Hero of Israel Awardees by Avi Heiligman

Forgotten Her es

Twelve Hero of Israel Recipients

By Avi Heiligman

L-R: Yohai Bin Nun, Arieh Atzmoni, Emil Brig, Aharon Feller, Yair Racheli, Ben-Zion Leitner, and Abraham Avigdorov A proclamation given to one of the recipients

As the Israel War of Independence (1948-1949) progressed, it became increasingly clear to the IDF that one of their many tasks would be to create a system of military decorations. Thousands of recommendations for bravery in battle poured into the IDF headquarters but they soon realized that it would take time to create this system. In the meantime, they awarded twelve soldiers with the title of Hero of Israel. Decades later, all of the awardees were automatically given the Medal of Valor, which was established in 1970. The bravery of these soldiers certainly deserves to be told.

The first action to be awarded the title of Hero of Israel was given to Yair Racheli. Born in Haifa, he was a member of the Palmach’s First Battalion, Yiftach Brigade. On January 19, 1948 (four months before Israel was officially a country), his unit was surrounded in an Arab village. Seeing that a machine gun was the instrument behind many of his fellow soldiers’ deaths, Racheli took five grenades and at great risk threw them into the machine gun nest. The gun was put out of action, and many wounded soldiers were rescued.

Emmanuel Landau was born in Poland and fled to Russia right as World War II was starting. After his father died of disease while in the Red Army, Emmanuel and sister made aliyah in 1943 through a journey that took them through Iran. They were placed on a kibbutz, and Emmanuel went to agricultural school. After graduation, he joined the Palmach and became a soldier in the Yiftach Brigade.

In March 1948, an Arab convoy was carrying hundreds of thousands of bullets, a thousand grenades, hundreds of rifles and five grenade launchers, most of which was supplied by England and France. The Palmach sent a group of soldiers to intercept the vital munitions. Abraham Avigdorov fired first, aiming his submachine gun at the first truck. The two machine-gunners on the truck were killed immediately. However, Avigdorov was seriously wounded in the attack and had to be evacuated. Meanwhile, Landau ran towards a truck that was driverless with the intent to transfer the contents to the Palmach. The truck was full of weapons and exploded when some Arabs shot at it, killing Landau. Both Avigdorov and Landau were awarded the title of Hero of Israel as this convoy was destined for an Arab garrison that was very short of supplies and soon was taken by the IDF.

Zerubavel Howoritz was an officer in the Haganah tasked with breaking the Arab blockade on Gush Etzion. They were ambushed, and after several hours of fighting, Horowitz told his men to escape. He was last seen protecting the wounded soldiers and was in a vehicle when it exploded.

Yizhar Armoni was killed at Nebi Yusha and received the award because he had covered the retreat of other soldiers and protected the wounded.

The last person to be awarded the honor of Hero of Israel before Israel actually became a country was Sergeant Emil Brig. Born in Poland in 1927, Emil joined the underground partisans to fight the Nazis. He was caught and was about to be executed. Russian soldiers saved him and other underground members when they arrived in the nick of time. After ending the war in Russian uniform fighting the Germans, Emil immigrated to Eretz Yisrael and joined the security service. The day that the State of Israel came into existence, May 14, Emil blew up a bridge preventing Arab soldiers from advancing on his unit’s position.

Siman Tov Ganeh was born in the Old City and, along with his father, served in the British military during World War II. He was a decorated sailor in the British Navy and joined the Lechi after returning to Eretz Yisrael. During the War of Independence, he was with the 89th Battalion, 8th Brigade. In November 1948, he was driving an armored vehicle in a battle for a village on an important highway. A cannon