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The 36th Division is the largest armored division in regular service in Armored Corps In the Israeli army. It was established in 1954, and is affiliated with the Northern Command. It consists of 4 brigades: the Golani Brigade, the 7th Brigade, the 188th Brigade, and the 282nd Brigade, and each brigade has a specific specialty.
The division participated in all the wars launched by Israel since its founding against the Palestinians and Arabs, starting with the Nakba wars, passing through the Naksa and the war on… South Lebanon and then Wars on the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, January 15, 2024, the Israeli army announced the withdrawal of the 36th Division and all its brigades from the Gaza Strip, more than 100 days after the war launched by Israel on Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023.
Establishment
The 36th Division was established in September 1954, and its command at that time was headed by General Abraham Yoffe. It did not include permanent forces, but rather its role was to receive forces under the Northern Command in accordance with the mission assigned to it, and the tasks were distributed in various logistical, intelligence, operational, military, and other fields.
Since its establishment, the division has been affiliated with the Northern Command, and has been stationed at the Nevham base, and has been entrusted with responsibility for the Plateau sector Golan and Hermon, and in January 2014 I moved to Camp Tabor in front of Mount Tabor, which is the highest mountain in the southern part of the Lower Galilee, north of Marj Ibn Amer in Palestine.
sections
The division includes 4 regular brigades, each brigade has its own insignia:
It is the only regular infantry brigade that has operated in the Israeli army without interruption since its founding. It was established on February 22, 1948 after the division of the Levanoni Brigade. It consists of battalions: the Barak Battalion, the Gideon Battalion, and the Reconnaissance Battalion. The brigade’s fighters wear a brown hat and black shoes.
Seventh Brigade
Or the Golan Offensive Formation, which is the oldest armored brigade in the Israeli army. It was founded on May 16, 1948 after the declaration of the establishment of Israel. It is one of the three regular armored brigades in the Israeli army, and includes 3 armored battalions: the 77th Battalion, the 82nd Battalion, and the 603rd Engineering Battalion.
Every few months, the brigade’s fighters undergo an intensive training period during which they are trained in emergency situations and new weapons. Since 2014, the 7th Brigade battalions have been equipped with tanks Merkava Cement 4.
Brigade 188
It is a regular armored brigade. It was established before the establishment of the State of Israel. It was an infantry brigade under the name Carmeli. After the establishment of the State of Israel, it was transformed into the 45th Armored Brigade. In April 1969, the name of the brigade was changed to “Barak Brigade,” and its number became 188. It includes 4 battalions: The 74th Sa’ir Battalion, the 53rd Sufa Battalion, the 71st Reshef Battalion, and the 605th Field Engineers Battalion. It was the last brigade to use the Centurion tank before it switched to Merkava-3 tanks in 1992.
282nd Artillery Brigade
The brigade was established as an artillery brigade shortly before the October 1973 war, and participated in the occupation of the Golan Heights alongside the 7th Brigade and the Golani Brigade. The brigade consists of 6 battalions, 4 regular and 2 reserve battalions.
The regular battalions are: the 411th Battalion, the 405th Tiger Battalion and the 334th Ram Battalion, which is the only missile battalion in the Israeli army that operates launchers, in addition to the 611th Battalion, which is the Etam battalion responsible for operating the tracking and meteorological system.
Logo
The logo was designed by one of the division’s commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Rafael Eitan. In the middle is a tank with wings, and on top of it is a sword symbolizing the “combat ability” of the division. The sword in general is an essential part of the Israeli army’s logo.
The winged tank indicates that it is an armored division and has armored brigades, while the wings indicate the quick and easy movement of the division, despite it being an armored division.
As for the colors in the logo, they are as interpreted by the Israeli army:
- Red color, It symbolizes the blood of the division’s soldiers who fell in various battles.
- Light blue and white colors On the wing, a reference to the Israeli flag.
- green and black colors, Luna Armored Corps in the Israeli Army.
the date
The 36th Division was founded in 1954, and some of its brigades fought in various wars. It participated in the 1967 war under the command of Major General Elad Peled. The division fought battles in northern Samaria and took control of Embryo And Nablus Valjulan.
Under the command of the 36th Division in that war were the 3rd and 9th Infantry Brigade, the 37th Armored Brigade, the 45th Mechanized Brigade, and the 181st Armored Command Battalion, in addition to other brigades.
In that battle, the task of fighting on the Syrian and Jordanian borders was assigned to the Golani Brigade from the division, and it carried out, along with the 7th Brigade and the 282nd Brigade at the time, several operations, including the Tal al-Azizat operation, as a result of which the Golan fell into the hands of Israel.
The 7th Brigade of the 36th Division contributed to stopping the Syrian army’s attack on the Golan Heights, and the 82nd Battalion fought a battle in the southern sector of the plateau.
From its founding until 1971, the 36th Division remained in charge of managing the temporary forces that it was entrusted with the task of leading in various missions, without having fixed regular forces.
In 1971, the division began to be organized as a permanent division in the army, with permanent forces and brigades under its command. At that time, I assumed responsibility for the Golan Heights sector permanently.
Then the division fought the October War of 1973 with permanent regular forces. The Golani Brigade occupied Mount Hermon and the surrounding heights, and the 188th Brigade faced the Syrian forces in the Golan Heights.
Some of the division’s brigades and battalions participated in the First Lebanon War, which began on June 6, 1982, and fought on the central front and on the coastal road leading to BeirutThe forces of the 188th Brigade reached the outskirts of Beirut and participated in the battles with the Syrian forces.
While a battalion from the 188th Brigade fought alongside Major General Golani in the central and western sectors of southern Lebanon, and in battles Ain al-Hilweh camp. The 282nd Brigade participated in bombing fighters’ positions, and the division’s soldiers also fought confrontations against fighters in the vicinity of the city of Sidon.
Brigades and battalions from the 36th Division also participated in the second war on Lebanon in 2006, and its fighters suffered many losses. The division also played a role in The second intifadaIt contributed to the killing and oppression of Palestinians and the arrest of a number of them, especially in… West Bank. Operations were carried out in various regions of Palestine and southern Lebanon.
Gaza wars
The 36th Division participated in the wars launched by Israel against Gaza:
2008-2009 war
Some of the brigades of the 36th Division participated in the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008, which it began with an air bombardment. During the ground invasion phase, the division contributed to the invasion with its brigades, bombing Gaza with heavy artillery shelling, and participated in the raids, especially the Golani Brigade to Along with other brigades from other divisions.
2014 war
The 36th Division participated in the second phase of the war launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip on July 7, 2014, and called it “Protective Edge,” while the resistance called it “The Eating Storm.”
The role of the 36th Division was to participate in the ground invasion phase, which began on the night of July 17. All of the division’s brigades participated in the invasion, and the Golani Brigade was attacked. Al-Shujaiya neighborhood He was subjected to an ambush and major losses after he tried to search for tunnels in the neighborhood, but his soldiers were surprised by an attack by Palestinian resistance fighters, and 7 soldiers fell, according to the occupation’s confessions. The resistance also captured one of their soldiers.
The 7th and 188th Brigades were deployed in the center of the Gaza Strip, and the 188th Brigade faced major problems as a result of malfunctions in a number of its tanks.
War 2023-2024
The Israeli war on the Gaza Strip began after Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood Which I implemented Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades on Gaza enveloping settlements On October 7, 2023, the 36th Division’s participation was concentrated in the second phase of the war, the ground invasion phase, which began at the end of the same month.
The Golani Brigade initially joined the forces involved in the storming, and then the rest of the division’s brigades followed. The division was distributed between the north, center and south of the Strip, and participated in the battles of the camps in the central Gaza Strip, the Bani Suhaila area and the Shujaiya neighborhood.
The 36th Division also participated with the Yahalom unit in the storming Al-Shifa Hospital And an attempt to uncover tunnels underneath, according to the Israeli army’s admission.
The division suffered various losses in life and equipment, especially the Golani Brigade, which withdrew after 60 days of the battle over Gaza on December 21, 2023, and according to what the former commander of the brigade said, he lost a quarter of his forces in this war between dead and wounded.
On January 15, 2024, the Israeli army announced the withdrawal of all brigades of the 36th Division from the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli Minister of Defense subsequently announced Yoav Galant The intensive ground operation in the northern Gaza Strip has almost ended, and the south is also about to end, he said.
