Jewish military history

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Jewish military history focuses on the military aspect of history of the Jewish people from ancient times until the modern age.

Ancient Israelites

While complete details in the Biblical account of a system of fighting forms are not extant, the

depictions of Israelite combatants.

Conflicts documented in steles

Merneptah Stele

The Merneptah Stele was discovered in 1896 and is dated to c. 1208 BCE. The last 3 of the 28 lines of the text deal with a separate campaign in Canaan. It mentions a victory over Israel by the lines: "The Canaan has been plundered into every sort of woe: Ashkelon has been overcome; Gezer has been captured; Yano'am is made non-existent. Israel is laid waste and his seed is not;"

Mesha Stele

Mesha Stele was discovered in 1868-70 and was created around 840 BCE by King

, the God of Moab, had been angry with his people and had allowed them to be subjugated to Israel, but at length Kemosh returned and assisted Mesha to throw off the yoke of Israel and restore the lands of Moab.

Tel Dan Stele

Tel Dan Stele was discovered in 1993-94 and was created in 870–750 BCE. It consists of several fragments making up part of a triumphal inscription in Aramaic, left most probably by Hazael of Aram-Damascus, an important regional figure in the late 9th-century BCE. Hazael boasts of his victories over the king of Israel and his ally the king of the "House of David".

• 
  Merneptah Stele
• 
  Mesha Stele
• 
  Tel Dan Stele

Assyrian battles with Israel and Judah

Lachish relief

showing the siege of Lachish.

Sennacherib's campaign in Judah was a military conflict in 701 BCE between Kingdom of Judah and the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the conflict is part of the greater conflict of Sennacherib's campaigns.

Battle of Qarqar

The Battle of Qarqar took place in 853 BCE, and was fought by Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria, and a coalition of 11 kings including Ahab, king of Israel. In the Kurkh Monoliths, it is mentioned that the Israelite forces constituted 10000 troops and 2000 chariots.^[1]

Siege of Jerusalem

In 721 BCE, the Assyrian army captured the Israelite capital at Samaria and carried away the citizens of the northern kingdom into captivity. The virtual destruction of Israel left the southern kingdom, Judah, to fend for itself among warring Near Eastern kingdoms. The siege took place in approximately 701 BCE by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The siege failed and Jerusalem survived until its eventual destruction by the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar.

Siege of Lachish

The siege of Lachish occurred in 701 BCE, by the Neo-Assyrian empire, and ended with the conquest of the town. The towns inhabitants led into captivity and the leaders of Lachish tortured to death. The town was abandoned, but resettled after the return from Babylonia.

Battle of Megiddo

The Battle of Megiddo is recorded as having taken place in 609 BCE with

.

Jewish–Babylonian war

The Jewish–Babylonian war was a military conflict between the Kingdom of Judah and Babylonia that lasted from 601 to 586 BCE. The conflict marked the end of the Kingdom of Judah and Jewish independence until the Hasmonean revolt. After Babylonia invaded Jerusalem it destroyed the First Temple, and started the Babylonian exile.

First siege of Jerusalem

In 605 BCE Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon defeated Pharaoh Neco at the Battle of Carchemish, and subsequently invaded Judah. To avoid the destruction of Jerusalem, King Jehoiakim of Jerusalem, in his third year, changed allegiances from Egypt to Babylon. He paid tribute from the treasury in Jerusalem, some temple artifacts, and some of the royal family and nobility as hostages.^[2] In 601 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar failed to invade Egypt, the failure led to rebellions among states in the Levant including Judah. Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem in 597 BCE, and managed to get in and capture king Jehoiachin,^[3][4][5] and all of the Aristocracy of Jerusalem.^[3] The siege resulted with fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the First Temple. Then Nebuchadnezzar exiled 10000 of the officers, and the craftsmen, and 7000 soldiers.^[3]

Second Siege of Jerusalem

In July 587 BCE, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylonia, making an alliance with Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem again, starving the people. The siege resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem and the fall of the Kingdom of Judah.

Classic era

Maccabees

The

for about one hundred years, from 164 BCE to 63 BCE.

Jewish–Roman wars

The Jewish–Roman wars followed the Roman annexation of

.

Himyarite Kingdom

In modern day Yemen, the Ancient Himyarite Kingdom appears to have abandoned polytheism and converted to Judaism around the year 380. Accompanied with a strong military prowess, they proved to be a matching force to the Christian empires of Byzantium and Axum for 200 years. After having conquered a major part of the Arabic peninsula, the Himyarite Empire has been annexed by the Kingdom of Axum.

Revolt against Gallus

In mid-4th century Jews of Galilee launched the Revolt against Gallus, aiming to defeat Roman troops across Galilee.

Exilarch revolt in Persia

c. 502.

Byzantine period

In early 7th century Near Eastern Jews launched Jewish revolt against Heraclius, in hopes of gaining an autonomy in Jerusalem with Persian Sasanian support.

Later communities

According to a number of accounts various Middle Eastern and Asian Jewish communities, who were either known for their fighting prowess,

Samuel ibn 'Adiya Arabian warrior poet

Poet and warrior; lived in

in the first half of the 6th century CE. His mother was of the royal tribe of Ghassan, while his father, according to some, was descended from Aaron, or, according to others, from Kahin, son of Harun and progenitor of the Jewish tribes of Kuraitza and Nathir. Samuel owned a castle near Taima (eight hours north of Medina), built by his grandfather 'Adiya and called, from its mixed color, Al-Ablak. It was situated on a high hill and was a halting-place for travelers to and from Syria.

More than for his poetic talents

Jews of China

There are many theories surrounding when Jews first settled in China. Despite trading in China since at least the 9th century,

The stele dating 1489 states that Song Dynasty founder

Modern scholars that translate the 1489 stele mention how a physician named Ancheng received a sizable amount of money from “Prince Ding of Zhou prefecture” to rebuild the community’s destroyed synagogue in 1421.[16] In 1423, Ancheng was given the surname “Chao” by the emperor himself, received the “rank of Military Commissioner in the Embroidered Uniform Guard” and was promoted to “Assistant Military Commissioner of Zhejiang."^[17] However, a journal entry from 1965 formally corrected a translation error that proceeding authors still make today. The physician Ancheng was “apparently a romantic fabrication” and the actual person was “a common soldier named An San, who belonged to the Honan Central Bodyguard Division”.^[18] He had warned the Yongle Emperor of a plot against him by Prince Zhou, An’s military commander and benefactor of the Jewish community, and was subsequently promoted (as mentioned above) and given the “properly Chinese name Chao Ch’eng (Chao the Honest), and in due course became a notable leader of the community and ancestor of the principal Jewish clan.”^[18]

Habbani Jews of Southern Yemen

In 1912 Zionist emissary Shmuel Yavnieli came into contact with Habbani Jews who ransomed him when he was captured and robbed by eight Bedouin in southern Yemen. Yavnieli wrote about the Jews of Habban describing them in the following way.

The Jews in these parts are held in high esteem by everyone in Yemen and Aden. They are said to be courageous, always with their weapons and wild long hair, and the names of their towns are mentioned by the Jews of Yemen with great admiration.^[19]

There are a number of legends about the origins of the Jews of Habban. The most prominent is that they descend from Judean soldiers who were stationed in southern Arabia by King Herod of Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period. Herod dispatched a unit of Jews in the region to assist the Romans with fighting wars in the area. Unlike the Jews of northern Yemen the Habbani Jews wore: Jambiyya (curved knife), Matznaph (turban) and Avne`t (sash).

Mountain Jews of Daghestan

Jewish Encyclopedia

)

And we, the Tats

We, Samson warriors,

Bar Kochba's heirs...

we went into battles

and bitterly, heroically

struggled for our freedom

The Song of the Mountain Jews^[22]

The Jews of Daghestan lived isolated and in one of the most remote, impenetrable areas in the world for many centuries. They have been historically known for their fierce and war-like nature. In dress and custom they were hardly distinguishable from other Caucasian fighting people in the region. Though they are considered dhimmi by their surrounding Muslim population, the Mountain Jews owned land and were known to be fierce, not hesitating to defend, by sword or the rifle, their family, religion, or personal dignity.

The Jews of Daghestan greatly resemble the other warlike inhabitants of this mountainous region; and they have acquired the virtues as well as the faults of the latter. There is a tradition among the Jews of Daghestan that they are the descendants of the Lost Ten Tribes; but the history of their wanderings is now forgotten, the written documents which they once possessed having in the course of time been either lost or destroyed. They differ from their Christian and Mohammedan neighbors in speech, using the Tat language, which is a combination of Persian and Hebrew. Their writing is a mixture of square characters and Rashi. They wear the Circassian dress, and always go heavily armed, even sleeping without having removed their weapons.^[23]

It is possible that the Mountain Jews are descendants of Persian-Jewish soldiers who were stationed in the Caucasus by the Sasanian kings in the fifth or sixth century to protect the area from the onslaughts of the Huns and other nomadic invaders from the east. Under the impact of the invading Turkish hordes, later generations of Jewish inhabitants of the Caucasian lowlands were forced to migrate even further north to Daghestan.^[24]

Jews of Tirdirma, Mali

According to a West African Arabic record called the Tarikh al-fattash, in 1402 in Tiridirma near the Niger river lived a community of Jews known as the Bani Israeel who were said to have seven rulers, 333 wells, and a well trained army. The record suggests that their presence in the area preceded the rise of Islam.^[25]

Jewish soldiers of Islamic Spain

Jewish soldiers assisted

Jewish defenders during the First Crusade

Jews fought side-by-side with Egyptian

Piracy against Spanish vessels

In response to the Spanish Inquisition, a number of Spanish Jews who had left turned to piracy against Spanish ships.^[34]

Modern times

The Beardlings

In 1794 Colonel Berek Joselewicz raised a cavalry regiment of 500 Jewish volunteers which fought against the Russian Army in the Kościuszko Uprising in Poland.

Nili

from 1516 to 1918.

Jews in the Imperial German Army

During the First World War, 100000 Jews served in the German forces. 12000 were killed in action. Thirty thousand were decorated for valor in battle. Among them was the fighter pilot Wilhelm Frankl (who converted to Catholicism in 1917), and the future mayor of Hamburg, Herbert Weichmann.^{[citation needed]}

Jewish Legion (British)

The

.

Jewish regiment (Russian Civil War)

The Jewish regiment was an infantry regiment formed in February 1919 during the Russian Civil War 1917–1922 as a part of the forces of ataman Grigory Semyonov which acted in the Transbaikal region.

In the early 20th century, Russian Jews were active in a variety of political movements. Many joined

.

The regiment was formed by the Chita Jewish community. The staffers and soldiers of the regiment were Jews from various social classes, from craftsmen to traders' sons. Some Jews were reluctant to accept the Soviet regime after being eyewitness to the Red Terror, instability, and upsurge of crime of 1918. Soldiers and staffers celebrated all Jewish holidays and fought on Shabbat. There were 170 soldiers, 7 sergeants, 4 low rank officers, and 2 captains. Most of the soldiers were from Chita and Nerchinsk.

The Jewish regiment took part in many actions against local

) who were sent to the Transbaikal region during World War I.

World War II

Jewish Military Union (Polish)

the Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW),

.

Anti-Fascist Military Organisation (Polish)

The Antyfaszystowska Organizacja Bojowa

.

Jewish Combat Organization (Polish)

The Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB),

Jewish resistance organization claimed otherwise). The organization also took part in other resistance activities.

Jewish Brigade (British)

The

, 734 of whom died during the war.

Special Interrogation Group (British)

The

during World War II.

Jews in the USSR

During the

June 1941-May 1945 Jews of the USSR Served in the Red Army and the Red Navy. Examples:

• General Lev Dovator killed in action 19 December 1941
• General Ivan Chernyakhovsky killed in action 19 February 1945
• Commander Israel Fisanovich killed 27 July 1944
• Sergeant Idel Y. Hait-a submachine gunner killed in battle of Pavlov's House during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943.
• 3rd Guards Tank Army
• Yakov Kreizer, commander of the 51st Army
• Semyon Krivoshein, commander of the 8th Guards Mechanized Corps
• Ida Segal, paratrooper and medic
• Lev Skvirsky, commander of the 26th Army
• Ilya Ehrenburg war reporter with the Red Army
• Vasily Grossman-war reporter with the Red Army

Palestine Yishuv

The Jewish Resistance Movement

policies towards the movement.

Haganah

The Haganah (Hebrew: "The Defense", ההגנה) was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948.

The predecessor of Haganah was

who guarded settlements for an annual fee. At no time did the group have more than 100 members.

After the 1920

and simple military equipment, transforming from an untrained militia to a capable underground army.

Palmach

The Palmach (Hebrew: פלמ"ח, an acronym for Plugot Mahatz (Hebrew: פלוגות מחץ), Strike Companies) was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the British Mandate of Palestine. It was established on May 15, 1941 and by the war of 1948 had grown to three fighting brigades and auxiliary aerial, naval and intelligence units. Being a Palmachnik (Palmach member) was considered not only as performing military duties, but also as a way of life. Significant leaders of the Palmach include Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Sadeh, Yigal Allon and future prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

The Palmach contributed significantly to Israeli culture and ethos, well beyond its undoubtedly 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.

The Palmach was established by the

in 1943, the British ordered the dismantling of Palmach. Instead the whole organisation went underground.

Irgun

Irgun (Hebrew: ארגון; shorthand for Ha'Irgun Ha'Tsvai Ha'Leumi B'Eretz Yisrael, הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל, "National Military Organization in the Land of Israel") was a clandestine Zionist group that operated in Palestine from 1931 to 1948, as a militant offshoot of the earlier and larger Haganah (Hebrew: "The Defense", ההגנה) Jewish paramilitary organization. In Israel, Irgun is commonly referred to as Etzel (אצ״ל), an acronym of the Hebrew initials. For secrecy reasons, people often referred to the Irgun, in the time in which it operated, as Haganah Bet (Hebrew: literally "Defense 'B' " or "Second Defense" הגנה ב), Haganah Ha'leumit (ההגנה הלאומית) or Ha'ma'amad (המעמד).

The group made attacks against Arab and Palestinian groups a central part of their initial efforts. It was armed expression of the nascent ideology of

party.

The most well-known attack by Irgun was the

Lehi

Main article:

Lehi (group)

.

Israel

Israeli Security Forces

's territory and civilian public. The organizations are independent but cooperate with each other, some are volunteer, some are professional, and others are both. The list includes military institutions, government agencies, law enforcement organizations, and first aid organizations:

• Israel Police
  • Israel Border Police
  • Yamam
  • Civil Guard (Israel)
• Israeli Intelligence Community
  • Aman
  • Mossad
  • Shabak

Israel Defense Forces

The

's military forces, comprising the:

• Israeli Army
• Israeli Air Force
• Israeli Sea Corps

See also

• Judaism and warfare

References

External links

• History of the Jewish Army, Jewish Encyclopedia.
• Jewish Concepts of War, Jewish Encyclopedia.
• National Museum of American Jewish Military History
• President Ronald Reagan, reads the first-hand report of Jewish Chaplain, Arnold E. Resnicoff, from the October 1983 Beirut barracks bombing: text version; Speech (video version).