Meir Har-Zion
Meir Har-Zion | |
---|---|
Born | 25 February 1934 |
Died | 14 March 2014 | (aged 80)
Allegiance | Israel |
Unit | Unit 101; 890th Paratroop Battalion |
Meir Har-Zion (
As a key member of
is generally believed to have been based on Har-Zion.Early life
Har-Zion was born in
When Har-Zion was three years old, the family moved to Rishpon, where his two sisters Shoshana and Rachel were born. When he was 14, his parents divorced, and Har-Zion moved to kibbutz Ein Harod with his father while his mother and sisters moved to kibbutz Beit Alfa. As a child, Har-Zion spent much of his free time watching nature and taking walks, sometimes crossing the borders of Palestine. [citation needed]
In 1951, he and Shoshana were captured by a shepherd while on the Syrian side of the border. They were held prisoner in Damascus, and the two teenagers were only released by the Syrian government after a month of negotiation by the UN and the governments of both countries, making international headlines.[4][5]
Being the children of divorced parents, Meir and his younger sister Shoshana had developed a deep emotional bond with each other, and had become extremely close, often illegally crossing into neighbouring Arab countries together.[6]
During the 1950s around a dozen Israeli teenagers were killed attempting to illegally reach the ancient city of
At the age of 18, Meir and his girlfriend managed to reach Petra at night, after three days of hiking, crossing
Unit 101
In 1953 he was one of the founding members of
On the night of 14–15 October 1953, around 65 men from Unit 101 joined a larger
In another nighttime attack on 18–19 December 1953, two Unit 101 squads led by Har-Zion ambushed a car on the Bethlehem-Hebron road. Mansour Awad, a Lebanese-born physician serving in the Arab Legion, was killed. Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett was annoyed that he had not been informed about the attack beforehand. Three nights later. Har-Zion led a four-man squad on a 21-kilometre march to the outskirts of Hebron.[12]
Other missions that Har-Zion took part in included Operation Black Arrow and Operation Elkayam.
890th Paratroop Battalion
The following year, 26 May 1954, Har-Zion was amongst a ten-man squad from the newly formed 890th Paratroop Battalion, led by its commander Ariel Sharon, which carried out a raid near Khirbet Jinba, southwest of Hebron. Two National Guardsmen were killed in an ambush as well as two farmers and two camels. Sharett once again complained about not having been informed, and suspected that Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon had not been consulted either.[13]
On 27–28 June 1954 Har-Zion was in a seven-man squad led by Major Aharon Davidi that launched a surprise attack on an Arab Legion camp at Azzun, 13 km east of Qalqilya. Three Legionnaires were killed as well as a farmer, Rafi'a Abdel Aziz Omar, who was stabbed to death by Har-Zion to prevent him raising the alarm. On their return to Israeli lines, one of the team who had been wounded, Sergeant Yitzhak Jibli, was left behind.[14] On discovering that Sergeant Jibli had been taken prisoner, Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan approved a series of hostage-taking raids.[15]
On 31 July – 1 August 1954 Har-Zion led a group of ten raiders who attacked two police near Jenin, taking one of them prisoner. On their way back, they killed a farmer watching his fields.[16] On the 30–31 August 1954 Har-Zion took part in Operation Binyamin 2. This operation was approved by Prime Minister Moshe Sharett and was commanded by Ariel Sharon. The attackers were divided into four groups. The first attacked a school in the village of Beit Liqya. The other three set ambushes for the expected arrival of reinforcements. Only Har-Zion's group was successful. They had strung a wire across the road with cans of petrol at each end. A car full of soldiers from the Arab Legion drove into the trap. Two were killed, one wounded, and three were taken prisoner.[17]
Sergeant Yitzhak Jibli was released on 29 October 1954, four months after being wounded and captured.
The Har-Zion Affair
In the middle of February 1955 Har-Zion's sister, Shoshana, along with her boyfriend Oded Wegmeister from
On their return, Har-Zion and three of his companions were held in custody for 20 days. They were released without charge, as a result of protection and stonewalling by them and their colleagues in the army, and soon rejoined their old unit. Sharett, who suspected that Dayan had advance knowledge of the raid, and who deplored such actions, noted critically in his diary: "The dark soul of the Bible has come alive among the sons of Nahalal and 'Ein Harod".[20]
End of career
The injuries left Har-Zion unable to continue his army career. He was awarded the Medal of Courage. He had attained the rank of captain.[25]
1967 and 1973 wars
During the 1967 Six-Day War, Har-Zion was called up as captain in the reserves, and despite the use of only one hand, took part alongside the paratroopers in the battle for the Old City of Jerusalem. In one important exploit in the battle, he killed a Jordanian sniper who had been holding up the Israeli advance: after stalking the sniper across a rooftop, he killed him with hand-grenades.[26]
Har-Zion served again as a captain during the Yom Kippur War, on the Golan front, rescuing injured soldiers behind enemy lines.[27]
Writing career
In 1969 he published his diaries which gave an account of his time as a paratrooper.[28]
Of one of the early attacks he wrote:
Once again I am beset by this strong feeling of discord... the feel of battle, the will to victory, the hatred towards one who wishes to take from you what is most precious of all – your life. These first victories have been too easy.[29]
He also gives an account of the killing of farmer Rafi'a Abdel Aziz Omar during the 27–28 June 1954 operation (details see above):
... A telephone line blocks our way. We cut it and continue. A narrow path leads along the slope of a hill. The column marches forward in silence. Stop! A few rocks roll down the hill. I catch sight of a man surveying the silence. I cocked my rifle. Gibly crawls over to me, "Har, for God's sake, a knife!!" His clenched teeth glitter in the dark and his whole body is tight, his mind alert, "For God's sake," ... I put my tommy down and unsheath my machete. We crawl toward the lone figure as he begins to sing a trilled Arab tune. Soon the singing will turn into a death moan. I am shaking, every muscle in my body is tense. This is my first experience with this type of weapon. Will I be able to do it? We draw closer. There he stands, only a few meters in front of us. We leap. Gibly grabs him and I plunge the knife deep into his back. The blood pours over his striped cotton shirt. With not a second to lose, I react instinctively and stab him again. The body groans, struggles and then becomes quiet and still.[30]
Late life and death
During the latter part of his life he lived in Ahuzat Shoshana "Shoshana's Farm", a 6,500-
He became a right-wing writer and patron to movements such as Homesh First.[citation needed] In 2005, in an interview he criticized his former colleague Ariel Sharon for his policy of disengagement from Gaza Strip.[3]
Har-Zion died on March 14, 2014, from
Har-Zion was buried at Kochav Hayarden park. His funeral was attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, and other ministers and dignitaries.[32]
References
- ISBN 0-19-827850-0. Page
- ^ Ariel Sharon, with David Chanoff; Warrior: The Autobiography of Ariel Sharon, Simon & Schuster, 2001, p. 110.
- ^ Tabletmag.com, March 14, 2014. Accessed 12 July 2020.
- ^ Elon, Amos The Israelis. Founders and Sons. p. 232.
- ^ Davar, November 16, 1951
- ^ Ariel Sharon, with David Chanoff; Warrior: The Autobiography of Ariel Sharon, Simon & Schuster, 2001, p. 111.
- ^ Morris. p. 239.
- ^ ראובן וויס, מיתוס הסלע האדום מתנפץ ynet
- ^ The Lure of The Trail, by Yadin Roman, ERETZ – The magazine of ISRAEL – No. 96 November–December 2004
- ISBN 0-7043-1080-5. p. 243. Morris, p. 244, has 14 men in group.
- ^ Morris. p. 246.
- ^ Morris. p. 293.
- ^ Morris. pp. 305, 306.
- Burns, Lieutenant-General E.L.M.(1962) Between Arab and Israeli. George G. Harrap. p. 35. States that Omar had sustained 12 knife or bayonet wounds.
- ^ Teveth. p. 253.
- ^ Teveth. p. 253 describes the prisoner as a Jordanian soldier. Burns. pp. 36, 37.
- ^ Morris. p. 310. Burns. p. 37 and 17 for description of technique.
- ^ Political Assassinations by Jews: A Rhetorical Device for Justice, By Naḥmān Ben-Yĕhûdā, p. 443, SUNY Press, 1993
- ^ Ariel Sharon, with David Chanoff; Warrior: The Autobiography of Ariel Sharon, Simon & Schuster, 2001, p. 112.
- ^ Morris. pp. 384–86.
- ^ "Yearbook of the United Nations 1956".
- ^ "פעולת א–רהווה – "מבצע יהונתן" ; 11.09.1956" (Ar-Rahwa 's operation – " Operation Jonathan" ; 09/11/1956)
- ^ Morris. p. 393. Teveth. pp. 243, 244.
- ^ Dayan, Moshe (1965) Diary of the Sinai Campaign 1956. Sphere Books edition (1967) p. 32. "He was gravely wounded, the bullet having struck his windpipe, but his life was saved by the medical officer of the unit, who crawled to him under fire and performed a tracheotomy with his pocket knife."
- ^ Raved, Ahiya (2014-03-14). "Legendary IDF soldier Meir Har-Zion dies at 80". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ The Israeli Army in the Middle East Wars, 1948–73, By John Laffin, Osprey Publishing, 21 Aug 2012
- ^ "Meir Har Zion, legendary IDF fighter, dead at 80". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ Har-Zion, Meir Pirkei Yoman. (Hebrew: Chapters of a diary), Tel Aviv, Levin-Epstein.
- ^ Teveth, p. 243.
- ^ Livia Rokach: A study based on Moshe Sharett's diary, Foreword by Noam Chomsky, 1980. Appendix 3.
- ^ a b הלוחם האגדי מאיר הר-ציון הלך לעולמו ("The legendary warrior Meir Har-Zion passed away"), ynet, March 14, 2014
- ^ "PM: Meir Har-Zion one of Israel's greatest warriors". The Times of Israel.