118
DECEMBER 10, 2015 | The Jewish Home
Forgotten Her es
Zvika Greengold One Man against the Syrian Army By Avi Heiligman
We say in Al Hanisim “Rabim b’yad mi’atem, [and Hashem delivered] the many into the hands of the few.” Many times in Jewish history the small Jewish nation survived countless attempts by our enemies to destroy us. At times when there was a Jewish army, Hashem was always there to protect the soldiers. During modern times this was evident throughout Israel’s wars against her Arab neighbors. The Yom Kippur War saw incredible armies from Syria and Egypt defeated by an ill-prepared Israeli Army. One of the most incredible acts of heroism took place on the Golan
Syrian tanks after the Yom Kippur War
Heights by a soldier named Zvika Greengold.
Z
vika was a 21-year-old lieutenant from the Galilee when the Yom Kippur War broke out on October 21, 1973. He was sitting at home and became alarmed because jets were screaming overhead to the border. Fighter jets did not practice on Yom Kippur and so Zvika ran to his radio to find out the latest news. Egyptian forces had launched an attack on the Suez Canal, and Syrian armor (tanks) had been amassed in the Golan
Heights. Zvika hitched a ride to the Golan Heights where he found a very confused and desperate situation. Israel had captured the Golan Heights six years earlier, and it was vital that it remain in Israeli hands. If the Syrians controlled the area then they could place artillery there that could penetrate deep into Israel. Syrian commanders knew the advantage of the Golan and put the bulk of their 150,000-man and 1,200tank army in the Golan Heights. In the area that became known as Emek Habacha-Valley of Tears, the most the IDF could send to
the front was one brigade with about 80 tanks. The 300 Syrian tanks in Emek Habacha were some of the best in the world. The Soviet T-62 was better than the best Israeli Centurion tank but they were only a limited number and had some weaknesses. The rest were older T-54 and T-55s but still were a formidable foe in the largest tank battle since WWII. Zvika reached the crossroads of Nafekh on a half track. Nafakh also needed to be taken over by the Syrians if they wanted to have control over the heights – they couldn’t just bypass it
like other outposts. Even though he wasn’t attached to a particular unit, Zvika was granted his request to join his old unit, the 74th Battalion, already on the line. After helping some of the wounded men at the base, he saw two badly damaged tanks that were unmanned. He radioed headquarters that “Zvika Force” was going to battle. He did this in order to confuse the Syrians who were listening to radio traffic. Neither Israeli nor Syrian commanders had the slightest clue that Zvika Force had just two damaged tanks! The two tanks spotted Syrian tanks coming in unopposed and Zvika proceeded to blast six of them out of action. Zvika soon lost one tank and its commander Hagai Tzur was sent back to base. The one tank continued alone against the rapidly advancing Syrian tank army. Greatly outnumbered, he changed positions very frequently to convince the enemy that there was more than just the one tank. The underbelly of the Syrian tanks were vulnerable to shells fired from Zvika’s Centurion tank and he used this to his advantage. As the enemy tanks reached the top of a hill, Zvika fired, hitting the underside of the Syrian tanks.