The small projectile nation of Israel was able to survive the attack of the five Arab coalitions, and in addition to the political support of the United States and the Soviet Union, the stubborn resistance of the Israelis and the weapons of the Czechs, the role of some people could not be ignored.
They are known by the Israelis as Mahal, an abbreviation for the Hebrew word Mignadvei Hutz LaAretz, meaning volunteers from abroad. Refers specifically to overseas volunteers who fought alongside the Israeli army in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The invasion of the five Arab coalitions caused the brunt of the casualties of Palestinian Jews. Israelis accounted for 1% of the population in the war of independence.
About 4,000 volunteers from 58 countries came from all over the world, mostly Jewish and non-Jewish. Although they were small in number, the so-called Israeli army at the time had a minimum of 30,000 people and a maximum of more than 100,000 people. But it played an important role in Israel's War of Independence. Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, said Mahal was an important contribution of separated Jews to Israel's survival.
Many of Mahal's members are World War II veterans from the American and British armies. After the war, the multinational army was greatly reduced, and many soldiers were demobilized. In addition, the service experience has become bland and unsuitable for some military personnel, especially pilots. In various cases, they were invited or heard about the jewish state's struggle for independence and voluntarily entered the war. In some cases, those conscripted into the army had no prior military experience and were zionist and mercenaries.
Although about 5 million Jews lived in the United States and Canada in 1948, only a relatively small number of people fought in the War of Independence as fighters. Those who served were so unique that today we rarely see American Jewish veterans.
It was extremely difficult for Americans to join the Israeli army at that time. The United States is not like a friend of Israel now. At that time, the United States imposed a military arms embargo on the Middle East. The words were printed on all passports of that year: "This passport does not apply to travel to any foreign country or for the purpose of entering or serving in any foreign military force." "Americans are threatened that if they join foreign forces, they will lose their citizenship.
U.S. courts have ruled that Americans serving in foreign armies will have their citizenship suspended for the duration of their service. If captured by arabs, one cannot claim any rights as a citizen of the United States. Few other countries, other than Arab countries, impose such extreme restrictions on their own citizens to prevent them from helping Israel.
U.S. Jewish veterans, pilots, and merchant mariners were monitored on orders from the State Department and the FBI to make sure they were not carrying illegal immigrants or weapons, and they were stopped more than once and their belongings confiscated without the president knowing.
Because from 1947 to 1951, U.S. intelligence agencies continued to believe in the myth that the new State of Israel might be pro-Soviet, because of the large presence of socialism Zionist parties, the fighting in Hagana and Palmach had proven successful, with the participation of a large number of left-wing kibbutz members in both units.
In October 1948, under the leadership of Moscow, the Palestinian CP (hitherto anti-Zionist) merged its respective Arab and Jewish branches, unconditionally supported Israel's war efforts, and urged the IDF to "advance towards the Suez Canal and give British imperialism a crushing defeat!" This shocked the U.S. State Department, as British intelligence had warned that the Soviet Union could infiltrate or influence Israeli troops.
Recruitment in the United States and Canada was therefore secret, with only five or six major cities being carried out by an organization in the name of Palestinian land and labor. As a result, almost all of the Americans and Canadians recruited were World War II veterans. Israel is in great need of military skills.
Opposition from families has also greatly reduced the number of U.S. and Canadian troops in israel. Just three years ago, the Second World War had just ended. Parents naturally strongly object to their children going to another war that could cost them their lives.
Once israel is voluntarily defended, Americans and Canadians still have to go through a tortuous journey to reach Israel. Most were taken by boat or plane to France or Italy, where they usually spent weeks in camps for displaced persons under pseudonyms until they sailed to Israel in refugee boats. The ships, often converted from obsolete means of transport and laden with Holocaust survivors, sailed slowly toward Haifa with limited food and water, and were always threatened with being sunk by arab enemies or of collapsing their aging hulls.
The role of Americans and Canadians, while less well known in Israel, is very important. Former New York Police Chief Miki Marcus, a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, wrote Israel's first tactical field manual. During the battle to open a new road to Jerusalem, he was accidentally shot by an Israeli sentry and tragically killed. Marcus was the first Israeli to hold the rank of brigadier general.
Paul Shulman, a graduate of the Annapolis Naval Academy, was the first commander of the Israeli Navy, although he initially commanded only three warships. Brigadier General Ben Dunkelman, one of Israel's 11 combat brigades. The second commander of the Israeli Air Force was the American Al Humer, who later became the first CEO of The Israel Aerospace Corporation.
In the Israeli Air Force, the United States and the United Kingdom have the largest number of Mahal volunteers, accounting for nearly two-thirds of their personnel, so English temporarily replaced Hebrew as the most widely used service language of the Israeli Air Force.
Mahal cargo aircraft delivered vital weapons and materiel from Europe to Palestine, as well as thousands of Jewish refugees from Arab and Eastern European countries to Palestine. These new Jewish settlers were an important reinforcement aid outnumbered the Israeli army and compensated for the loss of manpower.
In 1948, during the siege of the Negev region by Egyptian troops, Mahar pilots airlifted thousands of tons of supplies to Jewish settlements behind enemy lines. They often lit them with oil lamps at night and landed modified planes on makeshift, unpaved sand runways. El Al, the national airline of Israel, was created in part by veterans of Mahal. Volunteers are paid and in higher conditions of service than local Israeli soldiers (mainly in the Air Force), sometimes creating tension.
Logistical support was provided to the IAF by various groups of immigrants who procured aircraft during the crucial months of 1948-9. Just hours before the final ceasefire on January 7, 1949, the Israeli Air Force achieved an impressive victory. Four RAF Spitfire fighters were attacked by two Israeli Air Force Spitfire fighters while on a reconnaissance flight over the Israeli border, resulting in three British aircraft being shot down. The Israeli Spitfire was piloted by Mahal "Slick" Goodlin (USA) and John McElroy (Canada). Both were former pilots in the U.S. Army Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force, and both were World War II veterans.
George F. of the Royal Canadian Air Force Buzz Berlin was Canada's top air combat expert in World War II, shooting down 31 Nazi aircraft. He was one of 34 Christian pilots from the United States and Canada who volunteered to join the Israeli Air Force. On May 20, 1948, Berlin, who was only 26 years old, and his Jewish co-pilot, Leonard Cohen from England, were killed on a plane trying to fly from Italy to Israel.
Rudy Ogarten is an American combat pilot who graduated from Harvard University. During World War II, he flew down two German ME-109s in a P-47. During israel's War of Independence, he flew a Czech ME-109 (a former World War II German aircraft), a British Spitfire and an American P-51 to shoot down four Egyptian planes. He was one of only six Americans to earn the title of "ace" in two wars. In 1950-52, he returned to Israel and became commander of the Ramat David Air Base.
After the war in 1949, most of Mahal returned to their home countries, but dozens remained in Israel. The village of Kfar Daniel near Lourdes was founded by Mahal veterans from North America and The United Kingdom.
On the way from Tel Aviv, a monument in honor of Mahal volunteers was erected near Shah Hagay. It reads Joshua 1:14: But all mighty warriors among you are to go before your brethren with their weapons and help them.
A total of 123 Mahals (119 men and 4 women) were killed in the Israeli War of Independence, including 40 Americans and Canadians. In the chronicle of the War of Independence, it is only natural that stories of Israeli heroism and sacrifice abound. But most of these heroes are Israelis, who fight to defend their land and their families.
The untold story is about Mahal, a young American and Canadian who voluntarily risked their citizenship and lives to defend other people's families and lands they had never seen before.
Whatever the role these Americans and Canadians play, they are the eternal bond between Israeli Jews and American and Canadian Jews. In the words of an Israeli colonel, the intrinsic value of Mahal's contribution is that "we Israelis know that we are not alone." (Power talks about the world / Zhang Mi)