View source for Alexandroni Brigade

{{Short description|Israeli military unit}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name                     = Alexandroni Brigade
| native_name                   = חטיבת אלכסנדרוני
| image                         = Alexandroni.svg
| image_size                    = 150
| caption                       = Brigade insignia
| dates                         = 1948–present
| country                       = {{flag|Israel}}
| allegiance                    = {{army|Israel}}
| command_structure             = [[91st Division (Israel)|91st Division]], [[Northern Command (Israel)|Northern Command]]
| branch                        = [[Infantry]]
| type                          = [[Military reserve force|Reserves]]
| specialization                = 
| size                          = 5 battalions
| garrison                      = 
| commander1                    = [[Colonel]] Moshe Passal
| nickname                      = 
| motto                         = 
| colors                        = 
| march                         = 
| mascot                        = 
| battles                       = {{tree list}}
*[[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
**[[Battles of Latrun#Operation Bin Nun Alef (24–25 May)|Operation Ben Nun Alef]]
*[[Six-Day War]]
*[[Yom Kippur War]]
*[[1982 Lebanon War]]
*[[2006 Lebanon War]]
*[[2024 Israeli invasion of Lebanon]]
{{tree list/end}}
| notable_commanders            = 
| anniversaries                 = 
| identification_symbol         = 
}}
The '''3rd "Alexandroni" Brigade''' ({{langx|he|חטיבת אלכסנדרוני}}, ''Hativat Aleksandroni'') is an [[Israel Defense Forces]] brigade which has fought in many of Israel's wars.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.alexandroni.co.il/en/66/|title=The Alexandroni Brigade|accessdate=9 September 2023}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20210517121023/https://www.alexandroni.co.il/en/66/ Archived copy] on 17 May 2021.</ref>

== Organization ==
{{tree list}}
* [[File:Alexandroni.svg|25px]] 3rd Infantry Brigade "Alexandroni" (Reserve)
** 7012th Infantry Battalion 
** 8101st Infantry Battalion 
** 9203rd Infantry Battalion
** (6609th) Reconnaissance Battalion "Alexandroni"
** 5280th Combat Engineer Battalion 
** 5503rd Logistic Battalion
** 8144th Signal Company
{{tree list/end}}

==Role in Tantura massacre==
{{Main|Tantura massacre}}

During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], around 40–200 [[Palestinian people|Palestinian Arab]] villagers from [[Tantura]] were killed in a massacre perpetrated by the Alexandroni Brigade, which at the time was one of six field forces of the [[Haganah]].<ref name=JPS2001>{{cite journal |title=The Tantura Massacre, 22–23 May 1948 |journal=Journal of Palestine Studies |volume=30 |issue=3 |date=2001 |pages=5–18 |doi=10.1525/jps.2001.30.3.5 |url=https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jps/tantura.html|url-access=subscription }} [https://web.archive.org/web/20250119104546/https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/jps/tantura.html Archived copy] on 19 January 2025.</ref> The massacre, which took place on the night of 22–23 May 1948, occurred following the surrender of Tantura, a village of roughly 1,500 people in 1945 located near [[Haifa]]. The bodies of the victims were buried in mass graves, one of which was later covered and a carpark constructed above it.<ref name="TG">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/25/study-1948-israeli-massacre-tantura-palestinian-village-mass-graves-car-park|title=UK study of 1948 Israeli massacre of Palestinian village reveals mass grave sites|accessdate=9 September 2023|work= The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/executions-and-mass-graves-in-tantura-23-may-1948|title=Executions and Mass Graves in Tantura|work=Forensic Architecture|accessdate=9 September 2023}}</ref>

In 1998, an Israeli researcher Teddy Katz interviewed and taped Israeli and Palestinian witnesses to events at Tantura in 1948 and wrote a master's thesis at [[University of Haifa|Haifa University]] claiming that Israeli units committed a massacre of Palestinians at Tantura. The veterans of the brigade sued Katz for [[libel]]. Katz was forced to retract his conclusion and to apologize.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aderet |first1=Ofer |title=Israeli University Head Slams Research on 1948 Tantura Massacre 'Used to Advance Political Agenda' |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-06-08/ty-article/.premium/for-political-agenda-haifa-uni-head-slams-thesis-on-alleged-tantura-massacre/00000181-425b-df72-a5cb-c2ffc5040000 |publisher=Haaretz |date=June 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208193329/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-06-08/ty-article/.premium/for-political-agenda-haifa-uni-head-slams-thesis-on-alleged-tantura-massacre/00000181-425b-df72-a5cb-c2ffc5040000 |archive-date=8 Dec 2022}}</ref>

The case provoked a lively reaction from historian [[Ilan Pappé]], who accused his university of ‘moral cowardice’<ref> Pappé, Ilan. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jps.2001.30.3.19 The Tantura Case in Israel: The Katz Research and Trial]. ''[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]'' Vol. 30, No. 3 (Spring 2001), pp. 19-39. [[Taylor & Francis|Taylor & Francis, Ltd.]] {{doi|10.1525/jps.2001.30.3.19}}</ref> for not having been able or willing to defend Katz's arguments, despite the fact that his work had been duly supervised and approved by his supervisor (who was, among other things, the director of the department to which Katz belonged).<ref name=RAPOPORT>{{Cite news | title=Alone on the barricades | author=Rapoport, Meron|publisher=Ha'aretz | date=6 May 2005 | url=http://www.ee.bgu.ac.il/~censor/katz-directory/05-05-06haaretz-rapoport-pappe-english.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327062749/http://www.ee.bgu.ac.il/~censor/katz-directory/05-05-06haaretz-rapoport-pappe-english.pdf }}</ref>

In 2023, an Israeli documentary was published on the Tantura massacre, which interviewed and filmed Katz, as well as several veterans, who agreed to talk about the events.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/tantura-director-israelis-have-been-lied-to-for-years-about-alleged-1948-massacre/|work=Times of Israel|title='Tantura' director: Israelis have been lied to for years about alleged 1948 massacre|accessdate=9 September 2023|date=27 January 2022}}</ref> The movie was harshly criticized by the historian [[Benny Morris]], who characterized the documentary as "basically fraudulent".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Benny |title=The Tantura Myth: It Makes No Sense That Palestinian Villagers Never Mentioned a Massacre |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-10-07/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/the-tantura-myth-it-makes-no-sense-that-palestinian-villagers-never-mentioned-a-massacre/00000183-b2e5-d8cc-afc7-feedf6560000 |publisher=Haaretz |date=Oct 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202234850/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-10-07/ty-article-opinion/.highlight/the-tantura-myth-it-makes-no-sense-that-palestinian-villagers-never-mentioned-a-massacre/00000183-b2e5-d8cc-afc7-feedf6560000 |archive-date=2 Dec 2022}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Alexandroni Brigade memorial in Latrun (1).JPG|Alexandroni Brigade memorial overlooking [[Latrun]] [[Tegart fort|police station]]
File:תמונה 1154.jpg|Alexandroni Brigade memorial in [[Netanya]]
File:PikiWiki Israel 14137 A mass grave of 87 fallen soldiers of Alexandroni.JPG|Mass grave of 87 Alexandroni soldiers fallen in the "[[Faluja Pocket]]" during the War of Independence, buried by the Egyptians and reburied in 1949 in [[Kiryat Gat]]
File:PikiWiki Israel 34077 Archeological sites of Israel.JPG|Memorial in [[Qaqun]] with Bible citation from {{bibleverse|Zephaniah|3:19}}
File: דן אבן אפשטיין 1948 ארכיון ההגנה.jpg|Dan Even (Epstein), commander of the Alexandroni Brigade
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[God's Company (Israel)]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.alexandroni.org Official website] {{in lang|he}}
{{Israel Defense Forces}}

[[Category:1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Brigades of Israel]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1948]]
[[Category:Israeli war crimes]]