Palmach Fighting Methods
The Palmach's methods of organization and operation, as the Hagana's enlisted force, were based on development of minor tactics warfare methods - Partisan tactics as they were called back then - while training the force for transition to regular warfare models when necessary.
The military doctrine of the Hagana organization, based on defensive strategies, was based primarily on the models used to build regular foreign armies. But without the framework of a sovereign state, the Jewish Yishuv in Palestine was incapable of establishing a regular army. Circumstances required the building of a force in underground conditions, clandestinely and secretly, without any formal authority to enforce mandatory recruitment, and with a meager arsenal of weapons, a constant lack of transportation means and heavy weapons (tanks, guns, planes and ships), and under the constant constraint of walking the thin line of tolerance by the British mandate in Palestine.
The Palmach's methods of organization and operation, as the Hagana's enlisted force, were developed under these conditions, and based on minor tactics warfare - Partisan methods, as they were called back then (inspired by the Partisans fighting the Nazis in the forests of Russia, Poland and Yugoslavia) - while training the force for transition to regular warfare models when necessary. During the "struggle" period, a change occurred in the military thinking and doctrine of the Hagana, when the Palmach, the organization's central fighting force, proved the success of guerilla warfare tactics, based on the minor tactics warfare approach. At the time of its establishment, the Nazi enemy was the central target of the Palmach, yet the two enemies that the Palmach actually confronted were the British defense forces and the Arabs (some of which were regular forces, and some irregular). The Palmach's independent and original military force doctrine was consolidated through training exercises, and it realized its goals in confronting the British defense forces. The clear advantage of the British, in the quantity of arms and soldiers, in military experience and in the logistics system, forced the Palmach to operate in small units, implement minor tactics warfare methods, and to attempt to evade frontal, face to face conflict. Yet the Hagana organization, including the Palmach, did not forsake, within the limitations of underground operations, training of units in regular warfare, and the rules governing these combat models. But the objectives of military operations during the struggle period promoted guerilla methods. The goal of the struggle against the British was not to defeat them on the battlefield. This was one of the means used by the Jewish Yishuv to harass them, and force them to change their policies and enable the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state in Palestine.
The warfare tactics developed by the Palmach were based on initiating operation of detachment, squad and platoon sized units under the cover of darkness. The larger units founded by the Palmach – at first companies and later battalions - provided primarily administrative and organization support, and did nor function operatively in combat until the War of Independence. The combat tactics derived from these constraints focused on the combination of movement and surprise as opposed to the combination of movement and firepower, with priority given to raids and less focus placed on orderly battles in the field. Firepower and velocity were perceived as important only for short ranges. The Palmach's minor tactics warfare approach originated in the military outlook and practical involvement of Yitzhak Sade who plotted the path of the Brigade.
The changes of circumstances on the eve of the War of Independence compelled Palmach commanders to change the minor tactics warfare approach. Looming on the political horizon was the threat of an armed conflict with the Arabs , with the Jewish forces to be pitted against the regular armies of neighboring Arab countries. The goal of the fighting against the Arabs was victory in the battlefield, and to foil their goal of thwarting the very existence of the Jewish Yishuv.
The Palmach's methods of organization and operation, as the Hagana's enlisted force, were developed under these conditions, and based on minor tactics warfare - Partisan methods, as they were called back then (inspired by the Partisans fighting the Nazis in the forests of Russia, Poland and Yugoslavia) - while training the force for transition to regular warfare models when necessary. During the "struggle" period, a change occurred in the military thinking and doctrine of the Hagana, when the Palmach, the organization's central fighting force, proved the success of guerilla warfare tactics, based on the minor tactics warfare approach. At the time of its establishment, the Nazi enemy was the central target of the Palmach, yet the two enemies that the Palmach actually confronted were the British defense forces and the Arabs (some of which were regular forces, and some irregular). The Palmach's independent and original military force doctrine was consolidated through training exercises, and it realized its goals in confronting the British defense forces. The clear advantage of the British, in the quantity of arms and soldiers, in military experience and in the logistics system, forced the Palmach to operate in small units, implement minor tactics warfare methods, and to attempt to evade frontal, face to face conflict. Yet the Hagana organization, including the Palmach, did not forsake, within the limitations of underground operations, training of units in regular warfare, and the rules governing these combat models. But the objectives of military operations during the struggle period promoted guerilla methods. The goal of the struggle against the British was not to defeat them on the battlefield. This was one of the means used by the Jewish Yishuv to harass them, and force them to change their policies and enable the establishment of a sovereign Jewish state in Palestine.
The warfare tactics developed by the Palmach were based on initiating operation of detachment, squad and platoon sized units under the cover of darkness. The larger units founded by the Palmach – at first companies and later battalions - provided primarily administrative and organization support, and did nor function operatively in combat until the War of Independence. The combat tactics derived from these constraints focused on the combination of movement and surprise as opposed to the combination of movement and firepower, with priority given to raids and less focus placed on orderly battles in the field. Firepower and velocity were perceived as important only for short ranges. The Palmach's minor tactics warfare approach originated in the military outlook and practical involvement of Yitzhak Sade who plotted the path of the Brigade.
The changes of circumstances on the eve of the War of Independence compelled Palmach commanders to change the minor tactics warfare approach. Looming on the political horizon was the threat of an armed conflict with the Arabs , with the Jewish forces to be pitted against the regular armies of neighboring Arab countries. The goal of the fighting against the Arabs was victory in the battlefield, and to foil their goal of thwarting the very existence of the Jewish Yishuv.