7th Armored Brigade (Israel)

7th Armored Brigade
Insignia of the 7th Brigade
Active	1948–present
Country	Israel
Allegiance	Israel Defense Forces
Type	Armor
Part of	Northern Command
Garrison/HQ	Camp Katsabia
Motto(s)	7 את החטיבה! (The 7th Division!)
Engagements	1948 Arab–Israeli War 1956 Sinai War Six-Day War War of Attrition Yom Kippur War 1982 Lebanon War 2006 Lebanon War 2008 Lebanon War Israel–Hamas war
Commanders
Current commander	Aluf mishne Elad Tzuri
Notable commanders	Avigdor Kahalani, Shmuel Gonen, Yanush Ben-Gal

The 7th "Saar me-Golan" Armored Brigade (Hebrew: חטיבה שבע, Hativa Sheva) is a military formation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Formed during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, and still in operation, it is the oldest armored brigade in the IDF.^[1] Since then, the brigade has taken part in all the IDF's main operations, and stands today as one of 3 main armoured brigades of the IDF.

The brigade has historical ties to the earlier Jewish Brigade, which was raised during World War II.^[2]

The 7th Brigade once belonged^[when?] to Israel's Southern Command. The 7th was based in the Golan Heights as part of the 36th Armored Division from the end of the Yom Kippur War until February 2014.^[3]

During the 1948 War, the 7th Brigade primarily consisted of Sherman tanks and mounted infantry. Early on, the 7th also contained an artillery element. During the 1960s, the brigade was equipped with British Centurion tanks modified in Israel. These were gradually superseded in the late 1970s by the Israeli-made Merkava main battle tanks, of which several versions have since been employed.^{[citation needed]}

The brigade took part in all of Israel's wars.^{[citation needed]}

During the Battles of Latrun in 1948, the 3rd Alexandroni and 7th Brigades together suffered 139 casualties.^{[citation needed]} The 7th Brigade was initially equipped with jeeps and cars with a few machine guns in July 1948, when the experienced Canadian officer Ben Dunkelman took over. He sized up two approaching Egyptian battle groups equipped with half-tracks, US M4 Sherman tanks and other vehicles. Dunkelman attacked both of them by surprise at night, when the crews were out of their vehicles. The Egyptian soldiers fled, allowing the 7th Brigade to appropriate their arms and vehicles.^[4]

The Brigade had so many Canadian, American, and British volunteers that it became known as the "Anglo-Saxon Brigade."^[5]

In 1948, the brigade's reputation was as one of the crueler combat forces of the period.^[6] Israeli historian Ilan Pappé writes: "In many of the Palestinian oral histories that have now come to the fore, few brigade names appear. However, Brigade Seven is mentioned again and again, together with such adjectives as 'terrorist' and 'barbarous.'"^[6][7]

It fought in the 1967 Six-Day War under the command of Colonel Shmuel Gonen (Gorodish).^{[citation needed]}

In the 1973 Yom Kippur War, under the command of Colonel Avigdor Ben-Gal, it was stationed at the defense line of the northern part of the Golan Heights, sharing the defense with the Barak Armored Brigade, where it successfully repulsed heavy attacks by much larger Syrian forces.^{[citation needed]}

• 71st Battalion, participated in the Battles of Latrun in 1948
• 72nd Battalion, participated in the Battles of Latrun in 1948
• 73rd Battalion, participated in the Battles of Latrun in 1948
• 79th Battalion, participated in Operation Hiram in 1948
• 356th Reconnaissance Company

Source:^[8]

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