The Medal of Courage is an Israeli military decoration

Israeli Military decorations

The Israeli Military decorations are the decorations awarded to soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces who exhibit extraordinary bravery and courage....

. The medal is awarded for carrying out acts of gallantry at the risk of life, during combat duty. The medal was established in 1970 (though it has been given retroactively) by act of law in the Knesset

Knesset

The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...

.

Design

The medal was designed by Dan Reisinger

Dan Reisinger

Dan Reisinger is an Israeli designer of graphics, exhibitions, and stage sets.-Biography:He was born in Kanjiža, Serbia, into a family of painters and decorators active in Austria-Hungary and the Balkans. Most family members died in the Holocaust, including his father...

, on the obverse there are six crossed swords and between them an olive branch. the reverse is plain.

The medal is attached to a red ribbon symbolizing the fire and blood in battle. Officially, two time recipients of the medal wear a small clasp in the form of the medal on its ribbon. In practice, Rav Aluf Amnon Lipkin-Shahak

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak is a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Member of the Knesset andMinister of Transportation and Tourism.-Military service:Lipkin-Shahak started his military service as a teenager in the military boarding-school in Haifa...

 (the only person to be awarded the medal twice whilst still alive) wore two ribbons.

The medal is minted by the Israel Government Coins and Medals Corporation, is made of 25 gram silver/935 and the clasp is chrome plated metal.

Recipients

To this day 220 awards have been made, the latest were in 2005 after a period of 23 years in which the medal was not awarded. In 2007 it was announced that the medal would be awarded to six soldiers who fought during the Second Lebanon War. Two recipients have been awarded the medal twice.

Notable recipients

• Amnon Lipkin-Shahak
  Amnon Lipkin-Shahak
  Amnon Lipkin-Shahak is a former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, Member of the Knesset andMinister of Transportation and Tourism.-Military service:Lipkin-Shahak started his military service as a teenager in the military boarding-school in Haifa...
  
   two time recipient.
• Oved Ladishinsky two time recipient.
• Meir Har-Zion
  Meir Har-Zion
  Meir Har-Zion is a former Israeli military commando.As a key member of Unit 101 he was highly praised by Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan who described him as "the finest of our commando soldiers, the best soldier ever to emerge in the IDF." His three-year military career was ended by injuries sustained...
  
   received the medal for his conduct during a raid in 1956.
• Rafael Eitan
  Rafael Eitan
  Rafael "Raful" Eitan was an Israeli general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and later a politician, a Knesset member government minister...
  
   received the medal for his conduct during a raid to Syria
  Syria
  Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
  
   in 1955.
• Shmuel Gonen
  Shmuel Gonen
  Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen was an Israeli general and Chief of the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War.-Early life:...
  
   received the medal for his conduct during the Sinai War.
• Meir Dagan
  Meir Dagan
  Meir Dagan is a former Israel Defense Forces officer and former Director of the Mossad .-Biography:...
  
   received the medal for his disarming a terrorist in 1971.
• Yitzhak Mordechai
  Yitzhak Mordechai
  Yitzhak Mordechai is an Israeli former general and politician. He served as a member of the Knesset between 1996 and 2001, and as Minister of Defense and Minister of Transport. He retired from political life after being indicted for sexual assaults during his military service and later...
  
   received the medal for his conduct during the Yom Kippur War
  Yom Kippur War
  The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
  
  .
• Yossi Ben Hanan
  Yossi Ben Hanan
  Aluf Yossi Ben Hanan was born in Jerusalem, Israel, in 1945. His father, Michael Ben Hanan served as one of the top commanders, in Jerusalem....
  
   received the medal for his conduct during the Yom Kippur War.
• Roi Klein
  Roi Klein
  Roi Klein was a Major in the Golani Brigade of the Israeli Defense Forces. Klein was killed in the Battle of Bint Jbeil during the 2006 Lebanon War after jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers .Klein was born in Raanana, Israel...
  
  was posthumously awarded the medal for jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers during the Second Lebanon War.