ESRAites at the memorial in the Harel forest to all the Machal volunteers who lost their lives in the War of Independence

Machal and Gachal – did we know what they were? And what the difference was?

It was a long day with an early start - we left Raanana at 7am and returned at 7pm. It was an excellent day out filled with fascinating information, breathtaking views and excellent company. Via Tel Aviv to pick up more people, we reached Latrun for our breakfast stop where more people and our guide Moshe Frank were waiting for us.

Our ESRA coach was now full and we started our tour of the area learning much about its history and how the Machal and Gachal groups contributed to the founding of our state in 1947-8.

Machal – Mitnadvei Chutz LaAretz - were the volunteers who came from abroad to fight for Israel before, and when, the State was founded. These volunteers who came from all over the world included pilots, engineers, medical personnel and other qualified people.  They came from more than 30 countries; many were veterans of WW11 – both Jews and non-Jews. At that crucial time, their skills and expertise were of decisive importance to the newly-formed state and the fledgling Israel Defense Forces.

Gachal is the Hebrew acronym of Giyus Chutz La'aretz - Overseas Recruits. These were young men and women who were already living here. A large number of them were Holocaust survivors who had been recruited in Europe in displaced persons camps and brought to Israel. Most of them had no qualifications or army training. 

We drove through Neve Shalom to our first stop at the memorial to Abie Nathan in the Eshtaol Forest. We walked along a narrow road where our guide pointed out various plants and trees - the first of many that  we saw during the day. The view from this area is magnificent in all directions and we were told about the fighting in the area and the history of the 7^th Brigade. We also learnt that Outpost 314 is so called because this is the height of the hill on which it is situated.

Just off the main road at the Sha’ar Hagai outlook we saw the AACI memorial from which there is a wonderful view looking north over the junction and where we heard more stories of the battles and the people who were part of Machal.

The memorial to the Machal volunteers who lost their lives is in the Harel Forest is a large curved structure in which the names of those who fell are listed under the name of the country they came from – South America, Europe, Africa and America. We spent some time there hearing more about the personal involvement of some of the volunteers and having our picnic lunch.

We then travelled east along the Jerusalem highway to Abu Gosh where we heard the story of Mickey Stone – Major-General David Daniel Marcus – and we visited the police station where he had his headquarters and was mistakenly shot.  The memorial to him in the center of the religious area called Telshe Stone is very impressive. Marcus was the commander of the operations for the breakthrough to Jerusalem.

Other interesting short stops were at each end of the 15 km Burma Road, named after the road built by the allies in World War II, between Burma and China.  Our final stop was at another area of the Eshtaol Forest where there are many small memorials to individual people who lost their lives, set in this natural area that abounds with trees and plants and was full of small wild cyclamen when we drove through it.

It was a long day with lots of information and stories to reflect on. How often we have driven along route No I and not realized how much history there is just a few meters from the main road.