The Metzudat Koach Memorial commemorates 28 soldiers who died during the 1948 conquest of a strategically important fort. The fort and observation point is located in the Upper Galilee

Upper Galilee

The Upper Galilee is a geographical-political term in use since the end of the Second Temple period, originally referring to a mountainous area overlapping the present northern Israel and southern Lebanon, its borders being the Litani river in the north, the Mediterranean Sea in the west, the Beit...

, close to the tomb of Nabi Yusha. Its name, Koach, has a double meaning: in gematria

Gematria

Gematria or gimatria is a system of assigning numerical value to a word or phrase, in the belief that words or phrases with identical numerical values bear some relation to each other, or bear some relation to the number itself as it may apply to a person's age, the calendar year, or the like...

 it corresponds to 28 (the number of fallen soldiers), and the Hebrew word "כח" meaning "strength".

The Metzudat Koach memorial is currently part of the Israel National Trail

Israel National Trail

The Israel National Trail, is a hiking path that crosses the entire country of Israel. Its northern end is at Dan, near the Lebanese border in the far north of the country, and it extends to Eilat at the southernmost tip of Israel on the Red Sea, a length of approximately 940 km...

, while the fort serves as an Israel Border Police

Israel Border Police

The Israel Border Police is the gendarmerie and border security branch of the Israel National Police. It is also commonly known by its Hebrew abbreviation Magav , meaning border guard, whilst its members are colloquially known as Magavnikim . Border Guard is often used as the official name of the...

 base.

History

The fort is not a "Tegart fort

Tegart fort

A Tegart fort is a style of militarized police "fortress" constructed throughout Palestine during the British Mandatory period.The forts are named after British police officer and engineer Sir Charles Tegart, who designed them in 1938 based on his experiences in the Indian insurgency.Tens of the...

" — it is not as large as a Tegart and has a round turret. Commissioned by the British and constructed by Solel Boneh

Solel Boneh

Solel Boneh is the oldest, and one of the largest, construction and civil engineering companies in Israel.-History:Solel Boneh was founded in 1921 during the first conference of the General Histadrut, under the name of Batz , an acronym of Binyan veAvodot Tziburiot . Its first project was to pave...

, the fort was a key observation point on the Naftali heights, overlooking the Hula Valley, and used to monitor the Palestine/Lebanon border.

By mid-April 1948, the British army had evacuated most of Upper Galilee. A number of key points were subsequently occupied by Arab forces, including the police fort at Nabi Yusha. This fort commanded the main road to Upper Galilee and the routes to the Jewish settlements of Ramot Naftali

Ramot Naftali

Ramot Naftali is a moshav in the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, near Israel's border with Lebanon. It belongs to Mevo'ot HaHermon Regional Council....

 and Manara

Manara

Manara may refer to:People with the surname Manara:* Alessandro Manara, Italian astronomer* Luciano Manara, Italian soldier* Milo Manara , Italian comic book creatorPlaces:...

. The Palmach

Palmach

The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...

 understood that this observation point had a strategic importance for the safety and future of the kibbutzim below.

In the evening hours of April 15 , the police station was attacked by a company composed of Golani

Golani

Golani may refer to:*Golani Brigade, an Israeli infantry brigade*Golani Family, an Indian royal family*Golani Junction, a location in Israel*Rivka Golani , an Israeli viola player* Golani, anti-communist protestors, from the Romanian Golaniad...

, Palmach and irregulars from nearby Jewish settlements, which moved in two armoured cars and two armoured Egged buses. Strong fire was opened on the attacking force which was compelled to withdraw. 4 Jews were killed.

On April 20, a second attempt was made to occupy the fort by a force from the third Palmach

Palmach

The Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...

 battalion. A small force succeeded in breaking the barriers and reaching the wall but two of its members were hit, which delayed the detonation of the explosives until their evacuation. During their evacuation, enemy fire was directed at them and many of the unit soldiers were killed. The troops fought to their last man. Altogether, 22 Jews were killed in the battle.

During the night of May 16-17, a company of the third battalion of the Yiftach Brigade

Yiftach Brigade

The Yiftach Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade...

occupied the fort after driving away their enemy. On the next day, two of the soldiers were killed.

In the battles for the occupation of the fort 28 Jewish soldiers fell and "Metzudat Hakoach" (Fort of the 28) is named after them today.

The 28 fallen soldiers

Date	Name		Age	Rank	Birthplace
20/04/48	Akerman	Amnon	19	Private	Haifa
	Ohali	Yosef
20/4/48	Barzilai	Aryeh	19	Private	Lithuania
13/05/48	Ben Nevet	Eliezer	21	Corporal	Turkey
17/05/48	Ben Bassat	Meir	20	Private	Bulgaria, Plovdiv
20/04/48	Horowitz	Zvi	19	Private	Haifa
20/04/48	Wissotzky	Nehemia	20	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Tolitzinsky	Yuval	19	Private	Haifa
20/04/48	Yekutieli	Amnon	19	Corporal, Squad commander	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Yizraelowitz	Yitczhak	25	Private	Poland
20/04/48	Cohen	Avraham	18	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Kochba	Hanan	19	Private	Germany
22/04/48	Levinsky	Yisrael	19	Private	Poland
20/04/48	Moskowitz	Malachi	19	Private	Tel Aviv
20/04/48	Mizrachi	Shlomo	19	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Neeman	Moshe	19	Corporal	Tel Aviv
15/04/48	Stashi	Moshe	18	Private	Bulgaria, Sofia
20/04/48	Amikam	Boaz	19	Private, paramedic	Haifa
20/04/48	Armoni	Yizhar	18	Private	Jerusalem
20/04/48	Friedman	Filon	18	Private	Poland
	Fute	Eliezer
20/02/48	Cherkaskyrman	David	22	Lieutenant, Platoon commander	Haifa
20/04/48	Rauch	Mordechai	26	Private	Poland
20/02/24	Shevet	Eliezer	20	Private	Nahala
20/02/24	Shwartz	David	26	Private	Czechoslovakia
15/04/48	Gutman	Joseph	20	Private	Tel Aviv
20/04/48	Ahali	Joseph	20	Corporal	Gedera
20/04/48	Poterman	Eliezer	18	Corporal	Poland, Nova Korsha

External links

• The Koach Fortress by Peter Abelow