# Joseph Tabenkin

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Israeli military commander

Joseph Tabenkin Native name יוסף טבנקין Born 18 March 1921 Tel Aviv, Mandatory Palestine Died 24 September 1987 (Aged 66) Ein Harod, Israel Buried Kibbutz Ein Harod, Israel Allegiance Palmach, Israel

**Joseph "Yosefle" Tabenkin** ([Hebrew](/source/Hebrew_language): יוסף טבנקין; March 18, 1921 – September 24, 1987) was an Israeli commander of the Fourth Battalion of the Palmach's [Harel Brigade](/source/Harel_Brigade) in the years leading up to and during the [1948 Palestine war](/source/1948_Palestine_war), also known as Israel's "War of Independence."

## Biography

Joseph Tabenkin was born in Tel Aviv to [Russian Jewish](/source/Russian_Jewish) immigrant parents, the son of politician [Yitzhak Tabenkin](/source/Yitzhak_Tabenkin), and one of the founders of the [Kibbutz haArtzi](/source/Kibbutz_Movement). In 1946, Joseph Tabenkin married Ya'el Tamarin, who, like him, had joined the [Palmach](/source/Palmach).

## Military career

In 1938, at the age of seventeen, Tabenkin joined the *[Field Squadron](/source/Posh_(Haganah_unit))* of the [Haganah](/source/Haganah), an underground [paramilitary](/source/Paramilitary) organization operating in [Mandatory Palestine](/source/Mandatory_Palestine). In 1942, he enlisted in the [Palmach](/source/Palmach), an elite unit of that organization, where he soon made a career as an instructor, until in 1947, during a time of disturbances in Mandate Palestine, he was promoted to commander of the Palmach's *Platoon Dalet*, where he served under [Yigael Yadin](/source/Yigael_Yadin). In December 1947, Tabenkin participated in retaliatory raids on Arab targets in [Ramla](/source/Ramla) for the murders of Jews committed by the Arabs.[1] After the [Haifa Oil Refinery massacre](/source/Haifa_Oil_Refinery_massacre) in late December 1947, Tabenkin personally took charge of the [Haifa port](/source/Port_of_Haifa) by sending 25 of his men from the Palmach to the harbour in order to restore law and order.[2]

During the outbreak of war in 1948, he saw military action in [Operation Nachshon](/source/Operation_Nachshon) where he served with the Second Battalion known as *Ha-portzim*,[3] thence in [Operation Harel](/source/Operation_Harel) (when the unit then took on the name Fourth Battalion of the [Harel Brigade](/source/Harel_Brigade)) and, later, took part in operations known as [Operation Danny](/source/Operation_Danny). Afterwards, with renewed fighting in the fall, Tabenkin led operations in [Operation Ha-Har](/source/Operation_Ha-Har), when he had already replaced [Yitzhak Rabin](/source/Yitzhak_Rabin) as the commander of the Harel Brigade. In this final operation, he led his combatants to military victories, who, at that time, had gained the mastery of the field. He was commander when, under directions from [Moshe Dayan](/source/Moshe_Dayan), a military unit specializing in [biological warfare](/source/Biological_warfare), contaminated the wells of [Biddu](/source/Biddu%2C_Jerusalem) and [Beit Surik](/source/Beit_Surik) with [diphtheria](/source/Diphtheria) and [typhus](/source/Typhus) bacteria to prevent the dispossessed Palestinians in those localities from re-establishing themselves in their homes.[4]

Operation Nachshon's mission was to break the [siege of Jerusalem](/source/Battle_for_Jerusalem) by opening the Tel-Aviv – Jerusalem, the road which was blockaded by the local Arabs and to supply food and weapons to the isolated Jewish community of Jerusalem. According to Tabenkin, two days before the end of Operation Nachshon (on 14 April 1948), the military echelon had decided to capture and destroy all Arab villages along the Tel-Aviv - Jerusalem highway which had been used as a base of operations to intercept Jewish convoys.[5][6] In contrast, Operation Ha-Har was to open-up the [Jerusalem Corridor](/source/Jerusalem_Corridor) south of [Nahal Sorek](/source/Nahal_Sorek), and to rid the area of all pockets of resistance.[7] As Harel Brigade commander, Tabenkin was subordinate to OC Central Command, General Zvi Ayalon, who, in turn, answered to [David Ben-Gurion](/source/David_Ben-Gurion).

In May 1948, the Harel Brigade was involved in [Operation Maccabi](/source/Operation_Maccabi). With only a break-away "diversionary force" of 120 men, Tabenkin had delegated the duty of capturing [Mount Zion](/source/Mount_Zion) to his deputy, [Uzi Narkiss](/source/Uzi_Narkiss), while he himself went to Operations Central Command headquarters to ask for reinforcements to secure the area once it had been captured. The delay of reinforcements forced the Brigade to retreat from Jerusalem.[8]

Tabenkin accredited himself with having designed the first armored car in the War of Independence.[9] According to Tabenkin, he brought 4,500 Jewish fighters from [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus), and also organized the first Jewish pilots for combat operations.[10]

In 1950, Tabenkin retired from the [IDF](/source/Israel_Defense_Forces) at the rank of [lieutenant colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel).

## Post war

After the war, Tabenkin studied industrial engineering at [Technion University](/source/Technion_University), where he earned a [Bachelor's degree](/source/Bachelor's_degree) in 1961. After the [Six Day War](/source/Six_Day_War), Tabenkin became actively involved in the [Movement for Greater Israel](/source/Movement_for_Greater_Israel), of which his father was one of its founders, and is one of 57 signatories to the "Greater Land of Israel" declaration, signed on 22 September 1967. In his native [Ein Harod (Meuhad)](/source/Ein_Harod_(Meuhad)) he operated a steel factory, dealt in exports, and later operated a plywood factory in [Petach Tikvah](/source/Petach_Tikvah).

## Published works

- *Yitzhak Tabenkin and the Challenges of his Time*, Hadar: Tel-Aviv 1986

- *The Turning Point in the War of Independenc*e, Tabenkin Memorial: Ramat Ef'al 1989 (published post-mortem)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Uri Milstein, *History of Israel's War of Independence: The first month*, vol. 2, University Press of America: New York 1997, pp. 138-ff.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Uri Milstein, *History of Israel's War of Independence: The first month*, vol. 2, University Press of America: New York 1997, p. [90](https://books.google.com/books?id=CviXmYN64xQC&pg=PA137).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Yosef Tabenkin, *The Turning Point in the War of Independence* (**המפנה במלחמת העצמאות**), Yad Tabenkin: Efal 1989, p. 123 [Hebrew]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Benny Morris](/source/Benny_Morris), [Benjamin Z. Kedar](/source/Benjamin_Z._Kedar), [‘Cast thy bread’: Israeli biological warfare during the 1948 War](https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2022.2122448) [Middle Eastern Studies](/source/Middle_Eastern_Studies_(journal)) 19 September 2022, pages =1-25 pp.2-3.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Yosef Tabenkin, *The Turning Point in the War of Independence* (**המפנה במלחמת העצמאות**), Yad Tabenkin: [Efal](/source/Ramat_Ef'al) 1989, pp. 74, 154–155 (ch. 4) [Hebrew]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Dominique Lapierre](/source/Dominique_Lapierre) and [Larry Collins](/source/Larry_Collins_(writer)), *[O Jérusalem](/source/O_Jerusalem!)*, Robert Laffont, 1971, p. 369 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [2-266-10698-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/2-266-10698-8)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Operation ha-Har"](https://www.palquest.org/en/militaryoperations/25289/operation-ha-har). *Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question – palquest*. Retrieved 2023-07-18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** See p. 189 in: Narkiss, Uzi (1987). "The Battle for Jerusalem – Additional Notes". *Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv*. **44** (44): 188–189. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [23401299](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23401299).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Uri Milstein, *History of Israel's War of Independence: The first month*, vol. 2, University Press of America: New York 1997, p. [137](https://books.google.com/books?id=CviXmYN64xQC&pg=PA137).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** See p. 90 in: Tabenkin, Joseph (1976). "Taking testimonies is preferable to documents". *Cathedra: For the History of Eretz Israel and Its Yishuv*. **1** (1): 89–90. [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [23396383](https://www.jstor.org/stable/23396383).

## External links

- [*Yad Tabenkin* Archives](http://yadtabenkin.org.il/%D7%90%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9F/), [Ramat Ef'al](/source/Ramat_Ef'al) (Yosefle Tabenkin's Testimony, 12-4/48/4)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat National United States Israel

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