The 8th Armored Brigade ( he, חטיבה שמונה, ''Hativa Shmoneh'') was an Israeli mechanized brigade headquartered near

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. It was the Israel Defense Forces' first armoured brigade which possessed

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s, jeeps and

armored personnel carrier An armoured personnel carrier (APC) is a broad type of armoured military vehicle designed to transport personnel and equipment in combat zones. Since World War I, APCs have become a very common piece of military equipment around the world. Ac ...

s (APCs), whereas all other IDF units at the time were entirely

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...

-based. The brigade was called 'armored' for morale reasons, although in reality it only had a single tank company (later in the war, two companies), and a single APC company (these companies became the brigade's armored

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions a ...

), and an assault battalion composed of jeeps. The Brigade's first commander was

Yitzhak Sadeh Yitzhak Sadeh ( he, יצחק שדה, born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. ...

History

Founding and organization

The brigade was founded and subordinated to

on May 24, 1948. Two battalions were created—the 82nd Tank Battalion under Felix Biatus, and the 89th Commando Battalion under Moshe Dayan. Another battalion, the 88th, was founded later. According to Dayan, the 89th consisted of four companies each made up from different groups: from kibbutz and moshav members, from Tel Aviv, from Lehi, and veterans from South Africa. The battalion consisted entirely of volunteers: "A" company consisted of men from the disbanded Lehi underground organisation; "B" company was taken from the 43rd Battalion,

Kiryati Brigade The Kiryati Brigade (the 4th Brigade in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war) was formed in 1948 by David Ben-Gurion and was one of the original nine brigades that made up the Haganah. The Kiryati Brigade was initially responsible for securing the area in a ...

; "C" company from the Golani Brigade. Many of the men joined after personal approaches from Dayan, to the annoyance of their commanding officers. They were stationed at

Tel Litvinsky Tel HaShomer ( he, תֵּל הַשּׁוֹמֵר, ''lit.'' Hill of the Guardsman) or Kiryat Krinitzi is a neighborhood in Ramat Gan, Israel. It is bordered to the north by Kiryat Ono, to the east by Yehud, and to the south by Or Yehuda. A major Isr ...

. Their first action was against

Irgun Irgun • Etzel , image = Irgun.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" i ...

members landing arms from the

Altalena The ''Altalena'' Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 by the newly created Israel Defense Forces against the Irgun (also known as IZL), one of the Jewish paramilitary groups that were in the process of merging to form ...

Kfar Vitkin Kfar Vitkin ( he, כְּפַר וִיתְקִין, ''lit.'' Vitkin Village) is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council and was the first Jewish settlement in the valley. ...

, 23 miles north of

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...

. The Alexandroni Brigade was "reluctant" to intervene, and Dayan was unable to deploy ex-members of Irgun from his battalion.

1948 Arab–Israeli War

On 11 July 1948 the 89th Battalion was involved in the attack on

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Sheph ...

. Later that month, Dayan became the commander of the Jerusalem front and was replaced by Dov Chesis. On 28 October the 89th Battalion, now under Chesis, captured the town of

al-Dawayima Al-Dawayima, Dawaymeh or Dawayma ( ar, الدوايمة) was a Palestinian town, located in the former Hebron Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine, and in what is now the Lakhish region, some 15 kilometres south-east of Kiryat Gat.Zafrir Rinat‘Bu ...

. Among others, the brigade participated in

Operation Danny Operation Danny ( he, מבצע דני, ''Mivtza Dani'') was an Israeli military offensive launched at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory east of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and ...

Operation Yoav Operation Yoav (also called ''Operation Ten Plagues'' or ''Operation Yo'av'') was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15–22 October 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between th ...

Operation Assaf Operation Assaf ( he, מִבְצָע אָסָף, ''Mivtza Asaf'') was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operation against the Egyptian Army between December 5–December 7, 1948, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The successful operation's aim was to ...

and Operation Horev.

After the 1948 Arab–Israeli War

Following the 1948 war, the brigade served as the backbone of the IDF's

armored forces Armoured warfare or armored warfare (mechanized forces, armoured forces or armored forces) (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences), is the use of armoured fighting vehicle, armo ...

. In the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states (primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan) from 5 to 10 Ju ...

, the brigade fought on two fronts, including in the Sinai and the

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

. In the

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by E ...

, the brigade fought in the Sinai. In the 1982 Lebanon War, the brigade was mobilized but did not take part in the fighting. A memorial to the 8th Brigade is located adjacent to the

Ben Gurion International Airport Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...

References

External links