Gachal – (Overseas Recruitment) in the Palmach Regiments

During the first months of the war, until the first truce, 1,432 Jewish fighters fell in battle, one third of whom were Palmach members. The numbers of soldiers in the Palmach battalions began to decrease significantly. In April 1948, Yigal Yadin issued an order to reinforce the Palmach battalions. An important source of recruits was found in the new immigrants who had arrived in Israel during those months. Their process of absorption into the Palmach units was not easy – it was both a military and social framework that enjoyed a prestigious position in Israeli society at that time and standards of acceptance into the ranks of the Palmach were very high. Yigal Alon who was the commander of the Palmach, emphasized to the commanding officers, the dire necessity of investing great efforts in absorbing the new immigrants into the Palmach ranks. In order to expedite and improve the process of absorption into thebattalions, 'Absorption Camps' in Kfar Yona and Tel Mond were established, as well as a facility for training commanders in Gan Efraim.
These camps enabled the immigrants to become familiar with the military routines and at the same time they were given some ideological education.