Golani Brigade

The 1st "Golani" Brigade (Hebrew: חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי, Hativat Golani) is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the others being the Paratroopers Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, the Givati Brigade and the Kfir Brigade. Its symbol is a green olive tree against a yellow background, with its soldiers wearing a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the IDF. The brigade consists of five battalions, including two which it kept from its inception (12th and 13th), one transferred from the Givati Brigade (51st).

The brigade was formed on February 22, 1948, during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, when the Levanoni Brigade in the Galilee split into the 1st Golani Brigade and the 2nd Carmeli Brigade. It has since participated in all of Israel's major wars and nearly all major operations, including the Suez Crisis, the Six-Day War, the War of Attrition, the Yom Kippur War, Operation Entebbe, the 1978 South Lebanon conflict, the 1982 and 2006 Lebanon Wars, and various operations during the Palestinian intifadas.

Three of its commanders (Mordechai Gur, Gabi Ashkenazi and Gadi Eizenkot) have become IDF Chiefs of Staff, with many more reaching the rank of aluf (major general).

As the end of the British Mandate of Palestine was fast approaching, the leadership of the Haganah drafted Plan Dalet for its subsequent organization and operations. The plan divided the fighting militia (Field Corps) into six regional brigades – Levanoni in the north, Alexandroni in the Sharon region, Kiryati in the Tel Aviv area, Givati in the Shfela, and Etzioni in the Jerusalem area. On February 28, 1948, the Levanoni Brigade was split into two—Carmeli in the northwest, and Golani in the northeast.

Golani's area of operations included much of the Lower Galilee and Jezreel Valley, the Jordan Valley and the Hula Valley. It extended to al-Jalama and Bat Shlomo in the west. Major population centers included Safed, Tiberias, Beit She'an and Nazareth. The new brigade had five battalions, with its headquarters in Yavne'el:

During the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, Golani mostly participated in the battles for the mixed cities in the north, such as the Battle of Tiberias and battles in Safed in April–May 1948. The 12th Battalion captured al-Shajara on May 6, 1948, and the 13th captured Beit She'an on May 12. After these operations, responsibility over the northeastern part of the brigade's sector (the Tel Hai area, 11th Battalion), was handed over to the Oded Brigade and other forces. In December 1948, the 14th and 15th battalions were merged into the Mechanized Attack Battalion.

The first Golani action following the Arab intervention in the 1948 war was the defense of the kibbutzim Degania Alef and Bet from the Syrian Army in the Battles of the Kinarot Valley. Units from the Barak Battalion, with Yiftach (Palmach) and Guard Corps reinforcements, successfully fended off a Syrian attack. The brigade was also successful at repelling Iraqi forces at the Battle of Gesher to the south. After the Jordan Valley battles died out, Golani went on the offensive, attacking a number of Arab villages in its sector, and finally mounting an offensive on Jenin together with the Carmeli Brigade on June 2, 1948. The attack eventually succeeded, but Jenin was retaken by the Iraqi Army shortly after.

During the Battles of the Ten Days between the first and second truces of the war (July 8–18, 1948), Golani managed to repel the Arab Liberation Army attack on Sejera from Lubya, and helped capture Nazareth and eventually Lubya in Operation Dekel. Golani participated in Operation Hiram in October 1948, where at first it staged diversionary attacks from the south. Afterwards captured Eilabun, Mughar, Rameh and other villages in the ALA First Yarmouk Battalion's zone.