Night of the Bridges

Operation Markolet
The Night of the Bridges Part of Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine
Location	Mandatory Palestine
Planned	January–February 1946
Planned by	Haganah
Target	Bridges to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Kingdom of Egypt
Date	16 June 1946 (1946-06-16)–17 June 1946 (1946-06-17)
Executed by	Palmach
Casualties	15 (14 Palmach members, 1 British Royal Engineer) killed 5 Palmach members injured

The Night of the Bridges (formally Operation Markolet) was a Haganah venture on the night of 16 to 17 June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–47). Its aim was to destroy eleven bridges linking Mandatory Palestine to the neighboring countries Lebanon, Syria, Transjordan and Egypt, in order to suspend the transportation routes used by the British Army. Attacks on a further three bridges had been considered, but were not executed.

Only one operation failed: the Palmach, the elite fighting force of the Haganah, suffered 14 killed and 5 injured at the Nahal Akhziv bridges, after the group was spotted by Arabs working for the British, who opened fire on them and prematurely detonated the explosives. The other operations succeeded without injuries. One British Royal Engineer was killed while trying to defuse an undetonated bomb the following day.

To disguise and protect the real operations and to confuse the British forces, around 50 diversionary operations and ambushes were carried out throughout the country on the same night. The confusion also allowed the Palmach members to escape more easily after completion of the operations.

Preparations

The Haganah started the preparations in January–February 1946. First, the SHAI (Haganah Intelligence Service), Palmach patrols and forces scheduled to carry out the operation began spotting, photographing and measuring the targets but also exploring possible access and escape paths. They were disguised as lovers enjoying nature or as people on geography excursions.

Originally, the operation should have taken place in May, but due to political reasons it was postponed.

The political leadership forbade an attack on four targets: the railway bridge between the Ras an-Nakura tunnels, and the three bridges over the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers leading to the Naharayim power plant.

Spared bridges

Bridge	Type	To country	Coordinates	Reason
Bridge between Ras an-Nakura tunnels, Ras an-Nakura (Rosh HaNikra)	railway	Lebanon	33°05′41″N 35°06′16″E	Restoring the tunnel would be too difficult and it was within Lebanon
Over the Yarmuk, near Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′42″N 35°34′22″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim
Jisr Majami over the Jordan, near Gesher	railway	Jordan	32°38′06″N 35°33′57″E	Led to the power station in Naharayim

Objectives

Yarmouk bridge ruins

The planners knew that the operation could not cause heavy damage, and that it would only take some weeks for the connections to be restored. The real targets were:

• demonstration of the ability of the Haganah to operate throughout the country, even in deserted areas or at the center of the Arab population
• demonstration of the ability to sabotage the British Army's operations
• demonstration of the ability of the Haganah to discourage neighboring armies from future involvement
• harming the British Army's prestige as the most powerful force in the Middle East and damaging the legitimacy of the British Mandate
• strengthening and encouraging the Jewish population in Palestine, and showing the Haganah as being as active as the Irgun and Lehi groups

Outcome

The objectives were fully achieved. The Haganah could hit multiple strategic targets at the same time. As a precaution, the Syrian, Lebanese and Trans-Jordanian armies were put on standby, and the borders were tightened. The British Mandate suffered estimated financial damage of 250,000 pounds sterling.

Targeted bridges

Bridge	type	to country	coordinates	details
Over Ayun Stream, at Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′0″N 35°34′52″E	was unguarded
NW of Metula	road	Lebanon	33°17′14″N 35°33′58″E	executed discreetly
Over Nahal Kziv	railway	Lebanon	33°03′02″N 35°06′11.5″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire, operation failed, 14 dead and 5 injured
Over Nahal Kziv	road	Lebanon	33°03′02″N 35°06′15.5″E	called off following the heavy casualties taken during the attack on the nearby railway bridge
Daughters of Jacob/Bnot Ya'akov Bridge	road	Syria	33°0′37″N 35°37′42″E	executed discreetly
Over the Yarmuk	railway	Syria	32°40′47″N 35°38′58″E	was unguarded; never repaired since
Sheikh Hussein Bridge over the Jordan	road	Jordan	32°29′49″N 35°34′32″E	executed discreetly
Damiya Bridge (Adam) over the Jordan	road	Jordan	32°06′10″N 35°32′06″E	executed discreetly
Allenby Bridge over the Jordan	road	Jordan	31°52′28″N 35°32′26″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Over Besor Stream, Gaza	road	Egypt	31°27′20″N 34°24′53″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire
Over Besor Stream, Gaza	railway	Egypt	31°27′27″N 34°24′44″E	forces were spotted, explosives were laid under fire

Bridge of the Daughters of Jacob/Bnot Ya'akov in May 2009.

Reaction

Twelve days later, on 29 June 1946, partly in response to the bridge bombings, the British launched Operation Agatha, whose main goal was to suppress the state of anarchy in Palestine by capturing the most militant Zionists. Numbers for involved British personal varies between 10,000, 17,000 and 25,000. During that surprise action, around 2,700 Jews were arrested, including the senior leadership of the Haganah. The British obtained documentary evidence of Jewish Agency involvement in paramilitary acts and collusion between the Haganah and the more violent groups, Irgun and Lehi.

Collaboration of British politicians

In his book Publish It Not: The Middle East Cover-up, Christopher Mayhew recounted the collaboration of Labour MPs Richard Crossman and John Strachey in the attack:

"One day, Crossman, now in the House of Commons, came to see Strachey … [Crossman] had heard from his friends in the Jewish Agency that they were contemplating an act of sabotage … Should this be done, or should it not? Few would be killed … Crossman asked Strachey for his advice … The next day in the smoking room at the House of Commons, Strachey gave his approval to Crossman. The Haganah went ahead and blew up all the bridges over the [River] Jordan."

External links

• Homepage of the Palmach Museum and Information Center