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The Great Israeli Commando

Zvi Besser
Jtown Times
15.3.22

Today, Fringe History commemorates the life of Meir Har-Zion, one of Israel’s greatest commandos; who died March 14, 2014 from natural causes at 80 years old.

Har-Zion served in the elite Unit 101 under Ariel Sharon commanding its troops. His exploits on the battlefield earned him a deep respect from Moshe Dayan and Sharon, known to many as “The Bulldozer.” Sharon, who would later become prime minister, described him as “the elite of the elite” and Dayan called him “the finest of our commando soldiers, the best soldier to ever emerge in the IDF.”

But who was this man who I can only describe as a certifiable badass – a modern day Maccabi?

Meir Har-Zion fought for our country Israel in the 1950’s in multiple high-level operations like Operation Black Arrow or Operation Elkayam. He commanded soldiers through hell and high water, proving time and time again that our little country was not to be messed with.

In 1955 Har-Zion’s sister and her boyfriend were abducted, tortured, and killed by Bedouins from Wadi Al-Ghar.

This man of war responded by the only way he knew how. Along with comrades of his, veterans of battalion 890, he went to the Israeli-Jordanian armistice line.

Crossing into the Wadi, he and his men captured six Bedouin men. They interrogated and then killed 5 of them, leaving the sixth man to go back and tell the tale. I like to call that some Middle-East frontier justice.

It is important to note that the men killed likely did not commit the atrocity against his sister but they were members of the same tribe. This may seem to the modern day outsider in 2022 as criminal. But in understanding Jewish post-Holocaust and Bedouin culture/mentality, such a price can be understood. The frontier had its own rules. Har-Zion paid a price as well, albeit a lesser one.

Har-Zion was detained by the IDF for 20 days for his actions but was released and recommissioned to his unit. In the words of Ariel Sharon, a man feared by Arab enemies of the Jews, this was “the kind of ritual revenge the Bedouins understood perfectly.”

Meir Har-Zion served in active duty until sustaining an injury in his arm and throat, almost killing him. He was discharged in 1956 at the rank of captain, having received the Israeli Medal of Courage.

But this would not be the last that we see of this formidable warrior. Fast forward to 1967, the Six-Day War.

Jerusalem. 1967.

Despite his injuries, which left him unable to use his arm, he joined the fight as a reservist. He linked up with the famous Tzanchanim, or Paratroopers, brigade and helped take the Old City of Jerusalem from the Jordanians.

In a remarkable feat he hunted down a Jordanian sniper across rooftops and killed him with grenades. He would later serve in the Yom Kippur War before finally retiring from combat to live on a farm and write about Israeli politics.

While people today may have varying opinions on Har-Zion and his varying actions, there is no doubt that he was a true Judean warrior. He left his heart in this land, spilling his own blood if it would bear fruit for the Jewish people. He was a truly a soldier’s soldier.

To Meir Har-Zion I say cheers, to you my readers, good tidings.