The Third Battalion
The battalion existed as an administrative system since the end of 1944 and comprised of Company Four which was based in the eastern Jezreel Valley; of Company Three which was based in the Jordan Valley; and Company Nine which was based in the eastern upper Galilee.
Iftach Brigade - Brigade Headquarters
The battalion was set up in 1944, combining Company Four, which was based in the eastern Jezreel Valley, Company Three, which was based in the Jordan Valley, and Company Nine, which was based in the eastern upper Galilee. Towards the end of 1945 Company Four was transferred to the First Battalion and the Third Battalion received Company Eleven which camped in the Kibbutzs of the Jordan Valley. Most of the battalion’s men were from the Hachsharot (recruited training- groups pf young men and women who underwent a program of combined military training, agricultural work and Zionist education). On the eve of the War of Independence the battalion was the largest in the Palmach. In October 1947 the whole battalion concentrated and received charge of the upper Galilee as a reaction to the concentration of the Syrian army in the Golan Heights.
After the tension was relived the battalion remained in the area in company camps in Tel- Hai, Hulata, Mount Kna’an and Migdal. The battalion’s eminent operation which took place at the beginning of the War was the foray on Sasa which took place on the 14th and 15th of February, twenty Kilometers into the enemy’s territory. The force arrived at the village on midnight after a long tough march in order to execute its mission. Sixty Arabs were killed in the operation and several houses were blown up. With two injured men the force retreated under difficult conditions until they reached En Zetim. On the 17th of April the battalion sent reinforcement to Mishmar Haem'ek and participated in the liberation of Tiberias.
In the course of Operation Yiftach following the Syrian invasion, one of the battalion’s companies was sent to the Jordan valley and there attacked the Nabi Yoshua police three times; on the 20th of April and on the 16th of May, finally conquering it on the 17th of May.
On the first of May the battalion took control of Birya and En Zeitun. Yiga’al Alon, the commander of Operation Yiftach, ordered the local people to spread rumors of large reinforcements which were on their way to attack the Arabs of the Hula lake valley, and indeed, following the Arab defeat in Safad, the villagers took refuge enabling the fall of Halsa police.
The battalion participated in the battle on Ramot Naftaly on the second of May, in the course of which the men managed to take control of posts in Merav and thus secure the way for the First Battalion which was heading to the Galilee on the 3rd of May.
In the course of Operation Yiftach, before the invasion, from the 6th to the 10th of May, the battalion engaged for the first time as one unit in a battle in Safad, conquering it on the 11th. On the eve of the 15th of May the battalion’s saboteurs blew up Hardala Bridge which hangs over the Litani River in Lebanon and on the following day another unit blew up Wadi Asal Bridge, situated beyond the Syrian border on the road between Banias and Marge Ayun. The road between Acre and Safad was also witness to the blowing up of bridges which was meant to block the Arab progression from the central Galilee towards Safad. On the 18th and 19th of May the battalion attacked the Zemach police.
The end of Operation Yiftach brought about the destruction of two border positions which watched over Shamir and Lehavot Habashan from inside the Syrian border and the blowing up of the bridge near Kfar Meron followed by a raid on the village on the 19th of May.
The battalion also forayed the upper Bet Hamekhes in the Golan on the night between the 18th and the 19th, conquering Kfar Harib situated on the Syrian home front on the 24th.
At the beginning on June the battalion was transferred to Latrun and participated in Operation Yoram on the 7th and 8th of July, but did not conquer the 14th position on the 9th of June.
In the course of the Altalena (ship) episode, on the 20th of June, Company Three was called in while still preparing itself in camp Sarfand to help in guarding the Palmach staff on Tel Aviv beach.
In Operation Dani the battalion participated in the conquest of Lod (on the 11th of July), Ramala (on the 12th of July) and Al Bourje (on the 16th of July). In the course of Operation Gis 2 from the end of December till January first the battalion was in charge of securing the convoys headed to the Negev. The battalion also participated in Operation Yoav by blowing up Wadi Al Hasi and Wadi Al Halib Bridges on the 16th and 17th of October and then took part in the battles of Bet Hanun from the 16th till the 20th.
The battalion’s commanders were: Uri Yaffe, Shalom Hablin, Mula Cohen, Moshe Kelman and Gidi Eilat.
After the tension was relived the battalion remained in the area in company camps in Tel- Hai, Hulata, Mount Kna’an and Migdal. The battalion’s eminent operation which took place at the beginning of the War was the foray on Sasa which took place on the 14th and 15th of February, twenty Kilometers into the enemy’s territory. The force arrived at the village on midnight after a long tough march in order to execute its mission. Sixty Arabs were killed in the operation and several houses were blown up. With two injured men the force retreated under difficult conditions until they reached En Zetim. On the 17th of April the battalion sent reinforcement to Mishmar Haem'ek and participated in the liberation of Tiberias.
In the course of Operation Yiftach following the Syrian invasion, one of the battalion’s companies was sent to the Jordan valley and there attacked the Nabi Yoshua police three times; on the 20th of April and on the 16th of May, finally conquering it on the 17th of May.
On the first of May the battalion took control of Birya and En Zeitun. Yiga’al Alon, the commander of Operation Yiftach, ordered the local people to spread rumors of large reinforcements which were on their way to attack the Arabs of the Hula lake valley, and indeed, following the Arab defeat in Safad, the villagers took refuge enabling the fall of Halsa police.
The battalion participated in the battle on Ramot Naftaly on the second of May, in the course of which the men managed to take control of posts in Merav and thus secure the way for the First Battalion which was heading to the Galilee on the 3rd of May.
In the course of Operation Yiftach, before the invasion, from the 6th to the 10th of May, the battalion engaged for the first time as one unit in a battle in Safad, conquering it on the 11th. On the eve of the 15th of May the battalion’s saboteurs blew up Hardala Bridge which hangs over the Litani River in Lebanon and on the following day another unit blew up Wadi Asal Bridge, situated beyond the Syrian border on the road between Banias and Marge Ayun. The road between Acre and Safad was also witness to the blowing up of bridges which was meant to block the Arab progression from the central Galilee towards Safad. On the 18th and 19th of May the battalion attacked the Zemach police.
The end of Operation Yiftach brought about the destruction of two border positions which watched over Shamir and Lehavot Habashan from inside the Syrian border and the blowing up of the bridge near Kfar Meron followed by a raid on the village on the 19th of May.
The battalion also forayed the upper Bet Hamekhes in the Golan on the night between the 18th and the 19th, conquering Kfar Harib situated on the Syrian home front on the 24th.
At the beginning on June the battalion was transferred to Latrun and participated in Operation Yoram on the 7th and 8th of July, but did not conquer the 14th position on the 9th of June.
In the course of the Altalena (ship) episode, on the 20th of June, Company Three was called in while still preparing itself in camp Sarfand to help in guarding the Palmach staff on Tel Aviv beach.
In Operation Dani the battalion participated in the conquest of Lod (on the 11th of July), Ramala (on the 12th of July) and Al Bourje (on the 16th of July). In the course of Operation Gis 2 from the end of December till January first the battalion was in charge of securing the convoys headed to the Negev. The battalion also participated in Operation Yoav by blowing up Wadi Al Hasi and Wadi Al Halib Bridges on the 16th and 17th of October and then took part in the battles of Bet Hanun from the 16th till the 20th.
The battalion’s commanders were: Uri Yaffe, Shalom Hablin, Mula Cohen, Moshe Kelman and Gidi Eilat.