Introduction The Israeli Defense Force has been one of the most outstanding
practictioners of maneuver warfare in the 20th Century. Faced with a
coalition of hostile Arab states with their Soviet patron constantly
willing to replenish, free of charge, their arsenals with some of the
best equipment the Soviet defense industry could produce, outnumbering
or outgunning its likely foes was never a feasible course of action for
the IDF. During the first two decades of its existence Israel received
very little military assistance from the United States. The bulk of its
weaponry during these decades came from France (fighter aircraft, most
notably the famous Mirage IIIC that won it air superiority in 1967,
light tanks, fast attack craft), Great Britain (Centurion tanks), and
Germany (fast attack craft, the initial shipments of M48 tanks).
Large-scale shipments of US military equipment commenced only after the
Six-Day War. Therefore the tactics the IDF used in its initial wars
emphasized dash, surprise, and maneuver, with the intent of effecting a
preemption or dislocation of the larger, often more heavily equipped,
but also less agile opposing
forces. These tactics worked very well in 1956 and 1967. In 1973,
however,
the careful preparations of the Egyptian and Syrian forces, combined
with a highly successful battlefield deception campaign, meant than in
1973 it was the Egyptians and the Syrians who caught the Israelis off
guard and as a result inflicted heavy losses on Israel forces and came
close to achieving an overall victory.
The Yom Kippur Wwar also revealed significant flaws within the IDF. By
1973,
the most damaging was the "victory disease" that set in after the swift
victory in the "Six-Day War" of 1967. The rapidity and decisiveness of
the victory led the IDF into a near-fatal error of underestimating
one's foes. Moreover, the spectacular performance of its armored
formations caused the Israelis to discount the importance of infantry.
This pro-armor bias was reinforced by the demographic attractiveness of
tank forces, as a tank battalion required considerably fewer soldiers
than an infantry battalion. When the war broke out in 1973 some
mechanized infantry brigades were even in process of being converted
into armor units. As a result Israeli mechanized infantry units were
neglected regarding both equipment and training, and in 1973 their
performance did not match that of the rest of the army. Worse, Israeli
armor formations took heavy losses in the opening stages of the war on
the Sinai when attempting to assault Egyptian infantry, by now well
schooled in tank-fighting and amply provided with AT weapons, without
own infantry or artillery support. The situation was rescued by the
existence of an excellent paratroop force, whose brigades were pressed
into armor support role once the war broke out. That the IDF prevailed
in its toughest battlefield test ever was a reflection of the high
quality of its officers and soldiers who were able to rebound from the
initial defeats, devise new tactics, and eventually prevail. Doctrine and Troop Quality Veteran, Decentralized Doctrine, High Morale, except:
Mechanized Infantry Battalions: Balanced Doctrine, some units Regular
Parachute and elite Infantry (Golani) Brigades: Very High Morale, some
units Elite
HQ Command Radius 12 (Battalion and Regiment); 24 (Division)
HQ Rating: 5
Cross-attachments:
Battalions may exchange companies. Companies within a battalion may
exchange platoons, or platoon(s) from one company in a battalion may be
attached to other company(s) in the same battalion. Brigades may
exchange or transfer battalions. Unit Organization
Parachute Brigade: 3 Parachute
Battalions, 1 Artillery Battalion with either SP 120mm Mortars or 155mm
SP Howitzers, 1 Recon Company [4 Recon Jeep Platoons
(mp), 1 Jeep/106mm RCL Platoon (mp)], 1 Anti-Aircraft
Company [3 T-20 Platoons (mp)]
Infantry Brigade: as Parachute
Brigade
Divisions: Israeli divisions did not follow a standard
organizational structure, and had a mix of armored, mechanized,
parachute, and infantry brigades. Examples are Ariel Sharon's 143rd
Division, with 3 Armored and 1 Parachute Brigade, and Albert Mandler's
252nd Division with 4 Armored Brigades. In addition, each division had
up to 3 SP 155mm Artillery Battalions, and a reconnaissance battalion.
Divisional Recon Battalion:
1 Tank Company (sc), 1 Jeep Company [4 Recon Jeep
Platoons (mp), 1 Jeep/106mm RCL Platoon (mp)], 1 APC Company (sc), 1
Recon Infantry Company (sc)
