Story of Bedouin Israeli Defense Force Lt.Col. Amos Yarkoni

[Solomon2]

Lieutenant Colonel Amos Yarkoni (Hebrew: עמוס ירקוני&#8206 (born 1 June 1920 — died 7 February 1991), born as Abd el-Majid Hidr (Arabic: عبد الماجد حيدر‎, Hebrew: עבד אל-מג'יד חידר&#8206 was a legendary officer in the Israel Defense Forces and one of six Israeli Arabs to have received the IDF's third highest decoration, the Medal of Distinguished Service. He was the first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion of Israel's Southern command.

Service in the IDF

Early years
Yarkoni was born Abd el-Majid Hidr (Arabic: عبد الماجد حيدر‎, Hebrew: עבד אל-מג'יד חידר&#8206 in the Bedouin village of Na'ura (east of Afula, in the Gilboa region of northern Israel). His family were Muslim Bedouin of the Mazarib tribe.

In 1936, at the age of 16, he joined a band which sabotaged the TAP Line, an oil pipeline running from the Iraqi oilfields to Haifa while Palestine was under British Administration (after Israeli independence, the Tapline was redirected to Sidon, Lebanon). Due to an internal disagreement within the band, Abd el-Majid fled to a Jewish area of Palestine, where he was sheltered by Jews. There, he made contacts in the Haganah through Moshe Dayan.

Abd el-Majid kept in touch with Dayan up until the War of Independence. In December 1947, as the war raged, he placed his destiny with the Jews, joining the nascent IDF and changing his name to Amos Yarkoni.

Yarkoni served in a number of units during the War of Independence, eventually settling in the Minorities Unit, and proved himself to be an excellent tracker and patrolman, continually astounding his fellow soldiers with his abilities. In 1953, Yarkoni passed the Officer's Course (his main concern being that the exam was in Hebrew), and went on to become the Commanding Officer of the Minorities Unit.

Shaked
In 1955, the frequency and effectiveness of Fedayeen attacks being launched from the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip and the Jordanian-controlled Hebron Hills area against isolated Israeli civilian communities increased, and the IDF searched for new ways to eliminate the threat. Rehavam Zeevi, then a senior officer in the Southern Command and in charge of securing the isolated towns of the Jordan Valley, recommended Amos Yarkoni for the task. Yarkoni and Zeevi had met some years earlier, when serving in a joint minorities/Jewish unit, and remained close friends for the rest of their lives.

Yarkoni accepted the recommendation, and the IDF tracking and counter-terrorism unit was formed under his guidance and command. The unit was named "Shaked" (Hebrew: שקד‎, meaning almond). Shaked was also an acronym for שומרי קו הדרום (Shomrei Kav ha Darom, Guardians of the Southern Border).

The unit fielded both Jews and non-Jews, yet when it came to Bedouin recruits, Amos was careful to accept only Bedouins from northern Israel (rather than the south of the country), so that they would not have to fight against their tribal brethren. Yarkoni was based in the Negev for many years, and was involved in countless operations. He was wounded many times, and his body was peppered with bullet and shrapnel wounds. He lost his right hand in combat in November 1959, and was badly wounded in the leg in an explosion.

In 1961, after his recovery, Yarkoni was re-appointed as Commanding Officer of the Shaked Battalion. At the time, the Military Commander commented that "if Moshe Dayan could be the Ramatkal (Chief of General Staff) without an eye, we can have a Battalion Commander with a prosthetic hand".

Even by this stage, many Israelis did not know that Amos Yarkoni was not Jewish: most simply assumed he was a Jew from an Arab country. A running joke among those who did know was "Fouad the Jew and Amos the Bedouin", referring to the two lead officers of counter-insurgency in the Jordan Valley: "Fouad" Ben-Eliezer, an Iraqi-born Jew with an Arabic name, and Amos Yarkoni, a Bedouin with a typically Sabra/Israeli name.

During the Six-Day War (1967), Yarkoni served on the Sinai front. After years of distinguished service, Yarkoni retired from the IDF in 1969.

Death
Yarkoni died on February 7, 1991, after a prolonged battle with cancer, aged 71.
His old friend, Rehavam Zeevi, requested that the IDF bury Yarkoni in a military cemetery, despite the fact that as a retired soldier, he was technically ineligible for a military burial. Both then-Minister of Defense, Moshe Arens, and the Head of Manpower for the IDF approved the request. In a mark of respect to Yarkoni, and going against military tradition, Yarkoni's coffin was carried by soldiers of a higher rank than him: six Brigadier Generals – his former commanding officers – carried his coffin. Behind the coffin marched the President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, political and military leaders, and ordinary Israelis from all walks of life.

[source: Wikipedia]

 

[zhenkexiao]

second half of the story:

the israelis continued to fool the muslim in IDF. the muslim complied because he needed a job to put food on the table. the muslim continued to obey the IDF orders as long they kept paying him. his goal was not the security of israel but rather a job to keep off starvation. the "muslim" was less soldier, more mercenary.

in the end, the israelis kept on killing palestinian children with hollow point bullets and bulldozing Palestinian homes just to build houses for jews.

the jews kept on massacring muslims such as the Al-Aqsa Massacre.

 

[JonAsad]

A one off example- nothing big-

 

[zhenkexiao]

A one off example- nothing big-

its not a one off example. its just an instance where a man wanted a job.
there are people in this world who stick to their principles. but there are also people who would kill their own people for money. even if it means destroying their own people's homes and giving away land to an enemy that doesn't want peace but just their land.

 

[guest11]

Lieutenant Colonel Amos Yarkoni (Hebrew: עמוס ירקוני&#8206 (born 1 June 1920 — died 7 February 1991), born as Abd el-Majid Hidr (Arabic: عبد الماجد حيدر‎, Hebrew: עבד אל-מג'יד חידר&#8206 was a legendary officer in the Israel Defense Forces and one of six Israeli Arabs to have received the IDF's third highest decoration, the Medal of Distinguished Service. He was the first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion of Israel's Southern command.

Ahh, the zionist propaganda.

On a serious note, I had a conversation with a Bedouin veteran of IDF (another forum) and he is very proud of his service.

 

[Qasibr]

No practicing Muslim would be "proud" of the slaughter of innocent civilians that the IDF regularly conducts.

Here is an interesting article about IDF performance in the recent 2006 Lebanon war. The Israelis have been butchering unarmed women and children, a bullet through the head for throwing a stone in protest - that when facing real adversaries, their bullying over-confident tactics don't work at all:

How Israel Lost The 2006 Lebanon War

The intelligence war

We note that while the Western media consistently misreported the events on the Israeli-Lebanon border, Israel's Ha'aretz newspaper substantially confirmed this account: "A force of tanks and armored personnel carriers was immediately sent into Lebanon in hot pursuit. It was during this pursuit, at about 11am ... [a] Merkava tank drove over a powerful bomb, containing an estimated 200 to 300 kilograms of explosives, about 70 meters north of the border fence. The tank was almost completely destroyed, and all four crew members were killed instantly. Over the next several hours, IDF soldiers waged a fierce fight against Hezbollah gunmen ... During the course of this battle, at about 3pm, another soldier was killed and two were lightly wounded."

The abductions marked the beginning of a series of IDF blunders that were compounded by commanders who acted outside of their normal border procedures. Members of the patrol were on the last days of their deployment in the north and their guard was down. Nor is it the case that Hezbollah fighters killed the eight Israelis during their abduction of the two. The eight died when an IDF border commander, apparently embarrassed by his abrogation of standing procedures, ordered armored vehicles to pursue the kidnappers. The two armored vehicles ran into a network of Hezbollah anti-tank mines and were destroyed. The eight IDF soldiers died during this operation or as a result of combat actions that immediately followed it.

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - PART 1: Winning the intelligence war

The Ground War

After-battle reports of Hezbollah commanders now confirm that IDF troops never fully secured the border area and Maroun al-Ras was never fully taken. Nor did Hezbollah ever feel the need to call up its reserves, as Israel had done. "The entire war was fought by one Hezbollah brigade of 3,000 troops, and no more," one military expert in the region said. "The Nasr Brigade fought the entire war. Hezbollah never felt the need to reinforce it."

Reports from Lebanon underscore this point. Much to their surprise, Hezbollah commanders found that Israeli troops were poorly organized and disciplined. The only Israeli unit that performed up to standards was the Golani Brigade, according to Lebanese observers. The IDF was "a motley assortment", one official with a deep knowledge of US slang reported. "But that's what happens when you have spent four decades firing rubber bullets at women and children in the West Bank and Gaza."

IDF commanders were also disturbed by the performance of their troops, noting a signal lack of discipline even among its best-trained regular soldiers. The reserves were worse, and IDF commanders hesitated to put them into battle.

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - PART 2: Winning the ground war

The political war

In the wake of the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, a public poll in Egypt asked a cross-section of that country's citizenry to name the two political leaders they most admired. An overwhelming number named Hassan Nasrallah. Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad finished second.

The poll was a clear repudiation not only of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who had made his views against Hezbollah known at the outset of the conflict, but of those Sunni leaders, including Saudi King Abdullah and Jordan's Abdullah II, who criticized the Shi'ite group in an avowed attempt to turn the Sunni world away from support of Iran.

"By the end of the war these guys were scrambling for the exits," one US diplomat from the region said in late August. "You haven't heard much from them lately, have you?"

Asia Times Online :: Middle East News - PART 2: Winning the ground war

 

[Drawn_Sword_of_God]

cool, how many palestinians did this guy kill?

 

[somebozo]

Lieutenant Colonel Amos Yarkoni (Hebrew: עמוס ירקוני&#8206 (born 1 June 1920 — died 7 February 1991), born as Abd el-Majid Hidr (Arabic: عبد الماجد حيدر‎, Hebrew: עבד אל-מג'יד חידר&#8206 was a legendary officer in the Israel Defense Forces and one of six Israeli Arabs to have received the IDF's third highest decoration, the Medal of Distinguished Service. He was the first commander of the Shaked Reconnaissance Battalion of Israel's Southern command.

I sense a crypto-jew disguised as a Muslim? anyone has the same suspicion?

 

[500]

I sense a crypto-jew disguised as a Muslim? anyone has the same suspicion?

100%

Saudi Royal family are also Jews:

Are The Saudi “Royal Family Jewish? | Pakistan Daily

So is Ahmadinejad:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past - Telegraph

 

[somebozo]

100%

Saudi Royal family are also Jews:

Are The Saudi “Royal Family Jewish? | Pakistan Daily

So is Ahmadinejad:

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad revealed to have Jewish past - Telegraph

Infact most of the Arabs are.
I am Bani Ishaq (Abrahamic lineage) so technically, I have jewish roots too!

But "crypto-jew" is a slang used for specific purpose which you will not understand so don't inquire

But I can tell you by PM.

 

[Qasibr]

Religion isn't a hereditary thing. Jews had ancestors that worshipped weird things, like rocks and cats and stuff(cat-worship was popular in Egypt back then). Most of humanity had ancestors like that. Does that mean Jews ARE cat-worshippers?

Many Sahabis(companions of the Holy Prophet[pbuh]) converted from Judaism - even they didn't remain Jews after that, why would their children and decendants be jews now?

 

[lonelyone]

In the eyes of Israelis, Arabs (especially Bedouins), are illiterate, savage, backward, tribal half-animals who do not deserve to live in their own land, but should be driven out by the Jews. But of course, this particular Bedouin is a hero, because he betrayed his own nation.

 

[Qasibr]

In the eyes of Israelis, Arabs (especially Bedouins), are illiterate, savage, backward, tribal half-animals who do not deserve to live in their own land, but should be driven out by the Jews. But of course, this particular Bedouin is a hero, because he betrayed his own nation.

But the facts speak for themselves. In our eyes, the Hezbollah command that withstood Israeli assault and shocked the Israelis, are heroes. They showed the Israelis who's "savage and backward". Israel couldn't defeat them with vastly superior weapons, aircraft, tanks. I posted an account of that in post #6 above, the facts really do show that Israel isn't nearly as decent, honest, or even as militarily strong, as their propaganda makes them up to be.

 

[longbrained]

So what. There are traitors in every community. Have not Americans joined Alqaida too in recent year? What about Americans who had defected to Kim's regime in North Korea? The Americans who sided with Soviets? Just like that there are traitors in every society. Lots of Wahabis had joined forces with Zionists and British bringing down the Khilafat. And those Wahabis who by that time were only goat herders were handed over the Muslim lands divided by British as part of divide and rule policy. We already know that. Probably this Muslim Israeli soldier was also a Zionist Wahabi Bedouin goat herder.

 

[fd24]

So what there are traitors in every community. Have not Americans joined Alqaida too in recent year? What about Americans who had defected to Kim's regime in North Korea? The Americans who sided with Soviets? Just like that there are traitors in every society. Lots of Wahabis had joined forces with Zionists and British bringing down the Khilafat. And those Wahabis who by that time were only goat herders were handed over the Muslim landed divided by British as part of divide and rule policy. We already know that. Probably this Muslim Israeli soldier was also a Zionist Wahabi Bedouin goat herder.

Please longbrained what is wrong with you? Dont bladeee talk about bladeee Americans in a bad way. They are above the law. They are different. They are super human and cannot make mistakes. If they do make mistakes then it will be down to Iran or Pakistan or anybody.