Gadot, Israel

Gadot sits on the Korazim Plateau on Israel's northern border, on the edge of the southern Hula Valley.[1] The kibbutz lies near Gesher Benot Ya'akov (the Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob), a historically significant crossing at the southern end of the Huleh Valley, where the Jordan River enters the valley, roughly nine kilometers east of Rosh Pinnah.[4] The bridge sits on an ancient route linking Eretz Israel with Damascus through the Galilee and the Golan.[4]

Until the Six-Day War, the Syrian fortified post al-Murtafa — meaning "the elevated one" — stood approximately five kilometers east of the kibbutz, at the site of today's Gadot Lookout (Mitzpe Gadot). Built within a eucalyptus grove, the position featured communication trenches, bunkers, anti-tank obstacles, and minefields, and commanded a sweeping view over the Hula Valley below.[5][6]

The land on which Gadot stands has been the site of Jewish settlement since the late nineteenth century. The area's modern Jewish history began with a private farm founded by Mordechai Isaac Lubowsky in 1884, west of the Bnot Ya'akov bridge on the road to Damascus.[2] In September 1890, residents of Safed and First Aliyah immigrants established the moshava Mishmar HaYarden on land acquired with financial support from Hovevei Zion, and the settlement expanded in 1898 with additional people and land.[2]

By the time of the 1922 British Mandate census, Mishmar HaYarden's Jewish population stood at 90, declining to 65 by the 1931 census; 25 families remained when Israel declared independence in May 1948.[2] The community's fate in Israel's War of Independence was catastrophic. Syrian forces attacked on June 6, 1948, but were repulsed; four days later they attacked again, capturing and destroying the moshava after house-to-house fighting, killing 14 defenders.[2] Twenty-nine Jews were taken prisoner and held for 13 months.[2] The prisoners of war returned after the Syrian armistice agreement was signed on July 21, 1949, and the Syrians evacuated the occupied site on November 2 of that year.[7]

Kibbutz Gadot was established in 1949 on the site of the destroyed Mishmar HaYarden.[2] A new moshav of the same name was also created on the former settlement's lands.[7] Archival records from the kibbutz's early decades include files on land transfer from 1957 to 1960, general records spanning 1957 to 1969, and documents on instruction, allocations, inspectors' visits, trainees, instructors, teachers, and caregivers from 1958 to 1962.[8]

From its founding until the Six-Day War of 1967, Gadot endured chronic Syrian shelling from the al-Murtafa outpost on the heights above. Residents of the Hula and Sea of Galilee area broadly suffered Syrian bombardment during this period, with attacks affecting not only communities but also Hula drainage works, fishermen, and farmers.[1] Gadot itself bore a particularly heavy burden, with attacks and heavy shelling recorded through the 1950s and 1960s.[1]

Resident Uzi Gal recalled one of the worst early episodes: on March 31, 1958, a friend from his movement was killed, and the kibbutz's children, caregivers, and some mothers were evacuated.[9] Children in Gadot and nearby communities who lived through the sustained attacks became known as the "shelters generation."[3]

On April 7, 1967, during an aerial battle in which six Syrian MiG-21 aircraft were shot down, Syrian shelling damaged nearly all of Gadot's homes.[1][10] More than 300 shells reportedly fell on the kibbutz in 40 minutes.[3] About two months later, during the opening days of the Six-Day War, further Syrian shelling damaged or completely destroyed most buildings in Gadot.[1] Local residents appealed directly to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, urging Israeli forces to capture the Golan Heights.[3]

On June 10, 1967, soldiers of the Golan Brigade reached al-Murtafa and found it abandoned, with Syrian forces having fled east.[5] After Israeli forces secured the position, brigade commander Emanuel (Mano) Shaked sent Gadot a message acknowledging the community's endurance.[5] During the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, life at the kibbutz continued under pressure: a photograph in the Boris Carmi Archive, dated October 20, 1973, depicts children attending class at Gadot during the fighting.[11]

The wartime experience of Gadot's residents left a deep imprint on Israeli cultural memory. A song titled "Biti, At Boka O Tsoheket" ("My Daughter, Are You Crying or Laughing?"), with lyrics by Yovav Katz and music by David Krivoshi, depicts events and feelings in the kibbutz during the Syrian shelling and the transformation that followed, from the perspectives of a girl and her mother.[1][10] At Gadot's seventieth-anniversary celebration on Shavuot in 2019, Katz was invited to compose an additional verse, which all participants performed together at the close of the event.[1]

The Kibbutz Gadot Archive is cataloged by the National Library of Israel. Photographs from the archive are being made digitally available through a collaboration involving the "Preservation for Generations" project, managed by Beit Yigal Allon; Harvard Library's Judaica Division; Israel's Ministry of Heritage; and the Israel Archive Network.[12] A 2024 Ynetnews report also stated that about 60 residents displaced from Kibbutz Manara were living in Gadot after being relocated with assistance from the Upper Galilee Regional Council.[9]

The former Syrian position at al-Murtafa was converted into a memorial and observation point known as Mitzpe Gadot (Gadot Lookout).[6][5] The site was established in 1972 and designed by Ezra Orion, who had commanded the Golan Brigade's reconnaissance unit during the Six-Day War.[5] A large, exposed triangular concrete wing at the summit of the position points eastward, symbolizing the brigade's advance toward the Golan Heights.[5] The site retains the trenches and bunkers of the Syrian outpost and also features a small amphitheater for visiting groups.[5][13]

The memorial serves as a tribute to fallen members of the Golan Brigade, also known as the Alexandroni Brigade, and recalls the climb by soldiers of the 33rd Battalion through a minefield to occupy the position.[6][14] A stone at the memorial plaza bears the phrase "From here, you look twice as great," attributed by Maariv to brigade commander Emanuel Shaked as praise for the people of Gadot who endured years of bombardment without breaking.[13]

A 2017 technical survey led to a formal clearance plan for the site. During clearance work, a very large bunker was discovered containing hundreds of mortar shells of various calibers along with other weaponry.[6] Cleared areas are now used for tourism and general public purposes, while the memorial continues to serve as an observation point overlooking the Hula Valley and Golan Heights.[6]

Several details of Gadot's early history rest on sources that offer differing accounts. On the fall of Mishmar HaYarden in 1948, the main sources diverge: the Encyclopaedia Judaica entry places the Syrian entry near Gesher Benot Ya'akov in May 1948 and says the forces subsequently withdrew under cease-fire agreements;[4] the JewishGen account describes a failed June 6 attack followed by the moshava's capture and destruction on June 10 after house-to-house fighting;[2] CAMERA likewise dates the destruction to June 10.[3] JewishGen also notes that the reasons for the moshava's fall are disputed, pointing to friction between the Irgun and Haganah over military authority in the area as a possible factor.[2]

The phrase inscribed at Mitzpe Gadot is attributed by Maariv and Ynet primarily to brigade commander Emanuel Shaked, though Ynet notes that some people attribute it to David Elazar, then head of Northern Command.[5][13] Its wording also varies: Maariv and Ynet give the phrase as "From here, you look twice as great," while the Ministry of Education resource and CAMERA present a version meaning "From here, you look seven times greater."[1][3]