Hero of Israel

Hero of Israel (Hebrew: גיבור ישראל) is an Israeli military decoration that was awarded during the War of Independence.[1] When the IDF was first established in May 1948, a system of decorations had not yet been instituted, but many soldiers who had distinguished themselves in battle were recommended by their officers for awards. The army command installed a committee to decide on a system of decorations, and a contest was written out for the public to design medals. However, after more than a year, no decisions had been taken and in the summer of 1949 it was decided that, as a “temporary solution", 12 decorations would be awarded to a selection of soldiers who were representative for the different IDF units and who had distinguished themselves by the highest level of heroism.

Hero of Israel

The award ceremony was held on July 17, 1949. After a military parade, Israeli President Chaim Weizmann, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion and IDF Chief of Staff Yaakov Dori awarded the decoration to the recipients or their dependents (4 awards were given posthumously).

After this ceremony, the committee continued to work on a system of decorations, but it was never brought to a solution and so the Hero of Israel ribbon was never awarded again. Instead, in 1970 it was replaced with the Medal of Valor. All recipients of the Hero of Israel automatically received the Medal of Valor as well.

Design

The decoration is designed in the form of a red ribbon bar, charged with a clasp of the Israeli coat of arms made of gold.

Recipients
PhotoNameRankConflictPlace of actionDate of actionNotes
Yair RacheliPrivateWar of IndependenceNear Shefa-'Amr19 Jan 1948Received the medal for destroying an enemy position
Emmanuel LandauPrivateWar of IndependenceKiryat Motzkin17 Mar 1948Received the medal for capturing an enemy supply truck
Abraham AvigdorovPrivateWar of IndependenceKiryat Motzkin17 Mar 1948Received the medal for destroying two enemy Bren machine gun positions
Zerubavel HorowitzSecond LieutenantWar of IndependenceRoad to Jerusalem27 Mar 1948Received the medal for covering the retreat of his comrades from an enemy attack
Yizhar ArmoniPrivateWar of IndependenceNabi Yusha20 Apr 1948Received the medal for covering the retreat of his comrades and evacuation of wounded soldiers
Emil BrigSergeantWar of IndependenceKibbutz Gesher area14 May 1948Received the medal for blowing up a bridge and thus preventing the enemy from advancing (Photograph shows left to right:Yohai Ben Nun, Arieh Atzmoni, Emil Brig)
Zvi ZibelAirmanWar of IndependenceBen Shemen25 Jun 1948Received the medal for delivering supplies to the besieged Ben Shemen while under heavy enemy fire
Ben-Zion LeitnerPrivate First ClassWar of IndependenceIraq Suwaydan19 Oct 1948Received the medal for destroying enemy bunkers during the Battles of the Separation Corridor
Ron FellerSergeantWar of IndependenceKaratiyya19 Jul 1948Received the medal for destroying an enemy tank in the Battle of Karatiyya
Yohai Ben-NunCaptainWar of IndependenceMediterranean Sea22 Oct 1948Received the medal for sinking the Egyptian Navy flagship
Siman-Tov GanehPrivateWar of IndependenceIraq Suwaydan9 Nov 1948Received the medal for covering the retreat of his comrades
Arieh AtzmoniMaster SergeantWar of IndependenceRafah4 Nov 1948Received the medal for rescuing a cannon from enemy hands

References
  1. "On the history of the Decoration "Hero of Israel"". www.israelidecorations.net. Retrieved 9 November 2020.
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