Machal / מח"ל

Machal, also, מח"ל. Volunteers from Abroad. During Israel’s War of Independence, 1948-49, more than 4,800 volunteers, including 168 Christians, came from 59 countries to Israel’s aid. Some had served as crew on the 10 American-purchased Aliyah Bet ships that brought so many Holocaust survivors through the British naval blockade of Palestine. All risked not only their lives but often their citizenships in their native countries. The volunteers, known as “Machal,” the Hebrew acronym for “Volunteers from Outside Israel,” were mostly veterans of World War II. Their contributions not only aided the the war effort, but served to train a new generation of native Israelis in the mechanics and tactics of modern warfare. As Israel declared Independence on May 14, 1948, Arab leaders announced the coming war would be a momentous massacre, a war of extinction of the Jewish People. Machalniks brought knowledge of artillery, armor, engineering, signal corps and medical corps services. They formed 95% of the Air Force flight crews. Without American, Canadian and South African volunteer pilots, Israel could not have airlifted the desperately-needed weapons it received from Czechoslovakia, nor could it have wrested control of the skies over Israel from enemy forces. “Machal” Volunteers from Abroad Mickey Marcus, a U.S. West Point graduate, became the first person to hold the rank of general in the Israeli Army. He was killed while commanding forces attempting to rescue Jerusalem. A U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Paul Shulman, was named first commander of the Navy. 123 Machalniks were killed during the War of Independence. Machal’s legacy is the enduring role they made in building the foundation of the Israeli Defense Forces. “You (Machal) came when we needed you most, during those dark and uncertain days in our War of Independence. You gave us not only your experience, but your lives as well. The People of Israel and the State of Israel will never forget.” Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel