Veteran IDF commanders and others took part on Friday in the commemoration of a critical but widely-forgotten, 42-year-old Jordan Valley battle.
The battle, which took place on March 11, 1969, led to the deaths of three IDF junior officers, as well as the killing of seven terrorists and the capture of another. It took place during the 1967-70 War of Attrition, which cost the lives of 500 soldiers fighting Jordanian terrorist cells that infiltrated into Israel across the Jordan River during that period.
The ceremony was held under the auspices of the FieldSchoolsof Ofrah and Elon Moreh, and in the presence of several dozen relatives of the fallen soldiers and veterans of that battle and similar ones – including Minister and former Deputy Chief of Staff Matan Vilnai, Gen. (res.) Uzi Dayan, Jordan Valley Region Chairman Ze'ev Drori and former Israel Air Force commander Herzl Budinger.
The battle began after an infiltration was discovered, and the soldiers pursued the terrorists towards the west. Near the villageof Majdal Bani Fadil, around present-day Maaleh Efraim and Gitit, the force ascended a hilltop to search several caves. A Bedouin woman was sitting outside one cave nursing her baby, and when asked if there was anyone inside, she answered in the negative. The soldiers turned to leave, and suddenly a burst of fire and grenades engulfed the Israeli force, killing three soldiers: Chanan Samson, Yossi Kaplan, and Boaz Sasson. The other soldiers returned fire and liquidated the terrorist cell.
Monument Disintegrated, Battle was Forgotten
A monument erected in memory of the three and the battle deteriorated long ago, and nothing remained of the site except for the pine tree forest planted in their memory. Carmit, a relative of Chanan Samson visited recently and found several boys picnicking there. When she asked them if they knew of the famous battle that had happened there, they said they had no clue. Carmit immediately phoned the Elon Moreh field school, and the “save the battlesite” project got underway.
Netanel Elinson of the Elon Moreh Field School told Arutz-7's Shimon Cohen that signs directing visitors to the location have been place on the nearby highway, and plaques at the site tell the story of the battle and the fallen soldiers.
Elinson said that Friday’s event was an oppportunity to piece together additional details of the story from actual participants. “It turns out that the terrorists did not come out of one cave,” he said, ‘but rather from three caves. We went into each one, and each of the fighters told where he was at the time, where the IDF helicopter support flew above, and how the battle unfolded.”
The story of the nursing Bedouin woman led to much discussion afterwards regarding the famous IDF “purity of arms” that encourages soldiers to protect civilians in almost all situations. The story began to be doubted after a while, but Elinson said that one of the veterans related on Friday how he himself bound and arrested the woman and placed her in the army jeep. Naomi Samson, Chanan’s widow, said that she had been offered a chance to meet the woman but refused – and that she now regrets her decision.
Elinson summed up the event with satisfaction: “For one thing, some of the participants were people who barely ever come to this side of the former Green Line [i.e., to Judeaand Samaria]. Many people are returning to hike here in this area, where there are many other hidden corners and stories of heroism that should be told. We plan to run other similar events in the future.”
Pictured above addressing the participants:
Col.(res.) Shimon Kahaner (Katcha), wounded veteran of the Six Day war (Jerusalem), War of Attrition and Yom Kippur War, chairman of the Ammunition Hill Site and Association, and member of the National Council for the Golan and JordanValley.