Yitzhak Sadeh - Biography

Biography

Sadeh was awarded a medal from the Tsarist army for his bravery during World War I. Between 1917–19, he assisted Joseph Trumpeldor in the founding of HeHalutz (The Pioneer) movement. In 1920, Sadeh made aliyah to Eretz Israel, where he became one of founders and leaders of Gdud HaAvoda (The Work Battalion).

In 1921, Sadeh was a Haganah (Defense) commander in Jerusalem. During the 1929 riots he took part in the battle defending Haifa. When the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine began, Sadeh established the Nodedet (Wandering Troop or Patrol Unit) in Jerusalem, that confronted the Palestinians in their villages and bases. He demanded that his troops "leave the defences" and initiate military operations.

In the summer of 1937, as commander of the Jewish Settlement Police, he founded the FOSH (Hebrew abbreviation, FO'SH, for Plugot Sadeh, lit. Field Companies), the commando arm of the Haganah. It was an elite Jewish strike force, whose members were hand-picked by Sadeh. The force was established during the Great Arab Revolt in what at the time was the British Mandate of Palestine.

Among other activities, Sadeh commanded the establishment of Kibbutz Hanita on an isolated hill on the southern border of Lebanon. In 1941, he was instrumental in the founding of the Palmach (acronym for Plugot Mahatz, the Haganah's enlisted military forces of volunteers). The purpose of this clandestine elite unit was to prepare to undertake a guerilla war in the event of the Axis forces entering Palestine. During the 200 days of dread, Sadeh worked on the Carmel Plan, which was a detailed strategy to withdraw the entire Jewish community in Palestine to Carmel, forming a giant enclave to withstand the invaders.

He was Commander of the Palmach until 1945, when he was appointed as the Haganah's Chief of the General Staff and, among other activities, was in charge of the movement's operations against the British Forces during the British Mandate of Palestine and in operations that brought clandestine Jewish immigrants to Israel. He was also instrumental in founding the Gadna in 1941, and became the program's first unofficial commander.