The Platoon of the Wall (''Plugat Hakotel, Hebrew: פלוגת הכותל)'' was a group made up of Betar members in

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

that defended the rights of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

at the

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

in the years 1937-1938, and guarded the Old City using concealed stores of arms and clubs and accompanied Jewish worshipers to and from the

. Members were also responsible for the blowing of the

shofar A shofar ( ; from he, שׁוֹפָר, ) is an ancient musical horn typically made of a ram's horn, used for Jewish religious purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying ...

at the Western Wall, which was deemed illegal by the British authorities. On the evening of October 29, 1937, as a result of Arabs shooting at such a group, one Jew was killed and three wounded.

Legacy

Street

A street in the Old City of Jerusalem is named in its honor, "Plugat HaKotel Street".

Museum

On May 15, 2018 the Beit Plugat HaKotel (lit. 'Platoon of the esternWall House') museum was inaugurated at a special ceremony in the Old City of Jerusalem. The building was used as the Plugat HaKotel headquarters. It was later used to house IDF soldiers for special programming and for tour groups, specifically from the Betar youth group to which the original Plugat HaKotel members belonged. 97-year-old Yaakov (Sika) Aharoni, the last original member was in attendance and met with present-day Betar youth.

Notes

References

*Eisenberg, Ronald L. (2006). ''The Streets of Jerusalem: Who, What, Why''. Devora Publishing. 1937 in Mandatory Palestine 1938 in Mandatory Palestine 1930s in Jerusalem Jewish organizations in Mandatory Palestine History of Palestine (region) Zionist youth movements Ze'ev Jabotinsky Western Wall Betar {{Mandate-Palestine-stub