The ‘Mountain’ Operation – the course of the operations
The goal of widening the corridor and moving the border away from the road to Jerusalem was achieved. A section of the railroad from Hartuv to Jerusalem was liberated. The line reached by the units taking part in ‘Mountain’ Operation was fixed as the ceasefire line between Israel and Jordan at the negotiations which took place at the beginning of 1949 in Rhodes.
On 19 October the battle for the ‘Joint Position’ to the west of the Arab village of Dir-Aban started. This Position was occupied by Egyptian troops for a long period at a distance of about 60m from the IDF soldiers.
The Egyptian positions were well fortified: the trenches were narrow and deep; the positions had been dug in behind rocks and reinforced by metal railway sleepers which had been taken from the adjacent railway track.
The 5th Battalion, under the command of Moshe Ben Dror (Maurice) arrived at Tsor’a and established its H.Q. in the Mukhtar’s house.
When it went on the attack the Battalion was supported by the many weapons at its disposal: mortars and machine guns. Most of the troops were from Gahal and this was their first battle. It took some time for them to understand that this firepower was not aimed at them but meant to support them. When the support fire ceased the troops started their assault while shouting encouragement in various languages. All of this caused the enemy forces – made up of Egyptians and locals – to retreat.
The Battalion Operations Officer, Jimmy (Aharon Shemi), told those around him at the H.Q.: “If I don’t sleep at Beit Jemal tonight – my name’s not Jimmy.” Beit Jemal was indeed captured that night but Jimmy was no longer alive: close to the end of the attack Jimmy left the command bunker to observe the assault and a bullet accidentally hit him and killed him on the spot. The Position was taken. The town of Beit Shemesh now occupies the place.
The ‘Joint Position’ on the ridge of Beit Shemesh was used by ‘Harel’ Brigade as a springboard for the assault on the surrounding Arab villages. After the occupation the units of the 5th Battalion continued on to Tel Beit-Shemesh towards the Beit Jemal monastery (together with the armoured cars of the new 10th Battalion) where the H.Q. of the Egyptian forces in the region was situated. The monastery fell to us in the early morning. On the following day the Battalion continued to press forward and its units operated in daylight for the first time. The soldiers of B and C Companies, with the support of the 10th Battalion armoured cars, captured the large village of Beit Natif – whence came, apparently, the murderers of the Thirty Five, who had attacked Gush Etzion and destroyed the Jewish settlement of Hartuv. After its residents ran for their lives the sappers blew up the houses in the village. Later C Company also occupied Dir-a-Sheikh, Beit-Atev and Jarash. The 4th Battalion occupied Dir-el-Hawa after they overcame the tough and damaged route to the top of the hill. Sappers from both the Battalions destroyed the village buildings. The following morning a counter attack was repulsed. After the large village of Zahariah was also taken, on the Hartuv-Beit Jubrin road, this important road, leading from Bethlehem via Ajur to Beit Jubrin, was blocked having been the main artery for the Egyptian forces’ traffic from the Gaza Strip and the Negev to the southern hills of Jerusalem.
On 23 October 1948 the village of Jeba was occupied. Together with the 10th Battalion, units of the 5th Battalion took the village of Hussan, on the road to Bethlehen and to Gush Etzion. And there, near the fork in the roads to Bethlehem and Hebron, about 5km from Bethlehem, the advance was halted on orders from on high. Opposite the single oak tree could be seen which stood in the centre of the Hebrew settlements of Gush Etzion, which had been occupied by the Arabs in May 1948.
According to intelligence reports and foot patrols there was no evidence of any enemy forces and the Arab residents from Mount Hebron had started to flee from their villages. On the incentive of the command H.Q. of ‘Harel’ Brigade, and in coordination with Moshe Dayan, the commander of the Jerusalem sector, an operation to encircle Jerusalem from the south was planned: the 5th Battalion was assigned to occupy Bethlehen and the village of Beit-Jallah which was the stronghold of the Jordanian Arab Legion; the 4th Battalion was to take Gush Etzion and the 6th Battalion would be the reserve for the advance to Hebron. As we know, the Government and the High Command of the IDF did not agree with the plan, due to the fear that such an operation could interfere with the occupation of Be’er Sheva and Irak-Suidan in the Negev, and could provoke the UN Security Council which had decided on a cease fire (Be’er Sheva was indeed occupied on 22 January).
When the UN declared a cease-fire and the operations ceased, the 5th Battalion held all the Positions in the sector (including those near the ‘fork’ in the roads) for a few weeks while they prevented the local Arabs from returning to their villages and guarded the traffic routes between our positions.
The achievements of Operation ‘Mountain’
The Operation had very important consequences for the city of Jerusalem and the whole region:
The Egyptian forces were dealt a final blow and retreated from the region; the Arab Legion halted its aggressive operations in the sector and, later, an agreement was signed for a complete cease-fire; the corridor through which the road to Jerusalem passes was widened and the border was moved away from it; it became possible to lay a new road to Jerusalem and, indeed, at the beginning of December the ‘Heroic’ road was opened as well as a water pipe from the plain to Jerusalem; the section of railway line Hartuv – Jerusalem which had been in enemy hands passed into our control; territories were added to Israel: the Judean coastal plain, and the western slopes of Hebron and Bethlehem mountain range; transport connections were set up between Jerusalem and the north-eastern Negev; the line reached by the ‘Harel’ units was fixed as the cease fire line between Israel and Jordan.
The Egyptian positions were well fortified: the trenches were narrow and deep; the positions had been dug in behind rocks and reinforced by metal railway sleepers which had been taken from the adjacent railway track.
The 5th Battalion, under the command of Moshe Ben Dror (Maurice) arrived at Tsor’a and established its H.Q. in the Mukhtar’s house.
When it went on the attack the Battalion was supported by the many weapons at its disposal: mortars and machine guns. Most of the troops were from Gahal and this was their first battle. It took some time for them to understand that this firepower was not aimed at them but meant to support them. When the support fire ceased the troops started their assault while shouting encouragement in various languages. All of this caused the enemy forces – made up of Egyptians and locals – to retreat.
The Battalion Operations Officer, Jimmy (Aharon Shemi), told those around him at the H.Q.: “If I don’t sleep at Beit Jemal tonight – my name’s not Jimmy.” Beit Jemal was indeed captured that night but Jimmy was no longer alive: close to the end of the attack Jimmy left the command bunker to observe the assault and a bullet accidentally hit him and killed him on the spot. The Position was taken. The town of Beit Shemesh now occupies the place.
The ‘Joint Position’ on the ridge of Beit Shemesh was used by ‘Harel’ Brigade as a springboard for the assault on the surrounding Arab villages. After the occupation the units of the 5th Battalion continued on to Tel Beit-Shemesh towards the Beit Jemal monastery (together with the armoured cars of the new 10th Battalion) where the H.Q. of the Egyptian forces in the region was situated. The monastery fell to us in the early morning. On the following day the Battalion continued to press forward and its units operated in daylight for the first time. The soldiers of B and C Companies, with the support of the 10th Battalion armoured cars, captured the large village of Beit Natif – whence came, apparently, the murderers of the Thirty Five, who had attacked Gush Etzion and destroyed the Jewish settlement of Hartuv. After its residents ran for their lives the sappers blew up the houses in the village. Later C Company also occupied Dir-a-Sheikh, Beit-Atev and Jarash. The 4th Battalion occupied Dir-el-Hawa after they overcame the tough and damaged route to the top of the hill. Sappers from both the Battalions destroyed the village buildings. The following morning a counter attack was repulsed. After the large village of Zahariah was also taken, on the Hartuv-Beit Jubrin road, this important road, leading from Bethlehem via Ajur to Beit Jubrin, was blocked having been the main artery for the Egyptian forces’ traffic from the Gaza Strip and the Negev to the southern hills of Jerusalem.
On 23 October 1948 the village of Jeba was occupied. Together with the 10th Battalion, units of the 5th Battalion took the village of Hussan, on the road to Bethlehen and to Gush Etzion. And there, near the fork in the roads to Bethlehem and Hebron, about 5km from Bethlehem, the advance was halted on orders from on high. Opposite the single oak tree could be seen which stood in the centre of the Hebrew settlements of Gush Etzion, which had been occupied by the Arabs in May 1948.
According to intelligence reports and foot patrols there was no evidence of any enemy forces and the Arab residents from Mount Hebron had started to flee from their villages. On the incentive of the command H.Q. of ‘Harel’ Brigade, and in coordination with Moshe Dayan, the commander of the Jerusalem sector, an operation to encircle Jerusalem from the south was planned: the 5th Battalion was assigned to occupy Bethlehen and the village of Beit-Jallah which was the stronghold of the Jordanian Arab Legion; the 4th Battalion was to take Gush Etzion and the 6th Battalion would be the reserve for the advance to Hebron. As we know, the Government and the High Command of the IDF did not agree with the plan, due to the fear that such an operation could interfere with the occupation of Be’er Sheva and Irak-Suidan in the Negev, and could provoke the UN Security Council which had decided on a cease fire (Be’er Sheva was indeed occupied on 22 January).
When the UN declared a cease-fire and the operations ceased, the 5th Battalion held all the Positions in the sector (including those near the ‘fork’ in the roads) for a few weeks while they prevented the local Arabs from returning to their villages and guarded the traffic routes between our positions.
The achievements of Operation ‘Mountain’
The Operation had very important consequences for the city of Jerusalem and the whole region:
The Egyptian forces were dealt a final blow and retreated from the region; the Arab Legion halted its aggressive operations in the sector and, later, an agreement was signed for a complete cease-fire; the corridor through which the road to Jerusalem passes was widened and the border was moved away from it; it became possible to lay a new road to Jerusalem and, indeed, at the beginning of December the ‘Heroic’ road was opened as well as a water pipe from the plain to Jerusalem; the section of railway line Hartuv – Jerusalem which had been in enemy hands passed into our control; territories were added to Israel: the Judean coastal plain, and the western slopes of Hebron and Bethlehem mountain range; transport connections were set up between Jerusalem and the north-eastern Negev; the line reached by the ‘Harel’ units was fixed as the cease fire line between Israel and Jordan.