Camp Yitzhak is an IDF base in the center of the Golan Heights. The base, also known as Camp Naffakh, serves as the headquarters of the 210th Division, the IDF division stationed in the Golan Heights. Until January 2014, the camp served as the headquarters of the 36th Division.
The camp is located about three kilometres southwest of Mount Shifon, near the ruins of Kafr Naffakh – a village whose inhabitants, Turkmen Muslims, abandoned it during the Six-Day War. [1] The camp stands at the intersection of two main roads in the Golan Heights – Highway 91 (the road leading from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov to Quneitra) and the Petroleum Road.
After the Six-Day War, the camp was used by the Alexandroni Brigade, which was responsible for the Golan Heights area. It was named after Lt. Col. Yitzhak Halfon, a battalion commander in the brigade, who fell in the battle on the Golan Heights in the Six-Day War.
A few kilometres east of the base at the foot of Mount Shifon stands a monument to the fallen of the 679th Brigade .
On the first day of the Yom Kippur War, the headquarters of 36th Division (then under the command of Brigadier General Rafael Eitan) was found in the camp and the forward command group of the Northern Command was located there.
When the war broke out, Syrian planes attacked the camp. Due to its strategic location, the Syrian forces that broke into the plateau directed their main attack towards it. On the second day of the war, October 7, the camp was evacuated, after Syrian tanks approached it from the south. The tanks trampled the fences of the camp and fired into it, but were stopped and pushed away that day by IDF soldiers, including Efi Eitam who was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service, [2] who fired bazooka bombs at them from inside the camp and then by Israeli tanks that sensed the place. [3]
On October 8 and 9, the Syrians carried out additional attacks in an attempt to capture the camp, but the IDF blocked the attacks in the area south of it. On October 9, a patrol force from the Sayeret Matkal, under the command of Yoni Netanyahu, which served as an elite patrol company in the 36th Division, was dispatched to Camp Naffakh following notification of the infiltration of helicopters landing Syrian commando fighters near the base. During the battle between a patrol of the General Staff and the Syrian commando, 40 Syrian fighters were killed. Netanyahu was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Service for how he commanded the battle and other actions he performed in the war. [4]
The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from 6 to 25 October 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. The majority of combat between the two sides took place in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights—both of which had been occupied by Israel in 1967—with some fighting in African Egypt and northern Israel. Egypt's initial objective in the war was to seize a foothold on the eastern bank of the Suez Canal and subsequently leverage these gains to negotiate the return of the rest of the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula.
The 188th "Barak" (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armoured brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The emblem of the Barak Armored Brigade is a red-bordered rhombus bearing a sword against a blue and white background depicting the Haifa coastline. The brigade has a long history beginning before the foundation of the State of Israel.
The history of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) intertwines in its early stages with history of the Haganah.
The 1st "Golani" Brigade 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, one transferred from the Givati Brigade (51st).
The 35th "Paratroopers" Brigade is an Israeli military airborne infantry brigade. It forms a major part of the Israeli Ground Forces' Infantry Corps, and has a history of carrying out special operations from the 1950s onwards. Soldiers of the brigade wear maroon berets with the Infantry Corps pin and russet boots.
Yonatan "Yoni" Netanyahu was an Israeli military officer who commanded Sayeret Matkal during the Entebbe raid. The raid was launched in response to the 1976 hijacking of an international civilian passenger flight from Israel to France by Palestinian and German militants, who took control of the aircraft during a stopover in Greece and diverted it to Libya and then to Uganda, where they received support from Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Though Israel's counter-terrorist operation was a success, with 102 of the 106 hostages being rescued, Netanyahu was killed in action – the only Israeli soldier killed during the crisis.
Rafael "Raful" Eitan was an Israeli general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (Ramatkal) and later a politician, a Knesset member, and government minister.
The Northern Command is a regional command in the Israel Defense Forces. The command, whose main headquarters is in Safed, is responsible for all the units located between Hermon and Netanya. The mission of the Northern Command is to protect Israel's northern borders with Syria and Lebanon
The 7th "Saar me-Golan" Armored Brigade 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. 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.
Aluf (res.) Yossi Ben Hanan was an Israeli general.
The Central Command, often abbreviated to Pakmaz (פקמ"ז), is a regional command of the Israel Defense Forces. It is responsible for the units and brigades located in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Sharon, Gush Dan, and the Shephelah.
The Israeli Armored Corps is a corps of the Israel Defense Forces that, since 1998, has been subordinate to GOC Army Headquarters. The Armored Corps is the principal maneuvering corps, and primarily bases its strength on main battle tanks.
The 36th Division "Ga'ash", also known as the Ga'ash Formation ("Rage"), is a regular-service division of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It is subordinate to Northern Command.
Tat Aluf Avigdor Kahalani is a former Israeli soldier and politician.
Efraim "Effi" Eitam is an Israeli brigadier general, former commander of the 91st Division, and politician. A former leader of the National Religious Party, he later led a breakaway faction, Ahi, which merged into Likud in 2009. He served as a member of the Knesset between 2003 and 2009.
The Battles of the Kinarot Valley, is a collective name for a series of military engagements between the Haganah and the Syrian army during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, fought between 15–22 May 1948 in the Kinarot Valley. It includes two main sites: the Battle of Degania–Samakh (Tzemah), and battles near Masada–Sha'ar HaGolan. The engagements were part of the battles of the Jordan Valley, which also saw fighting against Transjordan in the area of Gesher.
Uri Sagi is an Israeli retired general who held several prominent posts including commander of the Golani Brigade and chief of the IDF's Military Intelligence Directorate.
Shay Avital Rapoport is a Major General (Ret.) in the IDF and former head of the Special Operations Forces Command.
The 5th Mechanized Division is a mechanized infantry division of the Syrian Arab Army. The division is part of the Syrian Army's 1st Corps.
Yoram Shmuel Yair is an Israeli retired soldier who served in the IDF for 35 years until his release with the rank of major general, in 1998. After his release, he volunteers in the social, educational and business fields. He serves as chairman and strategic advisor of several companies in Israel and abroad, and as chairman of "Yahad – United for Israel's Soldiers", chairman of the association "After Me!" and chairman of an association that operates drug and alcohol rehab villages. Yair built and heads the Rabin Leadership Program at the IDC Herzliya.