Retaliatory Actions

After the war, a large number of new immigrants were absorbed into the brigade, some of whom could not speak Hebrew. The newly-reorganized brigade went into action against the Syrians in 1951, after the Syrians gained control of Tel-Mutila in the north. The Golani force involved suffered high casualties.

The next time Golani went into action was in October 1955 in coordination with the Paratrooper Brigade. Their mission was a retaliatory raid across the border from Nitzana, following recurrent Egyptian provocation.

One month later, they carried out an outstanding joint operation with the Paratroopers against outposts which threatened the Sea of Galilee region.

The 1956 Sinai Campaign

Israel undertook the 1956 Sinai Campaign in response to developments in the international arena. Golani's mission was to capture the Rafah area, in order to provide Israeli armored forces with a clear road into Egyptian territory.

Golani's next major activity was in 1960. Following continued Syrian harassment of farmers in the demilitarized zone in northern Israel, a Golani force attacked a Syrian outpost at Tawfiq. Two years later, they carried out another attack against the Nukeib outpost in Syria.

From 1965, the brigade was integrated into ongoing anti-terrorist operations including Shune and Kilat in Jordan, and Hilweh in Lebanon.

The 1967 Six Day War

In the Six Day War Golani troops fought in the Jordan/Syria sector. In Nablus they took part in house-to-house fighting, while on the Golan Heights the brigade was involved in heroic battles at Tel Azizyat and Tel Fahr [see below.] Elsewhere, Golani troops supported armored forces as in the capture of Zaurah and the Banias. Elements of Golani's Gideon Battalion landed by helicopter on Mt. Hermon.

Golani was now given a new role. The brigade began to reinforce outposts along the Suez Canal, patrolling the length of the new border, and pursuing terrorists into South Lebanon.

The 1973 Yom Kippur War

Just before hostilities broke out, Golani troops were sent to man outposts in the northern sector of the Golan Heights. When war broke out, these outposts came under attack from Syrian infantry and armor,and were subject to air strikes. Golani troops blocked possible transportation routes available to the Syrians, and then went on to take part in joint operations with IDF armored forces. After regaining territories up to the cease-fire line ("the purple line"), Golani joined Rafael Eitan's division in its thrust into the Syrian heartland.

During the early stages of the war, the Mt. Hermon outpost, known in Israel as "the eyes of the State", was captured by the Syrians. Due to the strategic importance of the outpost, high priority was placed on its recapture. Golani troops successfully undertook this difficult mission on 22 October. They suffered high casualties in this battle.

Golani at Entebbe

For years Golani was upstaged by the more glamorous, red bereted paratroopers. The Golani brown berets received recognition as an elite force in the 1976 Entebbe Operation. Golani units participated in the spectacular rescue of Israeli nationals after their plane had been hijacked to Uganda. This was not a prize for past achievement but simply acceptance that only the best would go on this mission, and Golani were the best.

Instability in the North

In 1978, following the terrorist attack on the Haifa-Tel Aviv highway, the IDF launched Operation Litani. The objective of the mission was to repel terrorist organizations beyond the Litani river in Lebanon. It was an inter-arm action, in which a major component were the ground forces. The operation enjoyed only limited success, as the terrorist threat was not completely removed.

Continued problems with terrorist incursions from the northern border led to Operation Peace for Galilee (later known as the Lebanon War). The Golani brigade fought on the Nabatiye Heights and in Kfar Sil, but the battle for which Golani became famous in Lebanon was the capture of the Beaufort outpost - a military fort dating back to the crusader period (12th century), that was used as a terrorist base.

Since the Lebanon War, Golani has continued to be a volunteer elite infantry force. They share the humdrum work of patrolling Israel's borders and facing the dangers of Lebanon together with the Paratroopers and other volunteer units.

The Golani Brigade in the Battle of Tel Fahr

The Golani brigade was deployed along Israel's northern borders. In the period prior to the Six Day War the Syrians built a complex system of outposts and fortifications facing the Syrians. Two positions, Tel Azizyat and Tel Fahr were part of this system. Tel Azizyat was taken by a flanking maneuver.

On 9th June, 1967 at 14:00 hours, at the same time as armored and infantry forces crossed over the "green line" (1948 cease-fire lines) a Golani's Barak battalion made their way by mechanized transport to Tel Fahr. The battle plan was to outflank Tel Fahr but the designated approach proved to be inaccessible to the force's vehicles. A new plan was therefore decided upon which required a frontal assault.

Throughout the force's approach, it suffered attacks from outposts around the route. Upon the forces' arrival at the Bourj-Babil - Tel Fahr junction at 14:30, the battalion commander decided to assign part of his force to attacking the Bourj-Babil outpost, which was firing heavily upon the battalion, and preventing it from carrying out its attack effectively. Despite this, the force pressed forward, abandoning damaged and destroyed vehicles along the way.

Upon reaching the foot of the hill on which the outpost was located, the force left its vehicles to approach the outpost on foot. The force was divided into two groups, with each group attacking one of the two peaks on which the outpost was situated. Upon reaching the outer perimeter of the fortifications some soldiers flattened the barbed wire coils by lying down on the wire, thus allowing their colleagues to step on them and proceed into the fort.

The combat then moved to the trenches, where fighting was at short-range, with very high casualties. Many soldiers, including the battalion commander, were hit by Syrian fire.

Six hours after crossing the border, a mechanized force in tracked vehicles arrived at the southern side of the outpost, and a reconnaissance group under the command of the brigade commander arrived at the northern side along with the group assigned to capture Bourj-Babil. Within another half an hour, Golani troops had gained control of Tel Fahr. 34 soldiers fell in the battle: of these were 23 enlisted men and officers of the Barak Battalion.