Giv'at Ha'Em (Hebrew: גבעת האם) is a hill (giv'a, Hebrew: גבעה) named for Henrietta Szold, known as the mother (em, Hebrew: אם) of Youth Aliya. The hill lies in Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 196 m above sea level, 1 km east of the Route 918 and 2 km north of Kfar Szold. The basalt hill, like a few other hills in the eastern Hula Valley, was formed by a spurt of basalt stone during the formation of the Jordan Rift Valley.
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Israeli soldiers began building a border outpost on Giv'at Ha'Em after the War of Independence. It was located directly across from Syrian positions like Tel Azaziat or Burj Babil on the slopes of the Golan Heights.
But also the Syrian army built strong fortifications on the slopes of the Golan Heights.
In the following years, Israeli troops on the hill were frequently involved in fire exchanges with Syrian troops, who were shelling the farmers in the Hula valley [1].
Syrian units designated to take part in Victory began assembling on the night of May 24. Troops from the Syrian 35th Division reinforced the positions at Banias and Tel Azaziat. [2]
During the Six-Day war, the 8th Brigade, which was brought from the Sinai, and the Golani Brigade were deployed near Giv'at Ha'Em. They had to face very difficult topographical conditions: the steep, rugged and rocky slopes of the Golan prevented an easy build of a transportation line, while the Syrian army sat in well fortified strongholds and could fire easily from above.
Nevertheless, it was from Giv'at Ha'em that Israel made its first advances into Syria.
After 2 days of heavy bombardment by the Israeli Air Force, the breakthrough came at 10:00 on the morning of 9 June, 1967. It was commanded by Colonel Albert's tank brigade 8, which showered the Syrian posts to the north, on the top of the Heights. In a complex engineering operation, soldiers from the Engineering Corps cleared the way of mines. They were followed by bulldozers which leveled a route for the tanks on the rocky face.
During the battle, the 8th Brigade advanced toward the direction of Zaura and Qela, while traversing difficult terrain and meeting Syrian resistance; at the end of the battle, only two functioning tanks reached Qela.
A force consisting of infantry, Nahal and paratroopers defeated a series of other posts overlooking the Hula valley in the southern sector of the Heights and enables the passage of tanks deep into enemy territory.
In the wake of the 8th the Golani brigade under the command of Colonel Yona Efrat advanced and captured the posts in Burj Babil, Tel Azaziat and Tel Faher.
At Burj Babil, Syrian officers fled after the first Israeli shots were fired, prompting their men to do the same. [3]
By contrast, the number of Syrian units that fought on in their positions even long after the Israelis had gained the upper hand was at least as great an probably greater, than those instances of units breaking at first contact. Indeed, at Tel Azaziat, the officers tried to surrender their position to the Israelis, but their men would have none of it: they fired on their officers and then fought the Israelis tooth and nail before they were overwhelmed by tank fire and the inevitable flanking attack.
In Tel Faher was the most fatal combat of all.
Battalion of the Golani Infantry Brigade was assigned to clear some thirteen positions, including Tel Fakhr--an imposing, horseshoe-shaped bastion three miles inside Syrian territory. All had been subjected to prolonged air attack in the hope of reducing their defenses or inducing their garrisons to flee. [..] the Israelis underestimated the bunkers' ability to withstand massive bombing, while navigational errors again placed them directly under the Syrians' guns. One by one, the battalion's nine tanks and nineteen half-tracks were picked off, their passengers wounded or killed. Reuven Dangor, driver of one of those tanks, found himself targeted by multiple artillery pieces. "No sooner had we passed the southern part of the tel than I felt a violent jolt ... The driver's compartment filled with smoke and then, when I finally recovered from the shock, we caught another blast, harder and deadlier than the first, in the turret. I escaped through the emergency hatch and looked for the crewmembers who'd been sitting in the turret. The turret, though, was empty."[4]
On the night of June 9 - 10, the 8th brigade advanced toward the Banias region and captured it on the morning of the 10th of June.
Today, on top of the quiet hill are various explanations built by the Jewish National Fund (KKL, JNF). There is an almost unbeatable view of the eastern Upper Galilee, where the costly battle took place. The former frighteningly well fortified Syrian base of Tel Azaziat has lost its scariness.
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