Zvi Zibel ( he, צבי זיבל; November 29, 1925 – December 28, 1948) was an

IDF IDF or idf may refer to: Defence forces * Irish Defence Forces * Israel Defense Forces *Iceland Defense Force, of the US Armed Forces, 1951-2006 * Indian Defence Force, a part-time force, 1917 Organizations * Israeli Diving Federation * Interac ...

soldier who died during the

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 ...

Biography

Zvi, son of Sarah and Abraham, was born in Tel Aviv and at a young age was sent to study at the

Ben Shemen Youth Village Ben Shemen Youth Village ( he, כפר הנוער בן שמן, ''Kfar HaNo'ar Ben Shemen'') is a youth village and agricultural boarding school in central Israel. Located near Ben Shemen and Ginaton, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hevel Modi ...

. He was later accepted to the agricultural school in

Givat HaShlosha Givat HaShlosha ( he, גִּבְעַת הַשְּׁלֹשָׁה, ''lit.'' Hill of the three) is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about 4 km east of Petah Tikva, near the Yarkon river, it falls under the jurisdiction of Drom Hasharon R ...

. In his youth he learned to play piano, guitar and the flute. At the age of 18, Zibel joined the ranks of the

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 ...

and participated in the attack on the British police in Sarona and the absorption of the Wingate. During this period, he was arrested and imprisoned in Jerusalem. Zvi was trained as an

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

on the brink of the 1948 War. On the flight to Ben Shemen, besieged on June 25, 1948, he landed his plane for the supply of ammunition. After landing the aircraft in the area, he worked under heavy fire to protect the aircraft from bullet wounds and to enable his return by driving a tractor loaded with sandbags to serve as a defensive wall. For this he was awarded, after his death, the

Hero of Israel A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''hero ...

award. In the fierce battles over Gush Etzion he participated in bombing and shooting a

Bren The Bren gun was a series of light machine guns (LMG) made by Britain in the 1930s and used in various roles until 1992. While best known for its role as the British and Commonwealth forces' primary infantry LMG in World War II, it was also used ...

from the air. In these operations he was hit and wounded by gunfire, but continued to fight. At the end of the campaign he was chosen as a commander of an aviation base and then spent a few months training in Czechoslovakia. A week after his return, he participated in

Operation Horev Operation Horev was a large scale offensive against the Egyptian army in the Western Negev at the end of the Arab–Israeli War in 1948 and 1949. Its objective was to trap the Egyptian Army in the Gaza Strip. The operation started on 22 December ...

, during which he toured the Nitzana area and lowered the altitude of a flight to help another plane. At this stage he was hit by four Egyptian fighter jets and killed with his flight partner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zibel, Zvi 1925 births 1948 deaths Jews from Mandatory Palestine Military personnel from Tel Aviv Palmach members Israeli Air Force personnel Israeli military personnel killed in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Burials at Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery Recipients of the Medal of Valor (Israel) Prisoners and detainees of the British military Prisoners and detainees of Mandatory Palestine Aviators killed by being shot down