On July 17, 1949, immediately after the War of Independence, the Hero of Israel decoration, or the Medal of Valor as it is now known, was awarded for the first time for extraordinary bravery and excellence during the fight for Israel's independence. Out of the 12 brave fighters who received the decoration immediately after the War of Independence, only one remains - Yair Racheli. This is his story of heroism.
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On an early spring morning in Kfar Saba, I stand at the door of an Israeli hero, filled with anticipation. The years have left their mark on Sergeant Yair Racheli, and the collection of photos standing next to the chair helps evoke memories.
"That's my brother, my sister, my mother, I'm the little child here, and my father. The whole family. In the backyard. And this is a picture of me with my older brother, he was ten years older than me."
The old and worn service documents already take him back to the early days of the War of Independence, and the memories surface as if they happened yesterday. "We were good friends, a training group consisting of graduates from the agricultural schools Kadoorie and Mikveh Israel. We enlisted together in the Palmach, in the First Battalion, Company A. I was their platoon commander."
Despite enlisting alongside his friends, he had no difficulty commanding them. "In war, it's not difficult. Everyone is focused, prepared. The mission was to defend the country, and we carried out various operations to protect Israel. We were in the thick of it, fighting, busy with training and battles. I don't recall discussions about the righteousness of the cause or things like that. Everything was clear - we were at war!"
The first battle he fought was a reprisal operation in the village of Balad al-Sheikh, near Haifa, now known as the Tel Hanan neighborhood in Nesher. Arab workers from the village had murdered their Jewish colleagues from the refineries.
"The operation itself was considered significant in those days, and other units from our battalion also participated. Amidst the fog of war, the sound of bullets whistling and the commanders' shouts, I remember the retreat as we moved away from the village and the ensuing silence."
But the battle that earned him the title of Hero of Israel was the reprisal operation in Shfar’am.
According to Palmach’s intelligence, a gang of Arab fedayeen holed up in a house on the outskirts of the village, and Racheli's unit was assigned to eliminate it. During the operation, many members of Racheli's unit were injured by gunfire from the enemy positions. At that moment, Rachel decided to take action.
"I was a private. I remember telling my commander, ‘Let me, I'll advance toward them and throw a grenade!' And I did just that, and then silence," he recounts. "They were well dug in fifty meters away, and I approached them directly, crawling about thirty meters, and I threw the grenade and hit them good."
Racheli did this on his own initiative, without any orders or coordination from his commanding officer. "I volunteered. Everyone else stayed put, and I advanced thirty meters, threw the grenade, and hit them dead on."
What drives a young man to storm a position with a grenade? Racheli has a clear answer. "Society. I was part of a group where everyone had to prove themselves. It was essentially 'the righteousness of the cause' - a path you believe in and act upon."
Racheli continued to fight throughout the War of Independence until he was hit in the stomach by friendly fire during one of the battles of Malkia in May 1948. He did not return to the battlefield thereafter.
About a year later, Racheli was informed that the army had decided to award him the title of “Hero of Israel." "One day, officers appeared at the kibbutz and informed me that I had the Medal of Valor - and they presented it to me. I don't really remember exactly how it went."
On the Independence Day Parade stage stood the twelve decorated individuals with the highest honor of the Israel Defense Forces. President Chaim Weizmann awarded each of the soldiers the Medal of Valor.
Years later, Racheli recounted in an interview with Ynet’s sister publication Yedioth Ahronoth that he believed there was no need to award him the decoration.
"I think there was an exaggeration in describing the act of heroism in my case. There were others who deserved it more than me, and I have no idea why I received it and they didn't. I don't see much value in receiving the decoration, and I have never attached much significance to it."
The Medal of Valor Racheli received was just the beginning of a distinguished career in the Shin Bet and the Mossad. Many of the operations he was involved in are classified and cannot be disclosed, but here is a small example of an event that has already been publicized: In 1967, during the manhunt for the Nazi war criminal Heinrich Müller, Racheli was captured while breaking into the house of Müller's wife and spent several months in a German prison.
Nearly 75 years after being recognized as a "Hero of Israel," Racheli doesn't really miss that time, but he holds it dear. "I don't long for those days, but I appreciate them. One could say that I loved those times, but I am far from nostalgic. We had intense lives, but beautiful ones."
"I have a good friend from the unit, and we see each other from time to time. I have another friend in Jerusalem - those are the friends I've had since then and still have today. We hardly talk about the past or the war; we've discussed it enough. Now we talk about the challenges of the present and the problems of the country."
Are you happy with the State of Israel?
"Seventy-five years have passed since the war, and there are good things and there are not-so-good things. I don't want to talk about the less positive aspects. The best thing is the State of Israel itself, its very existence is very good for the Jewish people, and that is clear to everyone."