The 11th Brigade (also known as the Yiftach Brigade) is a reserve formation of the Israel Defense Forces, composed mainly of fighters that completed their compulsory service in the Unit 621 – 'Egoz'. The brigade is assigned to the 99th Infantry Division.
History
In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War it was a Palmachinfantry brigade. It was formed in late April 1948 from existing Palmach battalions: the First Battalion, that resided in Jezreel Valley and the Third Battalion in the eastern valleys. In late 1948, the Second Palmach Battalion was transferred to it from the Negev Brigade.[1]
The Palmach memorial website records 274 of its members being killed whilst in the Yiftach Brigade.[citation needed]
In May 1949 the Palmach brigade was disbanded. This was part of a general downsizing of the IDF (9 out of 12 brigades were disbanded). It was also considered by many as part of Ben-Gurion's process of disbanding the Palmach itself.[2]
A while after that, it was re-established as a reserve unit that served in the Gaza Strip front[3][4] As an infantry brigade it also fought in the Suez Crisis and in the Six-Day War in the Gaza Strip[4][3]
In 1971 the brigade was converted to an armored brigade. It fought in the Egyptian front of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. After the war it was regrouped and its unit number was changed to 576. in 2006 the brigade fought in Operation Defensive Shield.[3]
In 2016, the decision was made to reestablish the brigade as a reserves elite infantry force by transferring battalions from the 810th “Hermon” Brigade that was disbanded as part of the multi-year Gideon Plan. Nearly all of the soldiers in the brigade served as operators in the elite Egoz unit. In September 2020, the brigade transferred command to the 99th Infantry Division, where it serves as a commando reserves force.
Yiftach Brigade parading in Haifa. April 1949Yiftach Brigade Second Battalion on parade marking first anniversary of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, HaifaYiftach Brigade Memorial near Beit Kama
Organization
11th Infantry Brigade "Yiftach"
5037th Infantry Battalion
7220th Infantry Battalion
8226th Infantry Battalion
(7810th) Reconnaissance Battalion
5011th Logistics Battalion
Signals Company
Military operations
The Yiftach Brigade participated in the following Israeli military operations:
The memorial for the fallen soldiers of the Yiftach Brigade is situated in the northern Negev north of Rahat, near KibbutzBeit Kama and Kama Junction on Road 40.
