Operation Nachshon
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Operation Nachshon (, ''Mivtza Nahshon''; 5–16 April 1948) was a military operation of the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine and part of Plan Dalet. Its objective was to open the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian
Arabs Arabs (,  , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
, and furnish arms and supplies to the besieged Jewish community of Jerusalem. The operation was also known as "The operation to take control of the Jerusalem road," following which participating units later broke off to form the Harel Brigade. Following attempts to take control of the road to Jerusalem were unsuccessful and led to the construction of a makeshift bypass— Burma Road. Nachshon was the first major
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
operation and the first step of Plan Dalet.MidEast Web
''Plan Daleth (Plan D)''
/ref> The
Deir Yassin massacre The Deir Yassin massacre took place on April 9, 1948, when Zionist paramilitaries attacked the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, then part of Mandatory Palestine, killing at least 107 Palestinian Arab villagers, including women and childr ...
was conducted as a part of the operation. Operation Nachshon was carried out by the
Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
's Givati and what was later to be known as the Harel Brigade of the
Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...
.


Background

By the end of March 1948, Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni's troops were preventing supply convoys from reaching
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. The city was besieged and the Jewish population was forced to adhere to a rationing system. On 31 March a 60 vehicle Jewish convoy was ambushed at Khulda and forced to turn back with the loss of five vehicles and 17 dead. Yishuv leader
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
decided to launch Nachshon in order to open up the city and provide supplies to the Jewish residents. Although initially intended as a one-shot affair, Nachshon later proved to be the first operation in the implementation of Plan Dalet. According to historian Ilan Pappé, "Operation Nachshon ..was the first operation in which all the various Jewish military organisations endeavoured to act together as a single army – providing the basis for the future Israeli Defence Forces (IDF)."


The operation

The operation was named after the
Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
figure Nachshon Ben Aminadav, who was the first to wade into the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
when the Hebrews escaped from slavery in
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. The operation was commanded by
Shimon Avidan Shimon Avidan (; February 7, 1911 – September 11, 1994), born Siegbert Koch (), was a Palmach soldier and IDF military leader. He was the commander of the Givati Brigade during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Biography Early life Shimon Avidan ...
. The first orders were given on 2 April 1948. A telegraph confirming the beginning of the operation was released on 5 April, with the operation starting that same night. It lasted until 20 April. 1,500 men from the Givati and Harel brigades took control of the road to Jerusalem, allowing three of four convoys to get to the city. The operation was a military success. All the Arab villages that blocked the route were either taken or destroyed, and the Jewish forces were victorious in all their engagements. Nonetheless, not all the objectives of the operation were achieved, as only 1,800 tonnes of the 3,000 envisaged were transported to the town, and two months of severe rationing had to be assumed. Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni was killed during the night of 7–8 April, in the middle of the battles taking place in Al-Qastal. The loss of the charismatic Palestinian leader 'disrupted the Arab strategy and organisation in the area of Jerusalem.' His successor,
Emil Ghuri Emil Ghuri (; 1907–1984) was a Palestinian politician who served as secretary-general of the Arab Higher Committee (AHC), the official leadership of the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine, Palestine. Biography Born in Jerusalem in 1907, Ghuri was t ...
, changed tactics: instead of provoking a series of ambushes throughout the route, he had a huge road block erected at Bab-el-Oued, and Jerusalem was once again isolated as a consequence. During Operation Nachshon the Haganah wanted to attack the strategic village of Abu Gosh but this was opposed by the
Stern Gang Lehi (; , sometimes abbreviated "LHI"), officially the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel () and often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang,"This group was known to its friends as LEHI and to its enemies as the Stern Gang." Blumberg, Arnold. ' ...
whose local commanders were on good terms with the
mukhtar A mukhtar (; ) is a village chief in the Levant: "an old institution that goes back to the time of the Ottoman rule". According to Amir S. Cheshin, Bill Hutman and Avi Melamed, the mukhtar "for centuries were the central figures". They "were ...
.


Aftermath

Operation Nachshon exposed the poor military organisation of the Palestinian paramilitary groups. Due to lack of logistics, particularly food and ammunition, they were incapable of maintaining engagements that were more than a few hours away from their permanent bases. Yoav Gelber (2006), p. 89 Faced with these events, the
Arab Higher Committee The Arab Higher Committee () or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Je ...
asked
Alan Cunningham Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham, (1 May 1887 – 30 January 1983), was a senior Officer (armed forces), officer of the British Army noted for his victories over Italian forces in the East African Campaign (World War II), East African Campaign duri ...
to allow the return of the Mufti, the only person capable of redressing the situation. Despite obtaining permission, the Mufti did not get to Jerusalem. His declining prestige cleared the way for the expansion of the influence of the Arab Liberation Army and of Fawzi al-Qawuqji in the Jerusalem area. Between 15 and 20 April, three convoys, totalling over 700 lorries were able to reach Jewish Jerusalem. The Arabs, however, managed to block the road immediately thereafter. Benny Morris, 1948 (2008), p.121 Operation Nachshon was therefore followed by Operation Harel, and immediately thereafter Operation Yevusi. Further operations in the Jerusalem region,
Operation Maccabi The Battles of Latrun were a series of military engagements between the Israel Defense Forces and the Jordanian Arab Legion on the outskirts of Latrun between 25 May and 18 July 1948, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Latrun takes its name fr ...
and Operation Kilshon, took place in May.


Palestinian communities captured during Operation Nachshon

Sources: *
Walid Khalidi Walid Khalidi (; born in Jerusalem on July 16, 1925) is a Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an inde ...
, All That Remains, . *
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
, The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, 1947–1949, .


See also

*
1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
* Burma Road (Israel) * Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel


References


Notes


Bibliography

* Yoav Gelber, ''Palestine 1948'', Sussex Academic Press, Brighton, 2006, *Efraïm Karsh, ''The Arab-Israeli Conflict – The Palestine War 1948'', Osprey Publishing, 2002, * Dominique Lapierre and Larry Collins, ''O Jérusalem'', Robert Laffont, 1971, *
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', Cambridge University Press, 2003,
*
Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
, ''1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War'', New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009
* {{coord missing, Israel Nachshon April 1948 in Asia 1948 in Mandatory Palestine Plan Dalet