Battle of Karameh
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Karameh was fought on March 21, 1968 in the town of Karameh
, Jordan
, between the Israel Defense Forces
(IDF) and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization
(PLO) and the Jordanian Army. It was planned by Israel
as two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh and one in the distant village of Safi — codenamed Operation Inferno and Operation Asuta (מבצע אסותא), respectively — but the former turned into a full-scale battle, when the Jordanian Army engaged the invaders.
The attacks were in reprisal for a series of raids by the PLO against Israel, mostly by the Fatah
faction, which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine. Israel assumed that the Jordanian Army would ignore the invasion, but the latter fought alongside the Palestinians and inflicted heavy losses upon the Israeli forces. The Israelis withdrew at the end of a day's battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken hundreds of prisoners.
Both sides declared victory. On a tactical level, the battle did end in Israel's favor and the purpose of the mission was achieved. However, for the Palestinians it became a mythological victory that established their national claims. At first, the battle was seen as unifying the Hashemite Jordan with its many Palestinian refugees and residents, as King Hussein had proclaimed "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen
." After the battle however, the PLO's strength began to grow, and Palestinians spoke openly of taking over Jordan as part of Palestine
. This situation eventually led to Black September in Jordan
, in 1970.
from Jordan in the June 1967 Six-Day War
, Israel destroyed the existing Fatah
networks there. Starting in early 1968 however, Fatah guerrillas began raiding Israel from bases on the Jordanian side of the river. Most of these attacks were successfully blocked by the IDF. Jordanian Army infantry and artillery units gave the Fatah squads covering fire at times, leading to frequent direct skirmishes between the IDF and the Jordanian Army. On February 14–15, Jordanian mortars hit several Israeli settlements in the Beit Shean Valley and along the Jordan Valley
. IDF artillery and the IAF retaliated against Jordanian bases and artillery batteries, as well as the American-financed East Ghor Main Canal
. As a result, thousands of Jordanian farmers fled eastwards, and fedayeen
moved into the valley. An American-sponsored ceasefire was arranged and King Hussein declared he would prevent these groups from using Jordan as a base for attack. In February, he sent twenty carloads of troops and police to order a Fatah unit to leave Karameh. When it arrived, the column found itself surrounded by men wielding machine guns; their commander said "You have three minutes to decide whether you leave or die". They withdrew. By March, several hundred civilians lived in the camp, along with about 900 guerrillas, mostly from Fatah, and PLO leader Yasser Arafat
, who had his headquarters there.
Aharon Yariv
, Chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, stated that a raid would damage Fatah's prestige. On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister, Abba Eban
, and his chief of bureau, Gideon Rafael, being mindful of an adverse American reaction, were afraid it might result in killing innocent civilians and be a political disservice to Israel. Chief of Staff (Ramatkal
) Haim Bar-Lev promised a "clean action". Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan
, asked for a "principal approval" for a raid but this was denied by the cabinet. He warned the other ministers that a bus might strike a mine. On March 18, an Israeli school bus was blown up by a mine near Be'er Ora
in the Arava
, killing two adults and wounding ten children. It was the 38th Fatah operation in little more than three months. That night, the cabinet approved the attack. The U.S. tried to prevent it by forwarding Israel a message from King Hussein. Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol
, called the cabinet in for further counseling, but only the National Religious Party
leader, Haim-Moshe Shapira
, vocally opposed it, while Israeli Education Minister, Zalman Aran
opposed it but remained silent.
began to detect Israeli activity near the border, as IDF troops began to concentrate near the Allenby
and Damia Bridge
s. Jordan ordered the 1st Infantry Division to take up positions near those bridges and around Karameh. On March 17, Dayan warned that the Arabs were preparing for a "new wave of terror," which Israel would take steps to contain if King Hussein of Jordan could not. Eshkol repeated that message to the Knesset
, and on the same day, Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah filed two complaints with the United Nations
against what he termed the Arabs' "repeated acts of aggression."
By March 20, Jordan had identified parts of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade, 60th Armored Brigade, 35th Paratroop Brigade, 80th Infantry Brigade, a combat engineer battalion and five artillery battalions between those bridges. The Jordanians assumed the Israelis were planning an attack with a drive on Amman
, and the army took up positions near the bridges, with the 60th Armored Brigade joining the 1st Infantry Division. Jordan also added most of its armored car, antitank and artillery units to the 1st Infantry Division. The total firepower was 105 Patton tank
s and 88 artillery pieces. The infantry divisions were deployed near the bridges, each with a tank company. The artillery was mostly deployed on the higher Jordan Valley ridges overlooking Karameh for topological advantage.
The Israeli forces amounted to less than a brigade of armor, an infantry brigade, a paratroop battalion, an engineering battalion and five battalions of artillery. The units were divided into four task forces. The largest of these was to cross the Allenby Bridge and reach Karameh from the south; a second one was to cross the Damiyah Bridge, and reach Karameh from the north, thus completing a pincer move. Meanwhile, paratroopers were to be lifted by helicopters into the town while the fourth force would make a diversionary attack at King Abdullah Bridge
to draw the Jordanian forces from Karameh and to cover the main attack.
Prior to the attack, the Israeli Air Force
(IAF) dropped leaflets telling the Jordanian army that Israel had no intention to hurt them, and that they should not intervene; the leaflets went unheeded. Time magazine
reported the fedayeen had been warned in advance by Egyptian intelligence, and most of the 2,000 Arab commandos who used Karamah as a training base had pulled back into the surrounding hills to snipe at the Israelis. Some 200 guerrillas stayed inside to defend the town. Later, Arafat's deputy, Abu Iyad, claimed in his memoirs that he and Arafat had been tipped off about the Israeli attack by Jordanian officers, who learned it from the CIA.
At 5:30 AM on March 21, the Israeli forces attacked simultaneously on the three bridges. Combat engineers built a pontoon bridge
in the north and the troops crossed the river. The Israeli spearheads pushed across the Hussein Bridge and were advancing towards Shunat Nimreen. At 6:30 AM, Israeli helicopters started landing the bulk of the paratrooper battalion north of Karameh. An Israeli aircraft was supposed to drop leaflets addressed to Fatah after the paratroopers had surrounded the town. However, due to difficult weather conditions, the helicopters flying the paratroopers arrived twenty minutes too late. When the southern task force began their drive north towards Karameh, they encountered a Jordanian infantry brigade supported by armor, artillery and antitank weapons. The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes, but was only able to inflict minor damage on the dug-in Jordanians. Fighting from their entrenched positions, the Jordanians repelled several Israeli assaults. In the south, Jordanian artillery shelling prevented the Israelis from erecting another pontoon bridge on the site of the Abdullah bridge, halting the Israeli advance there. Gonen's force spread in three directions from Shuna: One or more companies drove north to Karameh, An infantry battalion and a tank battalion moved east to block the Salt road, and another infantry battalion moved south to assist the force trying to break across the Abdullah Bridge. Gonen later claimed that the action on the Abdullah bridge was merely a diversion. Meanwhile, the force that crossed the Damiya Bridge established itself on the east bank. Engineers began constructing a new bridge and the force advanced east to the Musri junction, where it was supposed turned south to Karameh.
The force driving on Karameh via the Allenby bridge broke through and proceeded to the town. They reached Karameh shortly before 7:00. Some of the paratroopers and armor drove north to operate in the Fatah camp. The paratroopers destroyed most of the camp; many of the Palestinians, including Arafat, fled eastward. By 8:00 the Israeli forces had taken control of the town, which turned out to be a bigger PLO base than the Israelis originally thought. At this point, the Damiya force held Musri, but could not advance south, as the advance was repulsed by the northern brigade of the Jordanian 1st Division. The paratroopers at Karameh were met with resistance by Fatah commandos and Jordanian regulars supported by Jordanian artillery. The paratroopers suffered heavy losses, and were joined by the northern column of the Hussein Bridge force. The combined force was engaged in heavy fighting against the central brigade of the 1st division and a number of Fatah fighters. The rest of the Hussein Bridge force was blocked to the east and south of Shuna by elements of the 1st Division's central and southern brigades and by a tank battalion from Salt.
A small force of Israeli infantry and armor tried to protect the right flank of the forces invading from the south from attacks by the Jordanian forces deployed near the King Abdullah bridge. The Jordanians attacked with some armor, but the Israelis put up resistance, and the battle turned into a stalemate.
A large force of Israeli infantry and armor went east to block the road from Salt
to the Allenby bridge, and they encountered the Jordanian 60th Armored Brigade which tried to join the defense of Karameh. In the resulting battle, the Jordanians lost eight Patton tanks without destroying any Israeli tanks, and withdrew to the hills, where they dug in and continued to fire down on the Israelis. The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes against Jordanian armor and artillery positions, but was unable to stop the firing. Within the next two hours, Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes were launched against Jordanian defenses on the Musri-Karameh road, the Salt road, and east of Abdullah Bridge. The Israelis also consolidated their hold on Karameh with of airstrikes and artillery, and began demolishing the camp. A total of 175 houses were blown up.
Meanwhile, Operation Asuta was mounted against a few smaller guerrilla bases south of the Dead Sea
, near Safi, where the school bus had struck the mine. About twenty Jordanian soldiers and policemen and twenty Fatah fighters were killed, and twenty-seven were taken prisoner. The Israelis suffered no casualties.
Frustrated in their hopes of entrapping the entire PLO force, the Israelis quickly pulled out, but had to fight their way back to Israeli territory. At 11:00 the Israelis began to withdraw, with Sikorsky H-34 helicopters evacuating the troops. Because orders came down to recover as many vehicles as possible, they only completed their withdrawal by 20:40.
, Arthur Goldberg
, said "We believe that the military counteractions such as those which have just taken place, on a scale out of proportion to the acts of violence that preceded it, are greatly to be deplored." US Ambassador to Israel, Walworth Barbour
, said that in twenty years time, a historian would write that day down as the beginning of the destruction of Israel. Eban reported the Ambassabor's statement to the cabinet, and Menachem Begin
said such an utterance must not be cited in a cabinet meeting.
The battle of Karameh did provide Fatah with a propaganda boost. Gideon Rafael
later said that "The operation gave an enormous lift to Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization and irrevocably implanted the Palestine problem onto the international agenda, no longer as a humanitarian issue of homeless refugees, but as a claim to Palestinian statehood". Uzi Narkis, who commanded the operation, resigned as chief of the Central Command for a position in the Jewish Agency shortly after the battle.
Jordan claimed to have won the battle and stopped an Israeli drive on Amman. Hussein said on television after the battle, "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen
", while Arafat said "What we have done is to make the world... realize that the Palestinian is no longer refugee number so and so, but the member of a people who hold the reins of their own destiny and are in a position to determine their own future". Palestinians and Arabs generally considered the battle a psychological victory over the IDF, which had been seen as 'invincible' until then, and recruitment to guerilla units soared. Fatah reported that 5,000 volunteers applied to join within 48 hours of the battle. By late March, there were nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan.
Iraq and Syria offered training programs for several thousand guerrillas. The Persian Gulf states
, led by Kuwait
, raised money for them through a 5% tax on the salaries of their tens of thousands of resident Palestinian workers, and a fund drive in Lebanon
raised $500,000 from Beirut
alone. The Palestinian organizations began to guarantee a lifetime support for the families of all guerrillas killed in action. Within a year after the battle, Fatah had branches in about eighty countries.
After the battle, Fatah began to engage in communal projects to achieve popular affiliation. The battle of Karameh and the subsequent increase in the PLO's strength are considered to have been important catalysts for the 1970 events of Black September in Jordan
.
Karameh
al-Karameh is a town in Jordan, near the Allenby Bridge which spans the Jordan River. The river defines the border between Israel and Jordan....
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
, between the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
(IDF) and combined forces of the Palestine Liberation Organization
Palestine Liberation Organization
The Palestine Liberation Organization is a political and paramilitary organization which was created in 1964. It is recognized as the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people" by the United Nations and over 100 states with which it holds diplomatic relations, and has enjoyed...
(PLO) and the Jordanian Army. It was planned by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as two concurrent raids on PLO camps, one in Karameh and one in the distant village of Safi — codenamed Operation Inferno and Operation Asuta (מבצע אסותא), respectively — but the former turned into a full-scale battle, when the Jordanian Army engaged the invaders.
The attacks were in reprisal for a series of raids by the PLO against Israel, mostly by the Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
faction, which culminated in an Israeli school bus hitting a mine. Israel assumed that the Jordanian Army would ignore the invasion, but the latter fought alongside the Palestinians and inflicted heavy losses upon the Israeli forces. The Israelis withdrew at the end of a day's battle, having destroyed most of the Karameh camp and taken hundreds of prisoners.
Both sides declared victory. On a tactical level, the battle did end in Israel's favor and the purpose of the mission was achieved. However, for the Palestinians it became a mythological victory that established their national claims. At first, the battle was seen as unifying the Hashemite Jordan with its many Palestinian refugees and residents, as King Hussein had proclaimed "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen
Fedayeen
Fedayeen is a term used to describe several distinct militant groups and individuals in West Asia at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.-Overview:...
." After the battle however, the PLO's strength began to grow, and Palestinians spoke openly of taking over Jordan as part of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
. This situation eventually led to Black September in Jordan
Black September in Jordan
September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...
, in 1970.
Background
Following the seizure of West BankWest Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
from Jordan in the June 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, Israel destroyed the existing Fatah
Fatah
Fataḥ is a major Palestinian political party and the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization , a multi-party confederation. In Palestinian politics it is on the left-wing of the spectrum; it is mainly nationalist, although not predominantly socialist. Its official goals are found...
networks there. Starting in early 1968 however, Fatah guerrillas began raiding Israel from bases on the Jordanian side of the river. Most of these attacks were successfully blocked by the IDF. Jordanian Army infantry and artillery units gave the Fatah squads covering fire at times, leading to frequent direct skirmishes between the IDF and the Jordanian Army. On February 14–15, Jordanian mortars hit several Israeli settlements in the Beit Shean Valley and along the Jordan Valley
Jordan Valley (Middle East)
The Jordan Valley forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. It is 120 kilometers long and 15 kilometers wide, where it runs from Lake Tiberias in the north to northern Dead Sea in the south. It runs for an additional 155 kilometer south of the Dead Sea to Aqaba, an area also known as Wadi...
. IDF artillery and the IAF retaliated against Jordanian bases and artillery batteries, as well as the American-financed East Ghor Main Canal
East Ghor Main Canal
The King Abdullah Canal is the largest irrigation canal system in Jordan and runs parallel to the east bank of the Jordan River. It was previously known as the East Ghor Main Canal and renamed in 1987 after Abdullah I of Jordan....
. As a result, thousands of Jordanian farmers fled eastwards, and fedayeen
Fedayeen
Fedayeen is a term used to describe several distinct militant groups and individuals in West Asia at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.-Overview:...
moved into the valley. An American-sponsored ceasefire was arranged and King Hussein declared he would prevent these groups from using Jordan as a base for attack. In February, he sent twenty carloads of troops and police to order a Fatah unit to leave Karameh. When it arrived, the column found itself surrounded by men wielding machine guns; their commander said "You have three minutes to decide whether you leave or die". They withdrew. By March, several hundred civilians lived in the camp, along with about 900 guerrillas, mostly from Fatah, and PLO leader Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, who had his headquarters there.
Aharon Yariv
Aharon Yariv
Aharon "Aharale" Rabinovich Yariv was an Israeli politician and soldier.Born in Moscow in the Soviet Union. When he was 15 he immigrated to Israel and studied at the Pardes Hanna Agricultural High School. Yariv began his military service in the Haganah and later the British Army. He then joined...
, Chief of the Military Intelligence Directorate, stated that a raid would damage Fatah's prestige. On the other hand, Israeli Foreign Minister, Abba Eban
Abba Eban
Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician.In his career he was Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister, Education Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, and ambassador to the United States and to the United Nations...
, and his chief of bureau, Gideon Rafael, being mindful of an adverse American reaction, were afraid it might result in killing innocent civilians and be a political disservice to Israel. Chief of Staff (Ramatkal
Ramatkal
The Chief of the General Staff, also known as the Commander-in-Chief of the Israel Defense Forces is the supreme commander and Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. At any given time, the Chief of Staff is the only active officer holding the IDF's highest rank, Rav Aluf , which is usually...
) Haim Bar-Lev promised a "clean action". Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan
Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military leader and politician. The fourth Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces , he became a fighting symbol to the world of the new State of Israel...
, asked for a "principal approval" for a raid but this was denied by the cabinet. He warned the other ministers that a bus might strike a mine. On March 18, an Israeli school bus was blown up by a mine near Be'er Ora
Be'er Ora
Be'er Ora is a communal settlement near Eilat in the far south of Israel. It belongs to the Hevel Eilot Regional Council. It is located in the Arava region, just west of Highway 90, north of kibbutz Eilot, and south of Elifaz and Timna Park...
in the Arava
Arabah
The Arabah , also known as Aravah, is a section of the Great Rift Valley running in a north-south orientation between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea and continuing further south where it ends at the Gulf of Aqaba. It includes most of the border between Israel to the...
, killing two adults and wounding ten children. It was the 38th Fatah operation in little more than three months. That night, the cabinet approved the attack. The U.S. tried to prevent it by forwarding Israel a message from King Hussein. Israeli Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol
Levi Eshkol
' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Biography:...
, called the cabinet in for further counseling, but only the National Religious Party
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
leader, Haim-Moshe Shapira
Haim-Moshe Shapira
Haim-Moshe Shapira was a key Israeli politician in the early days of the state's existence. A signatory of Israel's declaration of independence, he served continuously as a minister from the country's foundation in 1948 until his death in 1970 apart from a brief spell in the late...
, vocally opposed it, while Israeli Education Minister, Zalman Aran
Zalman Aran
-Biography:Aran was born Zalman Aharonowitz in 1899 in Yuzovka in the Russian Empire , and received a religious education in a heder. He later studied agriculture in Kharkov. In his youth, he was active in Tze'irei Zion, and in 1917 became a member of the "Self-Defense Organization Committee" of...
opposed it but remained silent.
Prelude
On March 4, Jordanian intelligenceDairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah
Dairat al-Mukhabarat al-Ammah is the intelligence agency of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and a branch of the Jordanian Armed Forces...
began to detect Israeli activity near the border, as IDF troops began to concentrate near the Allenby
Allenby Bridge
The Allenby Bridge , also known as the King Hussein Bridge , is a bridge that crosses the Jordan River, and connects Jericho in the West Bank to the country of Jordan...
and Damia Bridge
Damia Bridge
The Damia Bridge, also known as the Adam Bridge , is a bridge over the Jordan River between the West Bank and Jordan. It is about 50 km north of Jericho and is the location of an Israeli border checkpoint....
s. Jordan ordered the 1st Infantry Division to take up positions near those bridges and around Karameh. On March 17, Dayan warned that the Arabs were preparing for a "new wave of terror," which Israel would take steps to contain if King Hussein of Jordan could not. Eshkol repeated that message to the Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
, and on the same day, Israeli Ambassador Yosef Tekoah filed two complaints with the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
against what he termed the Arabs' "repeated acts of aggression."
By March 20, Jordan had identified parts of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade, 60th Armored Brigade, 35th Paratroop Brigade, 80th Infantry Brigade, a combat engineer battalion and five artillery battalions between those bridges. The Jordanians assumed the Israelis were planning an attack with a drive on Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, and the army took up positions near the bridges, with the 60th Armored Brigade joining the 1st Infantry Division. Jordan also added most of its armored car, antitank and artillery units to the 1st Infantry Division. The total firepower was 105 Patton tank
Patton tank
Patton tank may refer to:*M46 Patton, a tank model operational during the Korean War*M47 Patton, a tank model in service from 1952 through 1959 with the U.S. Army, and through the mid 1990s in foreign service...
s and 88 artillery pieces. The infantry divisions were deployed near the bridges, each with a tank company. The artillery was mostly deployed on the higher Jordan Valley ridges overlooking Karameh for topological advantage.
The Israeli forces amounted to less than a brigade of armor, an infantry brigade, a paratroop battalion, an engineering battalion and five battalions of artillery. The units were divided into four task forces. The largest of these was to cross the Allenby Bridge and reach Karameh from the south; a second one was to cross the Damiyah Bridge, and reach Karameh from the north, thus completing a pincer move. Meanwhile, paratroopers were to be lifted by helicopters into the town while the fourth force would make a diversionary attack at King Abdullah Bridge
King Abdullah Bridge
The King Abdullah Bridge is a bridge over the Jordan River between the West Bank and Jordan. It is about 5 kilometers south east of Jericho, and about 4 kilometers south of Allenby Bridge.-History:...
to draw the Jordanian forces from Karameh and to cover the main attack.
Prior to the attack, the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...
(IAF) dropped leaflets telling the Jordanian army that Israel had no intention to hurt them, and that they should not intervene; the leaflets went unheeded. Time magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
reported the fedayeen had been warned in advance by Egyptian intelligence, and most of the 2,000 Arab commandos who used Karamah as a training base had pulled back into the surrounding hills to snipe at the Israelis. Some 200 guerrillas stayed inside to defend the town. Later, Arafat's deputy, Abu Iyad, claimed in his memoirs that he and Arafat had been tipped off about the Israeli attack by Jordanian officers, who learned it from the CIA.
The battle
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...
in the north and the troops crossed the river. The Israeli spearheads pushed across the Hussein Bridge and were advancing towards Shunat Nimreen. At 6:30 AM, Israeli helicopters started landing the bulk of the paratrooper battalion north of Karameh. An Israeli aircraft was supposed to drop leaflets addressed to Fatah after the paratroopers had surrounded the town. However, due to difficult weather conditions, the helicopters flying the paratroopers arrived twenty minutes too late. When the southern task force began their drive north towards Karameh, they encountered a Jordanian infantry brigade supported by armor, artillery and antitank weapons. The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes, but was only able to inflict minor damage on the dug-in Jordanians. Fighting from their entrenched positions, the Jordanians repelled several Israeli assaults. In the south, Jordanian artillery shelling prevented the Israelis from erecting another pontoon bridge on the site of the Abdullah bridge, halting the Israeli advance there. Gonen's force spread in three directions from Shuna: One or more companies drove north to Karameh, An infantry battalion and a tank battalion moved east to block the Salt road, and another infantry battalion moved south to assist the force trying to break across the Abdullah Bridge. Gonen later claimed that the action on the Abdullah bridge was merely a diversion. Meanwhile, the force that crossed the Damiya Bridge established itself on the east bank. Engineers began constructing a new bridge and the force advanced east to the Musri junction, where it was supposed turned south to Karameh.
The force driving on Karameh via the Allenby bridge broke through and proceeded to the town. They reached Karameh shortly before 7:00. Some of the paratroopers and armor drove north to operate in the Fatah camp. The paratroopers destroyed most of the camp; many of the Palestinians, including Arafat, fled eastward. By 8:00 the Israeli forces had taken control of the town, which turned out to be a bigger PLO base than the Israelis originally thought. At this point, the Damiya force held Musri, but could not advance south, as the advance was repulsed by the northern brigade of the Jordanian 1st Division. The paratroopers at Karameh were met with resistance by Fatah commandos and Jordanian regulars supported by Jordanian artillery. The paratroopers suffered heavy losses, and were joined by the northern column of the Hussein Bridge force. The combined force was engaged in heavy fighting against the central brigade of the 1st division and a number of Fatah fighters. The rest of the Hussein Bridge force was blocked to the east and south of Shuna by elements of the 1st Division's central and southern brigades and by a tank battalion from Salt.
A small force of Israeli infantry and armor tried to protect the right flank of the forces invading from the south from attacks by the Jordanian forces deployed near the King Abdullah bridge. The Jordanians attacked with some armor, but the Israelis put up resistance, and the battle turned into a stalemate.
A large force of Israeli infantry and armor went east to block the road from Salt
Salt, Jordan
Salt is an ancient agricultural town and administrative centre in west-central Jordan. It is on the old main highway leading from Amman to Jerusalem. Situated in the Balqa highland, about 790–1100 metres above sea level, the town is built in the crook of three hills, close to the Jordan River...
to the Allenby bridge, and they encountered the Jordanian 60th Armored Brigade which tried to join the defense of Karameh. In the resulting battle, the Jordanians lost eight Patton tanks without destroying any Israeli tanks, and withdrew to the hills, where they dug in and continued to fire down on the Israelis. The Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes against Jordanian armor and artillery positions, but was unable to stop the firing. Within the next two hours, Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes were launched against Jordanian defenses on the Musri-Karameh road, the Salt road, and east of Abdullah Bridge. The Israelis also consolidated their hold on Karameh with of airstrikes and artillery, and began demolishing the camp. A total of 175 houses were blown up.
Meanwhile, Operation Asuta was mounted against a few smaller guerrilla bases south of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
, near Safi, where the school bus had struck the mine. About twenty Jordanian soldiers and policemen and twenty Fatah fighters were killed, and twenty-seven were taken prisoner. The Israelis suffered no casualties.
Frustrated in their hopes of entrapping the entire PLO force, the Israelis quickly pulled out, but had to fight their way back to Israeli territory. At 11:00 the Israelis began to withdraw, with Sikorsky H-34 helicopters evacuating the troops. Because orders came down to recover as many vehicles as possible, they only completed their withdrawal by 20:40.
Casualties
Casualties estimates vary:- Israel: Chaim HerzogChaim HerzogChaim Herzog served as the sixth President of Israel , following a distinguished career in both the British Army and the Israel Defense Forces .-Early life:...
and Kenneth PollackKenneth PollackKenneth Michael Pollack, PhD , is a noted former CIA intelligence analyst and expert on Middle East politics and military affairs. He has served on the National Security Council staff and has written several articles and books on international relations.Pollack obtained a BA from Yale University,...
estimate 28 dead and 69 wounded; Shabtai TevethShabtai TevethShabtai Teveth , is an Israeli historian.Shabtai Teveth began working as a journalist for Haaretz newspaper in 1950, eventually becoming its political correspondent...
gives 32 killed and 70 wounded out of a force of 1,000 soldiers. Benny MorrisBenny MorrisBenny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
writes that Israel lost 33 dead and 161 wounded. Israel also lost four tanks, three half-tracks, two armored cars and a 113 Squadron Dassault OuraganDassault OuraganThe Dassault M.D.450 Ouragan was the first French-designed jet fighter-bomber to enter production, playing a key role in resurgence of the French aviation industry after World War II. The Ouragan was operated by France, Israel, India and El Salvador...
, although the pilot succeeded in parachuting to safety. A MirageDassault Mirage IIIThe Mirage III is a supersonic fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation during the late 1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries. It was a successful fighter aircraft, being sold to many air forces around the world and remaining in production for over a decade...
had to crash land.
- Jordan: Zeev MaozZeev MaozZeev Maoz is a professor of Political Science and director of the International Relations Program at the University of California, Davis, as well as Distinguished Fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel. He is the President of the Peace Science Society during 2007-08...
and MorrisBenny MorrisBenny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
cite a figure of some 84 Jordanian soldiers killed and another 250 wounded. Four were captured. 30 tanks were destroyed. Maoz notes that two Jordanian aircraft were shot down.
- PLO: Herzog: 200 dead, 150 captured; Morris: 156 dead, 141 captured; Pollack: 100 dead, 100 wounded, 120–150 captured. According to Morris, a further 20 PLO guerillas were killed and 27 captured during the corresponding Operation Asuta. Teveth states 170 killed and 130 taken prisoner.
Israeli command structure
| Israel Defense Forces Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel... — Lieutenant General Haim Bar-Lev |
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| Central Command — Major General (Aluf Aluf Aluf is the term used for General and Admiral in the Israel Defense Forces . In addition to the Aluf rank itself, there are four other ranks which are derivatives of the word... ) Uzi Narkiss Uzi Narkiss Uzi Narkiss was an Israeli general. Narkiss was commander of the Israel Defense Forces units in the Central Region during the Six Day War... |
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| 80th Brigade (elements) | Colonel Rafael Eitan Rafael Eitan Rafael "Raful" Eitan was an Israeli general, former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces and later a politician, a Knesset member government minister... |
Tovia Force (reduced battalion) | |
| Uzi Force (reduced battalion) | |||
| 7th Brigade | Colonel Shmuel Gonen Shmuel Gonen Shmuel "Gorodish" Gonen was an Israeli general and Chief of the Southern Command of the Israel Defense Forces during the Yom Kippur War.-Early life:... |
Rotem Company | |
| Plada Company | |||
| Shimshi Company | |||
| Eitan Platoon | |||
| Paratroopers Brigade (35th) | Colonel Danny Mat | 890th Battalion | Lieutenant Colonel Dan Shomron Dan Shomron Gen. Dan Shomron was the 13th Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, from 1987 to 1991.... |
| 50th Battalion | Lieutenant Colonel Tubi Shapira | ||
| 202th Battalion (elements) | Lieutenant Colonel Zvi Bar Zvi Bar Zvi Bar, born 1935 in Kfar Yona, is an Israeli politician and current mayor of the Israeli city of Ramat Gan. First elected mayor of the city in 1989, he has since been reelected four times consecutively – in 1993, 1998, 2003, and 2008.... |
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| Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit | Captain Matan Vilnai Matan Vilnai Matan Vilnai is an Israeli politician and a former Major General in the Israel Defense Forces . He is currently Minister for Home Front Defense and a member of the Knesset for Independence.-Biography:... |
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| Air Force Israeli Air Force The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence... (elements) |
Major General (Aluf) Mordechai Hod Mordechai Hod Aluf Mordechai "Mottie" Hod was the Commander of the Israeli Air Force during the 1967 Six-Day War.- Biography :Hod was born in the British Mandated of Palestine in Kibbutz Degania in 1926... |
116 "Flying Wing" Squadron 116 Squadron (Israel) 116 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the The Defenders of the South Squadron , is an F-16A/B fighter squadron based at Nevatim Airbase.-References:... (leaflet drop) |
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| 101 "First Fighter" Squadron | |||
| 105 "Scorpion" Squadron | |||
| 110 "Northern Knights" Squadron 110 Squadron (Israel) The 110 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Knights of The North Squadron, is an F-16C fighter squadron based at Ramat David Airbase.-References:... |
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| 113 "Hornet" Squadron | |||
| 117 "First Jet" Squadron 117 Squadron (Israel) The 117 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the First Jet Squadron, is an F-16C fighter squadron based at Ramat David Airbase. The squadron operated Israel's first jet aircraft, the Gloster Meteor, flying the T7, F8 and FR9 variants.... |
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| 119 "Bat" Squadron 119 Squadron (Israel) The 119 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Bat Squadron, is an F-16I fighter squadron based at Ramon Airbase.-References:... |
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| 124 "Rolling Sword" Squadron 124 Squadron (Israel) The 124 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Rolling Sword Squadron, is a helicopter squadron of S-70A and UH-60 Black Hawks based at Palmachim Airbase.-References:... |
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| 114 "Night Leaders/Super Frelon" Squadron 114 Squadron (Israel) The 114 Squadron of the Israeli Air Force, also known as the Night Leaders Squadron, is a helicopter squadron of CH-53-2000 Sea Stallions based at Tel Nof Airbase.-References:... |
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| Combat Engineering Corps (elements) | |||
| Artillery Corps (elements) | |||
Aftermath
Israel claimed to have accomplished its objective of destroying the Fatah camp, and on a tactical level, the battle did indeed end in Israel's favor. "The Karama operation exposed the vulnerability of PLO units deployed along the Jordan River and so they moved their concentrations up into the mountains. This imposed additional strains on them and made their operations into the West Bank even more involved and difficult than they had been hithero." Politically however, Israel was heavily condemned by the world opinion. U.S. Ambassador to the UNUnited States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
, Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Goldberg
Arthur Joseph Goldberg was an American statesman and jurist who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor, Supreme Court Justice and Ambassador to the United Nations.-Early life:...
, said "We believe that the military counteractions such as those which have just taken place, on a scale out of proportion to the acts of violence that preceded it, are greatly to be deplored." US Ambassador to Israel, Walworth Barbour
Walworth Barbour
Walworth Barbour was United States Ambassador to Israel from 1961 to 1973.The American International School in Even Yehuda, Israel is named after him .-Positions held in the United States Diplomatic Service:...
, said that in twenty years time, a historian would write that day down as the beginning of the destruction of Israel. Eban reported the Ambassabor's statement to the cabinet, and Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
said such an utterance must not be cited in a cabinet meeting.
Gideon Rafael
Gidean Rafael was an Israeli diplomat and one of the founders of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.He was Israel's representative to the United Nations during the Six Day War.-References:...
later said that "The operation gave an enormous lift to Yasser Arafat's Fatah organization and irrevocably implanted the Palestine problem onto the international agenda, no longer as a humanitarian issue of homeless refugees, but as a claim to Palestinian statehood". Uzi Narkis, who commanded the operation, resigned as chief of the Central Command for a position in the Jewish Agency shortly after the battle.
Jordan claimed to have won the battle and stopped an Israeli drive on Amman. Hussein said on television after the battle, "I think we may reach a position where we are all fedayeen
Fedayeen
Fedayeen is a term used to describe several distinct militant groups and individuals in West Asia at different times in history. It is sometimes used colloquially to refer to suicide squads, especially those who are not bombers.-Overview:...
", while Arafat said "What we have done is to make the world... realize that the Palestinian is no longer refugee number so and so, but the member of a people who hold the reins of their own destiny and are in a position to determine their own future". Palestinians and Arabs generally considered the battle a psychological victory over the IDF, which had been seen as 'invincible' until then, and recruitment to guerilla units soared. Fatah reported that 5,000 volunteers applied to join within 48 hours of the battle. By late March, there were nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan.
Persian Gulf States
Persian Gulf States can refer to:* Countries in the Middle East bordering the Persian Gulf and sometimes known as the Gulf States: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates....
, led by Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, raised money for them through a 5% tax on the salaries of their tens of thousands of resident Palestinian workers, and a fund drive in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
raised $500,000 from Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
alone. The Palestinian organizations began to guarantee a lifetime support for the families of all guerrillas killed in action. Within a year after the battle, Fatah had branches in about eighty countries.
After the battle, Fatah began to engage in communal projects to achieve popular affiliation. The battle of Karameh and the subsequent increase in the PLO's strength are considered to have been important catalysts for the 1970 events of Black September in Jordan
Black September in Jordan
September 1970 is known as the Black September in Arab history and sometimes is referred to as the "era of regrettable events." It was a month when Hashemite King Hussein of Jordan moved to quash the militancy of Palestinian organizations and restore his monarchy's rule over the country. The...
.