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The IDF and the Defense Ministry are considering an initiative to name an existing military base after Lt.-Col. John Henry Patterson, a British officer who commanded the Jewish Legion in World War I and was an avid Christian Zionist.
The suggestion to name an IDF base after Patterson, who many consider to be the godfather of the IDF, was penned by the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee MK Zvi Hauser and submitted to Defense Minister Benny Gantz.
During the First World War, Patterson formed the transport auxiliary unit nicknamed “Zion Mule Corps” together with Ze’ev Jabotinsky and Joseph Trumpeldor.
Patterson would later form three more Jewish Royal Fusiliers units, collectively known as the Jewish Legion.
As the war went on, British losses grew, prompting the British High Command to allow Patterson’s Jewish Legion to participate in the fighting despite its initial reluctance.
Following his experience with the Jewish Legion, Patterson wrote two books: “With the Zionists in Gallipoli (1916)” and “With the Judeans in Palestine (1922)” - both praising the Jewish brigades during World War I.
After the War, Patterson engaged mainly in political and diplomatic activities alongside Jabotinsky, for the establishment of Israel, and was also admired by Prof. Ben-Zion Netanyahu, the late father of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Patterson was one of the founding fathers of the Hebrew Defense Force in Israel, and the first commander of a Jewish, organized and official military force since the days of [Jewish revolutionary against the Roman Empire] Bar Kochba," wrote Hauser.
“Patterson was an enthusiastic Zionist until his last day and a man who worked for the establishment of Israel and a force that would ensure its security," added Hauser.
"Thus his memory will be honored and his legacy will be passed on to future generations of soldiers, as the founding father of the Hebrew Defensive Force, as a Zionist and a glorified and revered commander, who does not come from the ranks of the Jewish people,” Hauser said.