan were involved in the Saison Operation, in which they cooperated with the British in an attempt to crush the Irgun and Stern Gang.[6]
But with Ben Gurion's decision, 1 October 1945, to launch an armed struggle against the British, the Palmach entered an alliance with the dissident groups - called The Hebrew Resistance Movement.[7]

On 10 October 1945 a force led by Yitzhak Rabin raided the prison at Atlit freeing 208 Jewish prisoners. The first joint operation took place on 31 October 1945 when the Palmach sank three British patrol boats, 2 in Haifa and one in Jaffa, and were involved in 153 bomb attacks on bridges and culverts of the railway system.[8][9]

On the night of 22 February 1946 the Palmach attacked the Police Tegart fort at Shefa 'Amr with a 200 lb bomb; in the firefight that followed, the Palmach suffered casualties.[10]

In June 1946 the Palmach blew up ten of the eleven bridges connecting Palestine to its neighbouring countries.[11]

The alliance was never completely under Haganah control and the Irgun launched a series of ever more ruthless attacks[12] culminating in the King David Hotel bombing. This attack was the Irgun's response to a British crack-down, "Black Sabbath", launched on 29 June 1946. A combination of the crack-down and the Jewish civilian leadership's outrage at the King David attack led Ben Gurion to call off further Palmach operations.[13]

The War for Independence

Retaliation raids

After a gap of over ten months the Palmach resumed operations. The one weapon of which there was no shortage was locally produced explosives.[14] On 20 May 1947 they blew up a coffee house in Fajja, specifically in retaliation for the murder of two Jews in near by Petah Tiqva.[15][16] Following the escalation of violence after the UN Partition Resolution the scale of the retaliation operations increased.

On 18 December 1947, in an operation approved by Palmach commander Yigal Allon, several houses were blown up in al Khisas, near the Lebanese border; a dozen civilians were killed.[17][18]

On 31 December 1947 170 men from the Palmach launched an attack on Balad al-Shaykh, Haifa, in retaliation for the killing 47 Jews at the Haifa oil refinery. Several dozen houses were destroyed and 60 villagers left for dead.[19][20]

Around Jaffa Palmach units destroyed houses in Yazur and Salama. An order dated 3 January 1948 said "The aim is ... to attack northern part of the village of Salama ... to cause deaths, to blow up houses and to burn everything possible."[21]

In the Upper Galilee, the Palmach's third Battalion commanded by Moshe Kelman, attacked Sa'sa', 15 February, and blew up ten houses, killing 11 villagers.[22] Further North, they raided al-Husayniyya, 16 March 1948, in retaliation for a land mine, they blew up five houses and killed "30 Arab adults."[23][24]

In the Northern Negev, 4 April 1948, a Palmach unit in two armoured cars destroyed "nine bedouin lay-bys and one mud hut" after a mine attack on a Jewish Patrol.[25]

During this period, on 16 January 1948, the Palmach lost 32 men in an ill-fated attempt to reinforce the garrison at Kfar Etzion.[26]

A change in objectives

Palmach sappers in ruins of a destroyed village, 1948.

On 20 February 1948 the Palmach launched an operation in Caesarea, North of Tel Aviv, in which they demolished 30 houses, six were left standing due to lack of explosives. The objective was to prevent them being occupied by British troops as a base against illegal immigrants. Yitzhak Rabin, Palmach's OC Operations, opposed the attack. Although occupied by Arabs the buildings were Jewish owned.[27]

With the activation of Plan D and its sub-operations Palmach units were used to demolish villages with the objective of preventing them being used by Palestinian irregulars or the ALA as bases.

Operation Nachshon

Following the attempt to clear the road to Jerusalem Palmach units "more or less systematically leveled the villages of al Qastal, Qalinya, Khuda and largely or partly destroyed Beit Surik, Biddu, Shu'fat, Beit Iksa, Beit Mahsir and Sheikh Jarrah (Jerusalem)."[28][29]

On 9 April a Palmach unit with mortars took part in the Irgun attack on Deir Yassin.[30][31]

Mishmar Ha'amek

Following the failed ALA attack on the Haganah base at Mishmar Ha'amek, and the Hagana's refusal of an offer of a truce, Haganah and Palmach troops counter attacked. Between 8–14 April ten villages came under Palmach control. Within two weeks they were leveled.[32][33]

Operation Yiftah and the conquest of Safad

According to Arab historian Walid Khalidi, the objective of this operation, under the command of Yigal Allon, was to clear upper Galilee of its Arab population.[34] The operation log book, 4 May 1948, states "blow up the houses and burn all the bedouin tents."[35] Typical of the attacks was that on Mughr al-Khayt whose residents fled after a night of bombardment on 2 May 1948.[36] Also on 2 May, the Palmach 3rd Battalion, commanded by Moshe Kelman, attacked Ein al-Zeitun with a Davidka, two 3 inch mortars and eight 2 inch mortars. During the following two days Palmach sappers blew up and burned all the houses.[37][38] In the aftermath of the capture of this village Battalion Commander Kelman ordered the execution of seventy prisoners.[39]

On 6 May the Palmach launched an attack on Safad. It failed to capture the citadel and the Palmach had to withdraw. The defenders offered a cease-fire which Allon refused. A second attack was launched on 9 May. This was preceded by a "massive concentrated barrage" using mortars and Davidkas. The empty Arab quarter of Safad was occupied on 11 May. Between 12,000 and 15,000 refugees had been created.[40]

In May 1948 the Palmach had 2,200 permanently mobilised members.[41][42][43]

Palmach units took a major part in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. At the beginning of the war, Palmach units were responsible for holding Jewish settlements (such as Gush Etzion, Kfar Darom and Revivim) against Arab militias. Although inferior in numbers and arms, Palmach soldiers held out long enough to allow the Haganah to mobilise the Jewish population and prepare for war.

The creation of the Israeli Army

A Palmach patrol in the Negev.

The Palmach's last operation as an independent unit was against the Irgun. On 22 June 1948 the Irgun moored the Altalena, loaded with weapons, off Tel Aviv. Ben-Gurion ordered the Palmach to prevent the arms being landed. In an operation commanded by Yigal Allon, with Yitzhak Rabin as his deputy, a cannon was used to sink the ship. Fourteen members of the Irgun were killed.[44]

After the establishment of the Israeli army, the Palmach was reorganised into three IDF brigades - the Negev Brigade, the Yiftach Brigade, and the Harel Brigade. The Negev and Yiftah Brigades fought in the Negev against the Egyptian army and managed to stop and later repulse it into the Gaza Strip and Sinai. The Yiftah Brigade was later transferred to the north. The Harel Brigade was centered on Jerusalem.

Military organization

The Palmach was organised into regular companies (six in 1943), and five or six special units.

Palmach special units included:

The German squad.

The Palmach put an emphasis on training field commanders (מפקדי שטח) and formed the basis for the Israeli army.

During the 1948–49 War of Independence the Palmach was expanded to form three infantry brigades commanded by Yigal Allon:

Negev Beasts

The Command Battalion controlled naval, air and commando companies.

The battlecry of the Palmach commander was "!אחרי" (Aharai), which literally means "after me!" or "follow me!". It refers to the commander leading his troops instead of sending them out and staying behind.

In politics and culture

The Palmach was a broad spectrum left-wing nationalist organisation, associated with socialist parties. Its members trained and lived in Kibbutzim. The political tendencies of its leaders such as Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Sadeh was towards Mapam, a left-wing party in opposition to David Ben-Gurion and the Mapai ruling party. In 1944 a major split had occurred in Palestine's Jewish community's dominant party, Mapai, led by David Ben-Gurion. The breakaway group, which evolved into Mapam, were inspired by Stalin's regime in the Soviet Union, and had a strong following in the Kibbutz movement. Since most of the Palmach's members came from the Kibbutzim the Mapam dominated the Palmach, with a majority of its officers being members.[45] After 1948 Ben Gurion, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the new state, had a series of confrontations with leaders of the Haganah and the Palmach. In a process that Ben-Gurion described as de-politicizing the army the three Palmach brigades were disbanded and in 1950 most of the Mapam officers resigned. Those Palmach members who had been in Mapam and remained in the army had to endure several years on the margins. The effect of the de-politicizing was that all senior army posts were held by Mapai members or Ben-Gurion loyalists.[46]After demobilization many Palmach members founded new Kibbutzim. In 1949 they set up Bar'am, Beit Guvrin, Nir Yitzhak (named in honour of Yitzhak Sadeh), Palmachim, Re'im, Rosh HaNikra, Re'im and Yir'on. Palmach members were not, however, a unified, homogeneous collective with a single ideology. In the early years of the state of Israel they could be found in all political parties.

Yigal Allon, Commander of Southern Front, watches the bombardment of Iraq Suwaydan, 9 November 1948

Yigal Allon, considered by many to be the representative of the Palmach generation, never reached a position of national leadership although he was Prime Minister for a few days between Eshkol's death and Meir's appointment in 1969. He died in 1980.

Besides military contributions, the Palmach had great influence over the Israeli "Tzabar" culture. Palmach activities included "Kumzitz" (sitting around a fire at night, eating, talking and having fun), public singing and cross-country walking trips. These often took on mythical proportions and have become favorite activities for Israelis.

The Palmach also contributed many anecdotes, jokes, "chizbat" (short funny tales, often based on exaggerations), songs and even books and stories.

Notable Palmach cultural figures include:

Notable Palmachniks

Palmach Museum

The Palmach museum , located on Chaim Levanon Street in Tel Aviv, near the Eretz Israel Museum, explores the Palmach legacy through the stories of individuals and groups. Visitors to the museum join the group of young Palmach recruits from its establishment, and advanced through the story of the Palmach until the end of the War of Independence. [47]

References

  1. ↑ Peri, Yoramn. "Between battles and ballots - Israeli military in politics". CUP 1983. ISBN 0 521 24414 5. Page 61.
  2. ↑ Yigal Allon, "Shield of David", SBN 297 00133 7, 1970. Page 117
  3. ↑ Allon, pages 118, 119.
  4. ↑ Allon, page 121.
  5. ↑ Allon, Pages 126, 127.
  6. ↑ Eric Silver, "Begin, A Biography". 1984, ISBN 0 297 78399 8. page 51.
  7. ↑ Silver, page 64.
  8. ↑ Silver, page 64.
  9. ↑ Edward Horne, "A Job Well Done, A History of the Palestine police Force 1920-1948". 1982. Page 289.
  10. ↑ Horne, pp 295,296. Also note the author's comment that the Palestine Police found the Palmach easier to penetrate than the Irgun. Page 298.
  11. ↑ Silver, page 64.
  12. ↑ Silver, Page 64: 27 December 1946 - 10 British servicemen killed; 25 February 1946 - 20 RAF planes destroyed; 26 April 1946 - 6 paratroopers killed in their beds at their Tel Aviv barracks.
  13. ↑ Silver, Page 68: Weizmann threatened to resign "I demand you stop all operations by all three underground groups." 17 July 1946. (before the King David bomb). Page 73: Ben Gurion acquiesced in a return to diplomacy.
  14. ↑ Dov Joseph, "The Faithful City - The Siege of Jerusalem 1948". Library of Congress number 60 10976. Page 8 : "For example, all the land mines used against Rommel came from Jewish factories in Palestine."
  15. ↑ Walid Khalidi, "All That Remains". 1992. ISBN 0 88728 224 5. Page 240.
  16. ↑ Benny Morris, "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem". 1987. ISBN 0 521 33928 9. Page 156.
  17. ↑ Khalidi, page 465. Including 4 children.
  18. ↑ Morris, pages 33,34.
  19. ↑ Morris, pages 43,156. Puts the number killed at the refinery as 70.
  20. ↑ Khalidi, page 154.
  21. ↑ Morris, page 157.
  22. ↑ Khalidi, pages 195, 196. Quotes New York Times 16/2/1948 five small children.
  23. ↑ Morris, page 56.
  24. ↑ Khalidi, page 456.
  25. ↑ Morris, Page 159.
  26. ↑ Morris, page 220.
  27. ↑ Morris, page 54. Describes it as "the first pre-planned expulsion of an Arab community by Haganah in 1948."
  28. ↑ Morris, page 158.
  29. ↑ Khalidi. page 309 - quotes Harry Levin's eyewitness account; page 278. 41 houses destroyed in Bayt Naqquba. Page 276. Gives the size of sixth Battalion as 4-500 men.
  30. ↑ Khalidi, page 290.
  31. ↑ Silver, page 88.
  32. ↑ Morris, pages 158, 159. "systematically destroyed."
  33. ↑ Khalidi. For example: page 142 - Abu Shushe, 155 houses in 1945 survey; page 143 - Abu Zurayq, 30 houses blown up; page 160 al Ghubbayya, 38 houses; page 169 - al Kafrayn "blown up completely", 95 houses; Al Mansi "all houses blown up", 98 houses.
  34. ↑ Khalidi, page 428: "cleanse the interior."
  35. ↑ Morris, page 155.
  36. ↑ Khalidi, page 479.
  37. ↑ Morris, page 103. Also Morris, page 122: 5 May, Palmach sappers blew up 50 houses in al-Zanghariyya and other villages in the area.
  38. ↑ Khalidi, page 436. 1933 census counts 127 houses in 'Ayn al-Zaytun.
  39. ↑ Khalidi, page 436.
  40. ↑ Morris, page 104.
  41. ↑ Morris, page 22.
  42. ↑ Eric Silver, "Begin, A Biography". 1984, ISBN 0 297 78399 8. Page 87: "Mid 1947 ... full-time Palmah, with 3,100 men and women."
  43. ↑ Dov Joseph, "The Faithful City - The Siege of Jerusalem, 1948". 1960. Library of Congress number 60-10976. Page 29: 2,100 fighters, 1,000 reserves.
  44. ↑ Silver, pages 107, 108.
  45. ↑ Peri, page 47. Five Brigade Commanders and its Commanding Officer Yigal Allon were members.
  46. ↑ Peri, page 62. Those who stayed: Yitzhak Rabin, Haim BarLev, David Elazar.
  47. ↑ Palmach Museum

Bibliography

External links