Second Battle of Mount Hermon
Encyclopedia
The Third Battle of Mount Hermon was fought on the night of October 21–22, 1973, between the Israeli Army and the Syrian Army
over Mount Hermon
, during the last days of the Yom Kippur War
. Syria
n troops had captured
the IDF outpost on the mountain on October 6, and held it for two weeks. In the third battle, codenamed Operation Dessert , Israeli troops captured the Israeli outpost and the Syrian one.
in particular, grew determined to recapture it. Its loss levied a heavy toll on Israel's intelligence gathering during the war. At 10:15 PM on October 19, Israeli Chief of Staff (Ramatkal
) David Elazar
was on his way to the Israeli Northern Command
to monitor an attack on the Hermon. At that time, the General Staff learned of the United States Secretary of State
Henry Kissinger
's notification of an immediate ceasefire to the war. Elazar was asked to return to Tel Aviv
, where he met with the Defense Minister
, Moshe Dayan
, and they agreed that recapturing the Hermon was top priority.
Yehuda Peled, who had commanded the failed counterattack on October 8, decided that it would be best to attack from the Syrian enclave to the east, instead of from the Golan again. The 4,000 foot climb from that direction was very steep, but would bring the attacking force straight to the Israeli outpost without fighting on the ridge. The Golani commander, Amir Drori
, concurred. Peled's 51st battalion was therefore posted in an abandoned Syrian village
at the foot of the eastern side of the Hermon. For three nights, the battalion practiced a quick climb with full gear, and Peled concluded that the mission was possible. Elazar ordered him to take the entire crest, including the Syrian Hermon. Golani was to capture the Israeli Hermon, while a reserve paratroopers brigade, under the command of Colonel Haim Nadel, would attack the Syrian positions established before the war.
, Deputy Chief of Northern Command, rejected this suggestion, saying Golani should capture the outpost it had lost. The paratroop officers suggested that Golani would attack from the east, but were rejected because the eastern slope was considered too vulnerable to Syrian artillery and too steep to safely evacuate the wounded. On the night of October 20, Drori arrived at Northern Command and was advised by a paratroop officer to change his orders. He refused.
For the two weeks before the Israeli attack, the Syrians were hiding by day, expecting an Israeli assault. Two Syrians were wounded by Israeli shelling during those two weeks. On the morning of October 21, a reconnaissance team under the command of Yoni Netanyahu climbed an adjacent spur to look at the Israeli Hermon, and reported seeing only two Syrians on the ridge the entire day. Aerial photography also failed to show any indication of Syrian forces in the outpost. That evening, 400 Golani troops gathered in a grove at the foot of the western slope. Drori told them that the Hermon was highly important, being "the eyes and ears of the country".
The battalion moved to Majdal Shams
, from where it began to ascend the mountain. The reconnaissance company moved far to the left. In the middle, a motorized force led by tanks and a bulldozer prepared to move up the road to follow the two flanks. These were accompanied by artillery, firing 200 yards ahead, but it was ordered to stop when it began to hit too close to the troops. After nine hours of climbing they were two thirds of the way up, when they were hit by heavy fire. Five of the six tank commanders in the motorized force were hit by Syrian commandos lying at the side of the road. The reconnaissance company was also hit and its commander was killed. The exchange of fire took place at range of a few yards. In addition to snipers, the Syrians also used Israeli machine guns taken from the outpost after the first battle.
Several times, the Israelis mistook Syrian fire for friendly one. Peled tried to outflank the Syrians. One of his company commanders took the wrong path and turned northwest instead of northeast. He reported no enemy in sight. Peled moved forward to get a better view. Drori ordered him back, but Peled ignored him. Drori was then hit, and wanted to pass command to Peled. Peled's artillery officer and radioman were both killed. He took the radio before being hit as well. At dawn artillery was called in, and the Syrian fire began to fade. Several Syrian snipers surrendered. At 11:00 AM, a Golani officer announced that the Hermon was in Israeli hands.
By 17:25, all the Israeli paratroopers had arrived. Seven men were placed on the peak to observe. The Syrians called for seven MiG
s, but these were shot down by Israeli aircraft. Two Syrian helicopters carrying reinforcements were also shot down. A Syrian ground advance from Irneh was also halted by IAF
planes. The Israeli paratroopers proceeded to attack the Twists Position , defended by 25–30 Syrians. One Israeli platoon commander and seven Syrians were killed, and the rest retreated. The Twists Position overlooked both the Syrian Hermon Position and the road to Irneh, so roadblocks and ambushes were set up around it. Israeli forces continued south, attacking the Cliff Position , with 30–40 Syrian defenders. Thanks in part to artillery support, the Israelis captured the position without suffering any casualties, with 12 Syrian KIAs. The ambush around the Twists Position intercepted six Syrian trucks with reinforcements, capturing or destroying five.
At 03:00, they were overlooking the main Syrian observation post. Nadel called in artillery fire. Half an hour later, the Israeli troops attacked and discovered that the Syrian defenders had fled. At 06:00–10:00, one of the battalions moved toward the Israeli Hermon to assist the Golani troops. En route, it encountered Syrians who had escaped from the Israeli Hermon. The Israeli battalion killed some of them and took 17 others prisoner. One Israeli was killed in the shootout. The paratroopers were halfway down when they were ordered by the Northern Command to move back up.
repeated the phrase "the eyes of the country" in an interview for the Israeli television
. It has since become a common idiom for the Hermon in Israel. The Israeli conduct later came under criticism. Historian Uri Milstein
argued that the planning and execution of the attack was flawed and scandalous. Thirty years after the battle, Drori rejected claims that the paratroopers' assistance was unwanted because of Golani's prestige considerations, and said that by the time the paratroopers could have arrived, they were no longer needed. After the war, the Syrian Hermon was handed back to Syria.
Syrian Army
The Syrian Army, officially called the Syrian Arab Army, is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. It is the dominant military service of the four uniformed services, controlling the senior most posts in the armed forces, and has the greatest manpower, approximately 80 percent of the...
over Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon
Mount Hermon is a mountain cluster in the Anti-Lebanon mountain range. Its summit straddles the border between Syria and Lebanon and, at 2,814 m above sea level, is the highest point in Syria. On the top there is “Hermon Hotel”, in the buffer zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied...
, during the last days of 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...
. 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....
n troops had captured
First Battle of Mount Hermon
The First Battle of Mount Hermon was fought at the outset of the Yom Kippur War between the Syrian Army and the Israel Defense Forces . On Yom Kippur, October 6 1973, Syrian commandos attacked and captured the IDF outpost on Mount Hermon. Two days later, the Syrians repelled an Israeli...
the IDF outpost on the mountain on October 6, and held it for two weeks. In the third battle, codenamed Operation Dessert , Israeli troops captured the Israeli outpost and the Syrian one.
Background
After losing control of Mount Hermon on October 6 and failing to recapture it on October 8, the IDF, and the Golani BrigadeGolani Brigade
The Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
in particular, grew determined to recapture it. Its loss levied a heavy toll on Israel's intelligence gathering during the war. At 10:15 PM on October 19, Israeli Chief of Staff (Ramatkal
Ramatkal
The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces is the supreme commander and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. At any given time, the Chief of Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, Rav Aluf , which is usually...
) David Elazar
David Elazar
David "Dado" Elazar was the ninth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, serving in that capacity from 1972 to 1974. He was forced to resign in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.-Early life:...
was on his way to the Israeli Northern Command
Israeli Northern Command
The Israeli Northern Command is the Israel Defense Forces regional command responsible for the northern front with Syria and Lebanon.-History:...
to monitor an attack on the Hermon. At that time, the General Staff learned of the United States Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
's notification of an immediate ceasefire to the war. Elazar was asked to return to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, where he met with the Defense Minister
Ministry of Defense (Israel)
The Ministry of Defence of the government of Israel, is the governmental department responsible for defending the State of Israel from internal and external military threats...
, Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
, and they agreed that recapturing the Hermon was top priority.
Yehuda Peled, who had commanded the failed counterattack on October 8, decided that it would be best to attack from the Syrian enclave to the east, instead of from the Golan again. The 4,000 foot climb from that direction was very steep, but would bring the attacking force straight to the Israeli outpost without fighting on the ridge. The Golani commander, Amir Drori
Amir Drori
Amir Drori was an Israeli general, founder and the first director general of the Israel Antiquities Authority.-Military career:Amir Drori was born in Tel Aviv in 1937 and graduated from the IDF's Junior Command Preparatory School in Haifa. He was drafted into the Israel Defence Forces in 1955,...
, concurred. Peled's 51st battalion was therefore posted in an abandoned Syrian village
Syrian towns and villages depopulated in the Arab-Israeli conflict
Pre-1967 Syrian towns and villages on the Golan Heights before the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War comprised 312 inhabited areas, including 2 towns, 163 villages, and 108 farms. In 1966, the Syrian population of the Golan Heights was estimated at 147,613....
at the foot of the eastern side of the Hermon. For three nights, the battalion practiced a quick climb with full gear, and Peled concluded that the mission was possible. Elazar ordered him to take the entire crest, including the Syrian Hermon. Golani was to capture the Israeli Hermon, while a reserve paratroopers brigade, under the command of Colonel Haim Nadel, would attack the Syrian positions established before the war.
Prelude
Nadel's officers suggested taking the crest and then moving down to the Israeli Hermon. Brigadier-General Yekutiel AdamYekutiel Adam
Yekutiel "Kuti" Adam was an Israeli general and former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces....
, Deputy Chief of Northern Command, rejected this suggestion, saying Golani should capture the outpost it had lost. The paratroop officers suggested that Golani would attack from the east, but were rejected because the eastern slope was considered too vulnerable to Syrian artillery and too steep to safely evacuate the wounded. On the night of October 20, Drori arrived at Northern Command and was advised by a paratroop officer to change his orders. He refused.
For the two weeks before the Israeli attack, the Syrians were hiding by day, expecting an Israeli assault. Two Syrians were wounded by Israeli shelling during those two weeks. On the morning of October 21, a reconnaissance team under the command of Yoni Netanyahu climbed an adjacent spur to look at the Israeli Hermon, and reported seeing only two Syrians on the ridge the entire day. Aerial photography also failed to show any indication of Syrian forces in the outpost. That evening, 400 Golani troops gathered in a grove at the foot of the western slope. Drori told them that the Hermon was highly important, being "the eyes and ears of the country".
Israeli Hermon
Majdal Shams
Majdal Shams is a Druze village in the northern part of the Golan Heights, in the southern foothills of Mt. Hermon. Since the June 1967 Six-Day War, the village has been controlled by Israel, first under martial law, but since 1981 under Israeli civil law, and incorporated into the Israeli...
, from where it began to ascend the mountain. The reconnaissance company moved far to the left. In the middle, a motorized force led by tanks and a bulldozer prepared to move up the road to follow the two flanks. These were accompanied by artillery, firing 200 yards ahead, but it was ordered to stop when it began to hit too close to the troops. After nine hours of climbing they were two thirds of the way up, when they were hit by heavy fire. Five of the six tank commanders in the motorized force were hit by Syrian commandos lying at the side of the road. The reconnaissance company was also hit and its commander was killed. The exchange of fire took place at range of a few yards. In addition to snipers, the Syrians also used Israeli machine guns taken from the outpost after the first battle.
Several times, the Israelis mistook Syrian fire for friendly one. Peled tried to outflank the Syrians. One of his company commanders took the wrong path and turned northwest instead of northeast. He reported no enemy in sight. Peled moved forward to get a better view. Drori ordered him back, but Peled ignored him. Drori was then hit, and wanted to pass command to Peled. Peled's artillery officer and radioman were both killed. He took the radio before being hit as well. At dawn artillery was called in, and the Syrian fire began to fade. Several Syrian snipers surrendered. At 11:00 AM, a Golani officer announced that the Hermon was in Israeli hands.
Syrian Hermon
Nadel's force was airlifted to the crest by helicopters. Two battalions, totalling 606 soldiers, arrived in twenty-seven sorties. The helicopters moved through the wadis around the Syrian anti-aircraft positions, and artillery preceded the helicopters. Syrian artillery from the nearby village Irneh shelled the landing zone and seriously wounded one Israeli. Twenty-one soldiers were also landed at the summit of Mount Hermon.By 17:25, all the Israeli paratroopers had arrived. Seven men were placed on the peak to observe. The Syrians called for seven MiG
Mig
-Industry:*MiG, now Mikoyan, a Russian aircraft corporation, formerly the Mikoyan-Gurevich Design Bureau*Metal inert gas welding or MIG welding, a type of welding using an electric arc and a shielding gas-Business and finance:...
s, but these were shot down by Israeli aircraft. Two Syrian helicopters carrying reinforcements were also shot down. A Syrian ground advance from Irneh was also halted by IAF
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
planes. The Israeli paratroopers proceeded to attack the Twists Position , defended by 25–30 Syrians. One Israeli platoon commander and seven Syrians were killed, and the rest retreated. The Twists Position overlooked both the Syrian Hermon Position and the road to Irneh, so roadblocks and ambushes were set up around it. Israeli forces continued south, attacking the Cliff Position , with 30–40 Syrian defenders. Thanks in part to artillery support, the Israelis captured the position without suffering any casualties, with 12 Syrian KIAs. The ambush around the Twists Position intercepted six Syrian trucks with reinforcements, capturing or destroying five.
At 03:00, they were overlooking the main Syrian observation post. Nadel called in artillery fire. Half an hour later, the Israeli troops attacked and discovered that the Syrian defenders had fled. At 06:00–10:00, one of the battalions moved toward the Israeli Hermon to assist the Golani troops. En route, it encountered Syrians who had escaped from the Israeli Hermon. The Israeli battalion killed some of them and took 17 others prisoner. One Israeli was killed in the shootout. The paratroopers were halfway down when they were ordered by the Northern Command to move back up.
Aftermath
Golani's casualties were fifty-five dead and 79 wounded. The paratroopers' casualties were one dead and four wounded. After the battle, one Golani privatePrivate (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
repeated the phrase "the eyes of the country" in an interview for the Israeli television
Channel 1 (Israel)
Channel 1 is one of the oldest television channels in Israel and one of five terrestrial channels in the country...
. It has since become a common idiom for the Hermon in Israel. The Israeli conduct later came under criticism. Historian Uri Milstein
Uri Milstein
Uri Milstein is an Israeli military historian and poet.-Biography:Uri Milstein was born in Tel Aviv to Avraham Milstein, a volunteer in the British army in World War II, and Sarah Milstein, a kindergarten teacher. He studied at Hayil school in Tel Aviv's Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, Hadassim youth...
argued that the planning and execution of the attack was flawed and scandalous. Thirty years after the battle, Drori rejected claims that the paratroopers' assistance was unwanted because of Golani's prestige considerations, and said that by the time the paratroopers could have arrived, they were no longer needed. After the war, the Syrian Hermon was handed back to Syria.