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Davidka
The Davidka ( yi, דוידקה, ''"Little David"'' or ''"Made by David"'' ) was a homemade Israeli mortar used in Safed and Jerusalem during 1947–1949 Palestine war. Its bombs were reported to be extremely loud, but very inaccurate and otherwise of little value beyond terrifying opponents; they proved particularly useful in scaring away both Arab soldiers and civilians. It is nominally classified as a 3-inch (76.2 mm) mortar, although the bomb was considerably larger. Etymology The Davidka ("Little David" or "Made by David"") was named for its inventor, David Leibowitch, although the name also metaphorically evoked the biblical battle of David and Goliath (I Samuel chap. 17): In 1948, the defense forces of the state of Israel felt themselves fighting against the "giant" British-trained and British-led professional Arab Legion, amongst many others, and so they felt the metaphor appropriate. History The mortar was designed at the Mikveh Israel agricultural school in Holon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Davidka Square
Davidka Square ( he, כיכר הדוידקה, ''Kikar HaDavidka'') is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Pines Street in West Jerusalem. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (, Freedom Square). It features a small memorial to the Davidka, a homemade Israeli mortar used in the defense of Jerusalem and other cities during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Background In the early stages of the War of Independence, the Israeli army had no artillery other than a primitive, homemade mortar that was not accurate but that made a thunderous explosion. The noise from this weapon – called the Davidka ("Little David") after its inventor, engineer David Leibovitch – often sent the enemy fleeing in panic. Mistaking the Davidka's explosion for an atomic bomb, the Arabs abandoned the northern town of Safed. The mortar was also used by the Harel Brigade in its defense of Jerusalem. The Israeli army used the Davidka exclusively until July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had been issued earlier that day, and a military coalition of Arab states entered the territory of British Palestine in the morning of 15 May. The day after the 29 November 1947 adoption of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine – which planned to divide Palestine into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and the Special International Regime encompassing the cities of Jerusalem and Bethlehem – an ambush of two buses carrying Jews took place in an incident regarded as the first in the civil war which broke out after the UN decision. The violence had certain continuities with the past, the Fajja bus attack being a direct response to a Lehi massacre on 19 November of five members of an Arab family, suspected of being British informan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Companies") was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of the British Mandate for Palestine. The Palmach was established on 15 May 1941. By the outbreak of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it consisted of over 2,000 men and women in 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 compelled many of the senior Palmach officers to resign in 1950. 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. History The Palmach was established by the Haganah High Command on 14 May 1941. Its aim was to defend the Palestin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little David
Little David was the nickname of an American 36-inch (914 mm) caliber mortar designed to breach the Siegfried Line and then used for test-firing aerial bombs during World War II. With the same calibre as the British Mallet's Mortar, constructed in May 1857, it is one of the largest-calibre guns ever built, having a larger calibre than both of Germany's Schwerer Gustav and Dora which were railway guns. retrieved 22 February 2013 History The mortar was developed as an extension of a previous proposal to destroy heavy concrete fortifications such as the Siegfried Line with massive plastic explosive charges delivered by rocket or bomb. During a discussion between representatives of the Ballistic Research Laboratory and the Office of the Chief of Ordnance it was suggested that instead of dropping such a charge from an airplane, it could be fired from a mortar. Development began of a 914 mm siege mortar firing a 3,600 lb shell. The mortar's base was a large steel box that was placed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abu Kabir
Abu Kabir ( ar, أبو كبير) was a satellite village of Jaffa founded by Egyptians following Ibrahim Pasha's 1832 defeat of Turkish forces in Ottoman era Palestine. During the 1948 Palestine war, it was mostly abandoned and later destroyed. After Israel's establishment in 1948, the area became part of south Tel Aviv. Officially named Giv'at Herzl ( he, גבעת הרצל, lit. Herzl's hill), the name of an adjacent Jewish neighborhood, the name Abu Kabir ( he, אבו כביר) continued to be used. Part or all of Abu Kabir was officially renamed Tabitha by the Tel Aviv municipality in 2011. History Egyptian rule The Egyptian troops of Ibrahim Pasha captured the city of Jaffa and its environs following a battle with the forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1832. Though Egyptian rule over this area continued only until 1840, Egyptian Muslims settled in and around Jaffa, founding the village of ''Sakhanat Abu Kabir'', along with '' Sakhanat al-Muzariyya'', among others. An eastern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holon
Holon ( he, חוֹלוֹן ) is a city on the central coastal strip of Israel, south of Tel Aviv. Holon is part of the metropolitan Gush Dan area. In it had a population of . Holon has the second-largest industrial zone in Israel, after Haifa. Its jurisdiction is 19,200 dunams and its population is about 194,273 residents as of 2018 according to CBS data. Etymology The name of the city comes from the Hebrew word ''holon'', meaning "(little) sand". The name Holon also appears in the Bible: "And Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs" (Book of Joshua 21:15). History Holon was founded on sand dunes six kilometers () from Tel Aviv in 1935.''The Guide to Israel'', Zeev Vilnay, Hamakor Press, Jerusalem, 1972, p.239 The Łódzia textile factory was established there by Jewish immigrants from Łódź, Poland, along with many other industrial enterprises. In February 1936, the cornerstone was laid for Kiryat Avoda, a Modernist building complex designed by architect Joseph ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shell (projectile)
A shell, in a military context, is a projectile whose payload contains an explosive, incendiary, or other chemical filling. Originally it was called a bombshell, but "shell" has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Modern usage sometimes includes large solid kinetic projectiles that is properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used. All explosive- and incendiary-filled projectiles, particularly for mortars, were originally called ''grenades'', derived from the French word for pomegranate, so called because of the similarity of shape and that the multi-seeded fruit resembles the powder-filled, fragmentizing bomb. Words cognate with ''grenade'' are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages. Shells are usually large-caliber projectiles fired by artillery, armored fighting vehicles (e.g. tanks, assault guns, and mortar carriers), warships, and autocannons. The shape ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved throughout history as the main liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period) and Samaritanism. Hebrew is the only Canaanite language still spoken today, and serves as the only truly successful example of a dead language that has been revived. It is also one of only two Northwest Semitic languages still in use, with the other being Aramaic. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew, with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity. For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as '' Lashon Hakodesh'' (, ) since an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haaretz
''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the ''International New York Times''. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the internet. In North America, it is published as a weekly newspaper, combining articles from the Friday edition with a roundup from the rest of the week. It is considered Israel's newspaper of record. It is known for its left-wing and liberal stances on domestic and foreign issues. As of 2022, ''Haaretz'' has the third-largest circulation in Israel. It is widely read by international observers, especially in its English edition, and discussed in the international press. According to the Center for Research Libraries, among Israel's daily newspapers, "''Haaretz'' is considered the most infl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harel Brigade
Harel Brigade (, ''Hativat Harel'') is a reserve brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Southern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Palestine war, also known as "Israel's War of Independence." It is one of the former divisions of the Palmach, the elite fighting force of the Haganah, that remains in the Israeli Defense Forces. History War of Independence The Harel Brigade was established on 16 April 1948 as a division of the Palmach, immediately after Operation Nachshon. It was composed of three battalions (''Sha'ar Hagai'' - known as the First Battalion; ''Ha-portzim'' - known as the Second Battalion; and the ''Giv'ati'' 54th Battalion). 1,400 men, which had fought in Operation Nachshon in the Jerusalem area. Therefore, its name Harel ("Mountain of God") is taken from mount Zion in Jerusalem. This infantry unit was headed by Yitzhak Rabin, who was appointed its first commander, and who was later replaced by Joseph Tabenkin. During the early phase ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yiftach Brigade
The Yiftach Brigade (also known as the Yiftah Brigade, the 11th Brigade in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War) was an Israeli infantry brigade. It included two Palmach battalions (the 1st and 7th), and later also the 2nd, which was transferred from the Negev Brigade. The Palmach memorial website records 274 of its members being killed whilst in the Yiftach Brigade. File:Moshe Kelman ii.jpg, Moshe Kelman, commander during Operation Yiftach File:Mula Cohen.jpg, Mula Cohen, commander during Operation Danny File:Gideon Eilat.jpg, Gideon Eilat commander during Operation Yoav Military operations The Yiftach Brigade participated in the following Israeli military operations: * Operation Yiftach * Operation Yoram * Operation Danny * Operation Yoav * Metzudat Koach Memorial The memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Yiftach Brigade is situated in the northern Negev north of Rahat, near Kibbutz Beit Kama and Kama Junction on Road 40. See also * List of battles and operations in the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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