The Palmach Museum
Of all the military museums in Tel Aviv, this museum is the most engaging. It is completely audiovisual and there is no reading or displays. Visitors take a 90-minute tour through different 3-dimentional settings and in each is a short movie. These trace the story of the Palmach, and follow a group of Palmach volunteers from the beginning of their training. Documentary material is also incorporated. For good measure, there is a love interest between two of the Palmach volunteers.
Do you find my website interesting and helpful?
Then you are sure to love my two new books "In and Around Jerusalem for Everyone - The Best Walks, Hikes and Outdoor Pools" and "The Struggle for Utopia - A History of Jewish, Christian and Islamic Messianism". Both books are available on Amazon and in Jerusalem bookstores. Click on each of the titles for information, reviews and purchase information.
Directions: and parking: Enter “Palmach Museum” into Waze and click on “Palmach Museum, Chaim Levanon Street, Tel Aviv-Yaffo.” The address is 10 Haim Levanon St., Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv. Parking is available at the Eretz Israel Museum's parking areas adjacent to the Palmach Museum.
Public transport: Enter “Palmach Museum” into Moovit. The closest train station is Tel Aviv University and it is a 1-km/12-minute walk from the station.
Admission: The Museum is open on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the last tour beginning at 3:30 p.m., Monday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and Friday 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. It is closed on Shabbat. The entrance fee is 30 Nis for adults, and youth and senior citizens 20 Nis. It is advised to pre-arrange a visit. However, individual visits can be joined to an existing group. There is an outdoor café. Their phone number is 03-545 9800 and Email: info.mus@palmach.org. This is their website:
Topics covered are the important activities of the Palmach during the British mandate, including the strict training while working in an agricultural settlement, an act of sabotage against a British-controlled bridge, naval activities in bringing new immigrants to Palestine from the displaced persons camps in Europe, cooperation with the Jewish underground in the release of Jewish immigrants from the Atlit Detention center, and finally the longest section (about 30 minutes) of the crucial military activities of the Palmach during the War of Independence.
All the movies are in Hebrew. However, you are provided with headphones that allow you to follow the movies in English, Spanish, French, Russian or Mandarin Chinese. Turn the headphone around from the opposite side to the numbered side to get the full volume, which can also be adjusted.
What was the Palmach?
A movie with an ongoing story by its very nature provides no overview of what the Palmach was all about. This therefore follows:
The Palmach was formed in May 1941 as an elite striking arm of the Haganah, the primary underground Jewish paramilitary force in British Mandate Palestine. Palmach is an acronym for Plugot Mahatz (Strike Companies). The Palmach contributed considerably to Israeli culture and ethos, and its members would go on to form the backbone of the Israel Defense Forces high command.
​
As the Axis forces advanced into North Africa, the Palmach was formed to defend the Palestinian Jewish community against two potential threats. The first was the possibility of the occupation of Palestine by the German army and accompanying Nazis. This could have had a devastating effect on the Jewish community. Settlements could also have come under threat from the Arab population.
​
The few hundreds of volunteers were initially supported financially by the British, and some joint military operations were held. With the defeat of Field Marshall Rommel at the crucial battle of Al-Alamein this threat from Germany no longer existed. However, as tensions grew between the Jewish community and the British authorities, their financial support was terminated in 1942. To support the organization, members lived and worked on kibbutzim, and blended their military training with agricultural labor. Soldiers underwent rigorous training in guerilla warfare, sabotage, intelligence gathering, and conventional combat, with an emphasis on self-reliance and initiative.
​
Post-war, the Palmach shifted its focus to resisting British policies that restricted Jewish immigration. Members facilitated the clandestine arrival of Holocaust survivors to Palestine, defying British blockades. This effort, known as Aliyah Bet, was critical in providing refuge to thousands of Jewish European survivors from the Holocaust.
​
Following the decision of David Ben-Gurion in October 1945 to launch an armed struggle against the British, the Palmach entered into an alliance with the Jewish underground movements, the Irgun and Lechi. A force led by the Palmach commander Yitzhak Rabin raided the detention center at Atlit and freed 208 Jewish prisoners. The Palmach was also involved in multiple bomb attacks on bridges. However, following the attack of the Irgun on the King David Hotel with multiple deaths, which in turn was a retaliation for the Black Sabbath, their cooperation was called off in June 1946.
​
During the 1947-1949 War of Independence, the Palmach was at the forefront of key military campaigns. It secured vital areas including the Negev Desert, the Galilee, and the road to Jerusalem. Its maximum force with reserves was about 5,000 fighters, of whom 1,200 were women.
In Operation Nachshon., the Palmach was able to clear the road to Jerusalem. In Operation Yiftach, they conquered Safed, and its Arab population fled.
The Palmach was officially disbanded in 1948, following the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), as part of a unification effort to create a single national army. It was reorganized into three IDF brigades — the Negev Brigade, the Yiftach Brigade and the Harel Brigade. The Negev and Yiftach Brigade fought in the Negev against the Egyptian army and was able to repulse it into the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula.
​
In total, the Palmach lost 1,187 fighters prior to and during the war of Independence.
The legacy of the Palmach endures in the ethos and operational principles of the IDF, and its emphasis on discipline, innovation, and leadership continues to influence Israeli military doctrine. Many of its leaders, such as Yigal Allon and Yitzhak Rabin, would later play critical roles in the establishment and governance of the State of Israel.
