Operation Nachshon

Operation Nachshon
Part of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine and the Plan Dalet
Telegraph dated 5 April 1948, confirming the beginning of Operation Nachshon that same night.
Location
Tel Aviv – Jerusalem Road, Mandatory Palestine
Date5–16 April 1948
Villages captured during Operation Nachshon

Operation Nachshon (Hebrew: מבצע נחשון, Mivtza Nahshon; 5–16 April 1948) was a military operation of the Haganah during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine and part of Plan Dalet.[1] Its objective was to open the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem road blockaded by Palestinian Arabs, and furnish arms and supplies to the besieged Jewish community of Jerusalem.[1] The operation was also known as "The operation to take control of the Jerusalem road," following which participating units later broke off to form the Harel Brigade.[2] Following attempts to take control of the road to Jerusalem were unsuccessful and led to the construction of a makeshift bypass—Burma Road.

Nachshon was the first major Haganah operation and the first step of Plan Dalet.[3][4][5][6][7] The Deir Yassin massacre was conducted as a part of the operation.[8] Operation Nachshon was carried out by the Haganah's Givati and what was later to be known as the Harel Brigade of the Palmach.

  1. ^ a b Khalidi, Walid (1 October 1988). "Plan Dalet: Master Plan for the Conquest of Palestine". Journal of Palestine Studies. 18 (1): 4–19. doi:10.2307/2537591. ISSN 0377-919X. JSTOR 2537591.
  2. ^ Yosef Tabenkin, The Turning Point in the War of Independence (המפנה במלחמת העצמאות), Yad Tabenkin: Efal 1989, p. 123 [Hebrew]
  3. ^ David Tal (2004). War in Palestine, 1948: strategy and diplomacy. Psychology Press. pp. 165–. ISBN 9780203499542.
  4. ^ Benny Morris. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, Benny Morris, Cambridge University Press, pg 155.
  5. ^ Yehoshafat Harkabi (June 1974). Arab attitudes to Israel. John Wiley and Sons. pp. 366–. ISBN 978-0-470-35203-8. Retrieved 12 April 2011.
  6. ^ MidEast Web, Plan Daleth (Plan D)
  7. ^ Yoav Gelber (January 2006). Palestine, 1948: war, escape and the emergence of the Palestinian refugee problem. Sussex Academic Press. pp. 98–. ISBN 978-1-84519-075-0. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  8. ^ Benny Morris, Righteous Victims - "The most important event during Operation Nahshon was probably the conquest by the IZL and LHI, assisted by the Haganah, of the village of Deir Yassin"