Infantry Corps (Israel)

The Infantry and Paratroopers Corps is a maneuver corps responsible for training infantry and paratrooper troops, carrying out routine and special missions, and training all IDF ground forces.[1] It consists of regular and reserve units and brigades operating under the authority of the regional commands.[1] The Infantry Corps is part of the Ground Arm, alongside the Armored Corps, Combat Engineering Corps, Artillery Corps, and Border Defense Corps; the IDF’s three main services are the Ground Arm, Air and Space Arm, and Navy.[3]

Five brigades are listed in the corps: Golani, Givati, Nahal, Kfir, and Paratroopers.[1] These formations do not all have the same role or history. The heavy maneuvering brigades are distinguished in reporting from light infantry battalions in the Border Defense Corps, which include Caracal, Bardelas, Lions of the Jordan Valley, and Lions of the Valley.[4] The light battalions took over some border duties from heavier brigades and were described as not designated for deep maneuver into enemy territory.[4]

The Corps’ operational character is built around infantry forces working with other ground and air capabilities. A 2024 interview with the officer identified as head of the Infantry and Paratroopers Corps described infantry as the IDF’s largest command, with a large reservist component and forces operating alongside artillery, engineering, the air force, intelligence, and communications.[5] These were the commander’s descriptions at that time, not a published current force count.[5]

The Infantry Corps School, known as Bislach, trains squad commanders from infantry brigades and special units and runs professional courses for senior noncommissioned officers, infantry instructors, and other personnel.[6] Since 2007, the school has borne the name of Zvi Tzur, the IDF’s sixth Chief of Staff.[6] In an emergency, the school is designated to serve as combat infantry Brigade 828.[6]

The Corps’ origins lie in the infantry formations that preceded and accompanied the establishment of the IDF. The IDF was established on May 26, 1948, during the War of Independence, about two weeks after Israel’s declaration of independence.[3] The army built on the Haganah’s organization and incorporated fighters from the Jewish Brigade, Irgun, and Lehi; integration included dissolving Haganah and Palmach brigades and placing them under IDF command, while retaining twelve major brigades that had fought in the war.[3] The order establishing the IDF was signed on May 26, and senior commanders, including department and corps heads, gathered for a swearing-in ceremony on June 27, 1948.[7]

The early infantry forces were numerous but initially short of equipment and organization. A BESA Center study describes the 1949 force as 11 “ill-equipped light infantry brigades.”[2] By October 1956, the study counted one active infantry brigade and one active paratroop brigade, alongside 11 reserve infantry brigades and 16 reserve infantry battalions available for static territorial defense.[2] It describes a typical infantry brigade of that period as having three infantry battalions, a reconnaissance company, an anti-tank battalion equipped with towed 57 mm guns, and a towed mortar battalion; most had only limited numbers of half-tracks or cross-country trucks.[2]

Individual brigades grew out of pre-state and wartime formations. Golani was formed in February 1948 from the Levanoni Brigade, which had been deployed along the Lebanese border and was divided into two smaller brigades.[8] It was stationed in the Lower Galilee and drew members from Haganah units, nearby settlements, and elsewhere in the country.[8] Its official establishment date is February 22, 1948, and it is described as the only regular infantry brigade to have operated continuously since the IDF’s establishment.[9]

Givati was organized before the IDF’s creation. Shimon Avidan, a Palmach veteran, was tasked with forming a trained infantry brigade to protect Jewish settlements; in early December 1947 the 5th Brigade was launched as Givati, named for Avidan’s underground code name.[10] During the War of Independence it fought on difficult fronts, including Operation Yoav in October 1948 and battles at Julis, Kibbutz Nitzanim, and Kibbutz Negba.[10] In an account of the fighting at Ibdis Hill, Givati soldier Michah Netzer recalled that the 53rd Battalion surprised Egyptian forces in a night raid, took the hill and captured equipment, but suffered many dead and wounded.[10] Netzer also recalled local volunteers helping his platoon dig trenches and defensive positions as it relieved the raiding force.[10] Deputy Defense Minister Yisrael Galili, seeing the unit’s thin ranks, was recalled as saying: “I saw the thin ranks, but the spirit fills in the breaches. That spirit is the spirit of Givati.”[10]

Golani’s early soldiers included men who left farm work for missions and then returned to their routines.[11] During the War of Independence, after completing missions in its own sector, the brigade moved south and took part in operations including the conquest of the area that later became Eilat.[11] A separate account describes Golani fighting in the north against Syrian, Iraqi, and Lebanese forces and Kaukji irregulars, while short of arms and with depleted ranks; it lists operations Dekel and Hiram in the Galilee, Assaf and Horev, and Ovdah in the Negev.[8]

The Paratroopers Brigade also took shape during the War of Independence. The first paratrooper unit was established in September 1948 under Yoel Palgi, a Yishuv parachutist during the Second World War and member of Mossad Le’Aliyah Bet.[12] The unit was disbanded in May 1949 and later re-established under Yehuda Harari, with a parachuting school at Tel Nof.[12] A separate account traces an antecedent to 32 Palestinian Jewish volunteers who parachuted into Nazi-occupied Europe in 1943 to support resistance efforts; 12 were captured and did not return, and the group included Hannah Senesh and Yoel Palgi.[13]

The revived paratroop unit began with severe equipment and training limitations. One account describes an unsuitable aircraft, 4,000 second-hand parachutes bought as scrap, improvised equipment, inadequate training, and jumps without reserve parachutes.[13] In summer 1949, Harari took command, reorganized the unit, obtained better equipment, and arranged its first jumpmasters course.[13] In the early 1950s, Unit 101 merged with the paratroopers, which expanded to brigade strength under Ariel Sharon.[13]

The infantry order of battle changed substantially as the IDF reorganized its ground forces. By 1967, according to the BESA Center study, the infantry order of battle included two additional reserve paratroop brigades, while the number of infantry brigades had fallen from 12 to seven.[2] The study says the reduction was partly offset by an increase in Armored Corps infantry to 15 half-track-mounted armored infantry battalions.[2]

The 1956 Sinai Campaign was a formative episode for the paratroopers. On October 29, 1956, 395 Israeli paratroopers jumped from 16 Dakota aircraft over Sinai in what the National Library account calls the IDF’s first operational parachute jump; another mission near Al-Tur followed a few days later.[14] The same account says the Paratroopers Brigade conducted only two operational parachute-jump missions, both during the 1950s Sinai Campaign, despite the establishment of the IDF parachuting school in 1949.[14]

At the Mitla Pass, the paratroopers’ mission involved a battalion dropped near the eastern approaches, with the rest of the force traveling to join it.[13] The force encountered Egyptian ambushes in a narrow pass and waited more than 24 hours for support while returning fire.[15] Sources report 38 Israeli paratroopers or Paratrooper and Nahal soldiers killed and more than 100 wounded; one National Library account also records one missing.[13][15] The battle was considered by many at the time unnecessary and too costly.[15] A separate retrospective estimates Egyptian deaths at 260, but this figure comes from a secondary account and should be treated as that account’s estimate.[13]

Golani’s combat history included several major engagements. In 1951, a reserve unit on exercise encountered Syrian forces near Tel Mutilla; the National Library account says 40 soldiers were killed in days of fighting before the Syrians were pushed back.[11] During the Six-Day War, Golani captured the fortified Tel Faher position in the Golan Heights, losing 34 soldiers, including battalion commander Moshe “Musa” Klein.[11] Another account dates the assault to June 9, 1967, and describes a frontal attack after the planned approach proved inaccessible to vehicles, with close combat in trenches.[8] It also recounts soldiers lying on barbed wire so others could cross it and enter the fortifications.[8]

The Paratroopers Brigade played a central role in the 1967 fighting in Jerusalem. The 55th Reserve Brigade under Mota Gur fought at Ammunition Hill, where 36 paratroopers were killed and 15 soldiers received commendations.[14] The National Library account describes the subsequent capture of eastern Jerusalem as its liberation and the city’s reunification under Israeli sovereignty; this wording represents that source’s framing of a politically contested event.[14] A separate account says that on June 7 a force under Colonel Motta Gur captured Jerusalem’s Old City and characterizes the event as restoring the Western Wall to Jewish control after almost 2,000 years.[13]

After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, infantry firepower was modernized. The BESA Center study says M-16A1 and Galil rifles replaced older rifles and submachine guns, while LAW rockets and captured RPG-7 launchers replaced bazookas.[2] Anti-tank guided missiles replaced recoilless rifles and anti-tank guns.[2] The Paratroopers Brigade fought in the war, including in the counterattack across the Suez Canal and at the Battle of the Chinese Farm.[13] Near the end of the war, Golani regained control of Mount Hermon after an initial failed attempt.[11]

The 1982 Lebanon War exposed the need for more high-quality infantry brigades capable of operating on foot, according to the BESA Center study.[2] Nahal was activated as a combat brigade in 1982 and Givati in 1983 as part of the effort to increase the supply of infantry units.[2] Givati’s institutional history includes a break: it was discontinued in 1956 during an IDF reorganization, later re-formed as a reserve brigade, and returned as an active-duty brigade in 1983.[16] It subsequently deployed at the Lebanon border and in the Gaza Strip and was assigned to Southern Command after Israel’s 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon.[17]

The Paratroopers Brigade also fought in the First Lebanon War in 1982, reaching the outskirts of Beirut.[13] Golani’s later record includes the 1978 Litani operation, the First Lebanon War, the al-Aqsa Intifada, the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and Operation Cast Lead, according to a 2011 profile.[18] Its official history additionally highlights participation in Operation Defensive Shield during the Second Intifada, the battles at Bint Jbeil in 2006, and later Gaza operations.[19]

Golani’s identity is closely associated with the northern communities from which many of its founders came. Its name refers to the Golan Heights, visible from the northern moshavim and kibbutzim associated with its founding.[11] In the 1950s, after many War of Independence veterans left the service, new immigrants from cities and transit camps joined its ranks.[11] Rehavam “Gandhi” Ze’evi, then commander of the 13th Battalion, recalled soldiers arriving from about 30 countries and the need to teach them Hebrew as well as prepare them for military service; he called Golani “a real melting pot.”[11] The brigade’s brown beret, chosen in 1976, was intended to evoke the land and the agricultural backgrounds of its founders.[11]

Golani’s listed battalions are Barak (12th), Gideon (13th), HaBokim HaRishon (51st), and reconnaissance battalion 631.[9] The 2011 profile gives a similar but dated account, listing battalions 12, 13, and 51 and a reconnaissance battalion, and placing the brigade under the 36th Division in Northern Command.[18] Golani is responsible for defending northern Israel and participated in battles in the Jordan Valley during the War of Independence, the capture of the Rafah area in 1956, Tel Faher in 1967, Mount Hermon in 1973, Bint Jbeil in 2006, and later Gaza operations.[19]

Givati’s history spans its wartime founding, postwar reduction, disbandment, and revival. After the 1948 war it remained an IDF force, with duties expanded to include jeep patrols; it was renamed “Samson’s Foxes,” a name coined by education and cultural officer Abba Kovner.[10] The brigade was later reduced in size and then re-established in the mid-1980s in the form associated with its purple berets, drawing on lessons from the First Lebanon War.[10] A detailed account dates the re-formation to June 13, 1983, and names Colonel Yehuda Duvdevani as its first commander.[16] The same source describes marine amphibious landings as a specialization, alongside security duties such as border patrols and manning positions in Lebanon.[16]

Nahal’s traditions connect military service with agricultural settlement. The Nahal program developed from pre-state Palmach training groups that combined military preparation with work on kibbutzim and the establishment or support of settlements.[15] The name is given as an acronym for Noar Halutzi Lochem, translated as “Pioneering Fighting Youth.”[15] Under the program, groups of male and female soldiers established military-agricultural outposts, often in border or strategically important areas, creating civilian infrastructure and defending the site until it could become a kibbutz or moshav.[15] Nahal Oz, established opposite Gaza City in 1951, was the first Nahal military settlement and became a kibbutz two years later.[15]

A separate account says David Ben-Gurion founded the Nahal framework in 1948 to support both soldiers and the establishment of kibbutzim and other communities, and that its headquarters incorporated the military framework and the civilian Nahal Garin.[20] That account attributes nearly 108 communities, kibbutzim, and settlements to the program’s early development and says the stated aim was to strengthen Israel’s borders.[20] It also describes Nahal settlements in the Jordan Valley and Arava as significant around the 1973 Yom Kippur War.[20] These are the source’s historical claims and characterizations.

The combat Nahal Brigade was created in 1982, distinct from the earlier Nahal framework, to increase infantry manpower.[21] Its original plan included a headquarters and two battalions; in January 1983 the battalions were combined into the Basalt Battalion, and the Granite and Shacham security battalions joined the brigade.[20] In the 1980s, Nahal’s battalions were united into a single brigade, which received its bright green beret in the late 1980s.[15] Four battalions, including a reconnaissance battalion, are listed, and the brigade serves under Southern Command.[21]

The Paratroopers Brigade’s development combined airborne training with a broader infantry role. The current formation is the 35th Brigade, under Central Command and subordinate to the 98th Paratroopers Division.[12] Its account lists four battalions and says admission selection takes place twice a year, with physical tests and assessments of responsibility, initiative, and improvisation.[12] The brigade’s training includes physical conditioning, topography, weapons, mobile and airborne operations, helicopter and amphibious operations, and coordination with armor and artillery.[13] The National Library account says the brigade acquired a reputation for experienced soldiers and daring missions and was led by Ariel Sharon.[14]

The Kfir Brigade was formed from battalions that had previously operated independently. It was established in 2005 in response to the need to combat Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria, operates under Central Command, and is described as the IDF’s largest infantry brigade.[22] Its listed battalions are Nachshon, Shimshon, Haruv, Duchifat, and Netzah Yehuda.[22] Oketz, a special K-9 unit, and LOTAR, a counterterrorism unit, were also identified as part of the brigade in a reference account that described its specialization as urban combat and counterterrorism.[23] Reporting on a 2020 plan said the brigade was to receive additional equipment, weapons, personnel, and training to become a full maneuvering brigade, with an emphasis on urban combat; the proposal also called for reducing it from five battalions to four.[24]

Infantry training combines common foundational skills with brigade-specific preparation. Recruits complete basic training and a beret march, followed by four months of advanced training; they then receive a combat pin and are designated combat soldiers.[1] Common elements include first aid, krav maga, IDF values, day and night combat fundamentals, and field-survival techniques.[1] M4, Micro-Tavor, and short-barreled M16 rifles are used depending on the brigade.[1]

At Bislach, three battalions conduct squad-commanders courses: Battalion 17 trains Givati and Golani soldiers; Battalion 906 trains reconnaissance battalions and the Merom Brigade; and Battalion 450 trains Nahal, Paratroopers, and Kfir soldiers.[6] The school also includes an infantry branch and a combat-support branch, and runs courses for senior noncommissioned officers and infantry instructors.[6] Its emergency role as Brigade 828 links its training mission to operational reserve capacity.[6]

Kfir’s training is particularly oriented toward urban and complex terrain. One account gives four and a half months of basic training and three months of advanced training, covering urban combat, navigation, rapid response, explosives, and operations while mounted on armored personnel carriers.[23] It also says soldiers receive Arabic instruction because the brigade’s operational activities often involve direct contact with Palestinian residents.[23] Kfir’s official training description similarly focuses on urban and guerrilla warfare in complex areas.[22]

The paratroopers’ training reflects a wider range of possible deployment methods. Applicants may outnumber available places by as much as five to one, and candidates face screening and rigorous training, according to a reference account.[13] Alongside airborne skills, the curriculum includes helicopter and amphibious operations and coordination with armor and artillery.[13] Despite the airborne tradition, the National Library’s account notes that operational parachute jumps were rare: the brigade completed only two, both in the 1950s Sinai Campaign.[14]

The IDF’s approach to ground combat has also distributed more supporting capabilities closer to infantry formations. A 2022 account describes a shift from brigade-centered forces in 1967 toward division-level centralization in the 1970s, with artillery, engineering, and logistics capabilities increasingly organized at division level.[25] Following the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the IDF renewed emphasis on the brigade as a tactical unit and assigned more intelligence and firepower resources to brigade headquarters to support local command, including in built-up areas.[25]

After fighting in Gaza in 2008–2009, the IDF sought to remove obstacles that hindered infantry from engaging enemy squads in civilian buildings.[25] Subsequent changes gave battalions capabilities that had previously been concentrated at division level, including close air support, UAV strike capabilities, and more direct intelligence feeds.[25] The account links these developments to preparing infantry battalions for street fighting and threats such as improvised explosive devices.[25]

Combined-arms battalions have been described as bringing together infantry companies, tank platoons, K-9 units, and detachments from special engineering units; commanders could also use aerial-reconnaissance UAVs such as Sky Rider.[25] The model distributes specialist capabilities through teams rather than expecting ordinary infantry soldiers to master every specialized system.[25] The same account characterizes the result as giving battalion commanders access to precise intelligence and the ability to employ ground firepower and fighter aircraft.[25]

Mobility and mechanization have remained subjects of continued development. A 2024 report said the IDF sought to train all infantry forces to use armored vehicles and become mechanized infantry brigades; at that time Givati and Golani were described as mechanized, while Nahal was adopting more advanced armored personnel carriers.[26] The plans included Humvees and light armored vehicles to address limited organic mobility, but the report described proposals and status at that time, not proof that every planned change was completed.[26] The first series of Eitan armored personnel carriers was delivered to Nahal for an exercise in northern Israel.[27] The eight-wheeled Eitan was described as carrying 12 combat personnel, with a 750-horsepower engine and a top speed of about 90 kilometers per hour; it was intended to replace older M113 vehicles and operate alongside Merkava tanks and Namer infantry fighting vehicles.[27]

Training has also been adapted to underground combat. Following lessons from Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, the IDF planned to use simulators and purpose-built facilities to train infantry to detect tunnels, move and fight in them, map routes, and conduct controlled destruction.[28] A 2015 report named Golani, Nahal, Paratroopers, and Givati among brigades whose training bases were receiving facilities, with at least 10 facilities under construction and costs ranging from hundreds of thousands of shekels to NIS 2 million each.[28] The report said the IDF had detected and destroyed 32 offensive tunnels leading toward Israel during the 50-day Gaza campaign, while underground-warfare training had then been limited to units including Yahalom and the Weapons Caches and Tunnels Unit.[28] The training tunnels were designed to resemble those in Gaza and could also simulate underground fighting in the north.[28]

The IDF has continued to adjust the size and composition of its ground forces in response to changing battlefield demands. An INSS publication dated March 24, 2024, said the IDF’s order of battle had been substantially reduced since the 1980s and 1990s, while the number of infantry brigades—especially in the regular forces—had increased.[29] The publication did not provide a current total number of infantry brigades.[29] A BESA Center study offered estimates of mobilizable formations, including 12 high-quality infantry brigades—four conscript and eight reserve—12 reserve mechanized infantry brigades, and 10 reserve territorial-defense light infantry brigades.[2] Those figures are the study’s estimates, not an official current order of battle.[2]

The same study estimated that a mechanized infantry or paratroop brigade would generally include three infantry battalions and a support battalion with reconnaissance, engineering, and anti-tank companies.[2] A 2005 INSS article described a planned reorganization to bring maneuver, auxiliary, and support forces and their training bases into a single operational body responsible for doctrine, qualification, and training.[30] It said the chief paratroopers and infantry officer would take responsibility for infantry brigades’ basic-training bases and lead a proposed special-forces cluster, as part of a reorganization process beginning in 2006.[30] The article described a proposal and should not be treated as a statement of current organization.[30]

The official description lists five brigades, but other reference material gives inconsistent counts.[1] The Jewish Virtual Library’s infantry overview lists Golani, Givati, Kfir, Paratroopers, and Nahal, while its Paratroopers article describes the paratroop formation as one of four regular brigades.[13][31] The available sources do not resolve that discrepancy. Similarly, the library’s detailed Kfir article dates its formation to February 2005, while its overview says it was officially formed in 2006.[23][31] The bundle also does not establish a comprehensive, current order of battle or a complete current command chart.

In the wake of the October 7, 2023 attacks, infantry forces were among the regular units in the Gaza Division area. An INSS publication identifies forces from Golani and Givati among the first-line regular forces there.[29] Its authors argue that forces were available but not positioned in combat readiness at dawn; this is their assessment of the events, rather than an uncontested organizational fact.[29] In a February 2024 interview, the officer identified as head of the Corps said infantry soldiers fought on October 7 and recounted that some went directly from home to defend the south, sometimes carrying only personal weapons because they had not stopped at a base to collect other equipment.[5] He also said that technology helps soldiers find and engage adversaries but cannot replace soldiers, and described infantry as having fought on all fronts.[5]

The relationship between infantry and technology is also reflected in planning. An INSS analysis framed a policy choice between expanding ground forces and prioritizing technology, while noting that the regular infantry component had grown amid a broader reduction in the IDF’s order of battle since the 1980s and 1990s.[29] The BESA study’s later numerical estimates can provide a historical analytical snapshot, but should not be substituted for an official contemporary count.[2]

The Corps’ legacy includes both enduring military formations and distinct institutional traditions. Golani’s record of continuous operation since the IDF’s establishment, its recruitment from across Israeli society, and its association with northern Israel have made it a prominent infantry formation.[9][11] The National Library account emphasizes its diverse postwar ranks, while the IDF’s history highlights its battles across the 1948 War of Independence, the Sinai Campaign, the Six-Day War, the Yom Kippur War, Lebanon, and later Gaza operations.[11][19]

The Paratroopers Brigade has been linked to senior military leadership as well as combat operations. The National Library account says ten Israeli Chiefs of Staff came up through its ranks and names Mota Gur, Moshe Levy, Dan Shomron, Moshe “Bogi” Ya’alon, Benny Gantz, Aviv Kochavi, and Hertzi Halevi among them.[14] Its history includes the transition from a small, improvised parachuting unit to a brigade-sized formation and a wider infantry role.[13] Operational parachute jumps nevertheless remained rare.[14]

Givati’s remembered identity is expressed in the account of the Ibdis Hill fighting and Galili’s remark about the spirit that filled the gaps in its thin ranks.[10] Nahal’s institutional legacy is different: it joined military training to the establishment and support of agricultural communities, while its later combat brigade became one of the IDF’s regular infantry formations.[15][21] The Nahal program’s military and civilian elements therefore connect the Corps’ history to settlement-building as well as battlefield organization.[15][20]

The Corps’ significance also lies in the evolving balance between infantry manpower, mechanization, and specialist support. Historical changes ranged from lightly equipped post-independence brigades to mechanized battalions and more capable anti-tank weapons, then to battalion-level intelligence, UAV, engineering, and fire-support resources.[2][25] Current official descriptions emphasize that regular and reserve formations train for varied missions while operating with other arms and under regional commands.[1] The record presented in the sources portrays infantry not as a single unchanging force, but as a central ground-combat institution repeatedly reorganized to address new operational requirements.

Several sources use politically or historically contested framing when discussing Jerusalem, territory, settlements, and military operations. The National Library account describes the 1967 capture of eastern Jerusalem as liberation and reunification under Israeli sovereignty, while another account characterizes the capture of the Old City as restoring the Western Wall to Jewish control.[14][13] These descriptions are presented as the respective sources’ framing. The source material also describes Nahal service and deployments in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[15]

Some organizational details vary between accounts. Golani’s establishment date is given as February 22, 1948, by several sources, while a Ynet article gives February 28.[8][32] The Givati official page describes three battalions but lists three numbered battalions plus a reconnaissance battalion.[17] Sources also disagree on the number of regular infantry brigades.[13][31] The Jewish Virtual Library’s detailed Kfir article and its infantry overview give different formation years.[23][31] These differences do not establish a current organizational count, which the available bundle does not provide.

The Nahal Haredi battalion, founded in 1999 to recruit ultra-Orthodox Jewish youth, has been studied in relation to changing composition and security roles, religious accommodation, command and control, and tensions with the IDF’s traditional goal of integration and homogeneity.[33] The available summary describes the study’s analytical themes but does not provide enough detail to assess particular disputes within the battalion.

Some historical claims likewise warrant careful attribution. The Mitla Pass battle was described as unnecessary and too costly by many at the time, alongside substantial casualty figures.[15] The precise figures for enemy losses in secondary accounts are estimates, and the bundle does not provide independent corroboration.[13] A Jewish Virtual Library page on the Paratroopers Brigade labels an Entebbe section “1974,” while its text dates the rescue to July 4, 1976; the same text says the force arrived in four Hercules aircraft and that Lieutenant Colonel Yoni Netanyahu was killed.[13] The discrepancy is internal to that page; its narrative date is stated here as given in the accompanying text.