View source for Avraham Adan

{{Short description|Israeli military officer and author}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Avraham Adan
| native_name   = {{Script/Hebrew|אברהם אדן}}
| native_name_lang = he
| image         = Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - ALUF AVRAHAM ADAN.jpg
| image_size    = 240
| alt           = Adan near the Suez Canal; October 27, 1973
| caption       = Adan near the [[Suez Canal]] on 27 October 1973
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1926|10|05|df=yes}}
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|2012|09|28|1926|10|05|df=yes}}
| birth_place   = [[Kfar Giladi]], [[Mandatory Palestine]]
| death_place   = [[Ramat HaSharon]], Israel
| nickname      = Bren ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|ברן}}|label=none}})<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tuohy|first=William|date=30 August 1990|title=Tank Wizard's Advice: Play the Terrain : Military: Israeli general says it is easier to fight from a defensive position.|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-30-mn-432-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=20 June 2021|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|quote=Adan--he is called “Bren,” after the [[Bren light machine gun|Bren gun]] he carried in the 1948-49 Israeli War of Independence--is 64 now, but he is still on call in case of war.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624202724/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-08-30-mn-432-story.html |archive-date=24 June 2021 }}</ref>
| allegiance    = {{flag|Israel}}
| branch        = [[File:Haganah Symbol.svg|10px|link=]] [[Palmach]]<br/>{{armed forces|Israel}}
| serviceyears  = 1943–1948 (Palmach)<br/>1948–1977 (IDF)
| rank          = [[File:IDF aluf.svg|20px]] [[Aluf]]
| servicenumber = <!--Do not use data from primary sources such as service records.-->
| unit          = 
| commands      = {{plainlist|
* [[7th Armored Brigade (Israel)|7th Armoured Brigade]]
* [[Armored Corps (Israel)|Israeli Armoured Corps]]
* [[162nd Division (Israel)|162nd Armoured Division]]
* [[Southern Command (Israel)|IDF Southern Command]]
* [[Military attaché]] in [[Washington, D.C.]]
}}
| battles       = {{plainlist|
* [[1947–1949 Palestine war]] {{small|(1947–1949)}}
* [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]] {{small|(1948–1949)}}
* [[Suez Crisis]] {{small|(1956)}}
* [[Six-Day War]] {{small|(1967)}}
* [[Yom Kippur War]] {{small|(1973)}}
}}
| battles_label = Engagements
| awards        = 
| memorials     = 
| spouse        = <!-- Add spouse if reliably sourced -->
| relations     = 
| laterwork     = 
| signature         = Avraham Adan signature.png
| module        = 
}}
[[File:Raising the Ink Flag at Umm Rashrash (Eilat).jpg|thumb|Adan (seen mounted on the flagpole) raising the [[Ink Flag]] in present-day [[Eilat]] at the end of the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|First Arab–Israeli War]] in March 1949]]
'''Avraham''' "'''Bren'''" '''Adan''' ({{langx|he|אברהם "ברן" אדן}}{{ltr}}; {{Birth date|1926|10|5|df=y}}<ref name=birth>
  Most sources give his birth year as 1926: (''[https://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=286072 Jerusalem Post]''; ''[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4286715,00.html YNetNews]''; ''[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/general-avraham-adan-soldier-who-raised-the-ink-flag-that-signalled-the-birth-of-israel-8198453.html The Independent]''); but [https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/former-idf-general-israeli-icon-avraham-adan-dies-at-86-1.467408 this ''Ha'aretz'' article] has it as 1925.</ref> – {{Death date|2012|9|28|df=y}}) was an Israeli [[Aluf|major-general]] and author. Prior to [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|Israel's independence]], he served with the [[Palmach]], an elite formation within the [[Haganah]] paramilitary force of the [[Yishuv]] community in [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandatory Palestine]]. Adan fought under the Haganah and later under the newly formed [[Israel Defense Forces]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|First Arab–Israeli War]], and was photographed while raising the [[Ink Flag|Israeli Ink Flag]] at the site of what is now [[Eilat]] to mark the end of the war.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{Cite web|date=2012-10-04|title=General Avraham Adan: Soldier who raised the 'Ink Flag' that signalled|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/general-avraham-adan-soldier-who-raised-the-ink-flag-that-signalled-the-birth-of-israel-8198453.html|access-date=2021-06-20|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> He served with the Israel Defense Forces from 1948 to 1977, and fought in all of the major [[Arab–Israeli conflict|Arab–Israeli wars]] that occurred during that period.

==Biography==
Adan was born into a [[Jews|Jewish]] family on 5 October 1926 in [[Kfar Giladi]], [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandatory Palestine]]; he was born with the surname ''Eidelson'', but later changed it to ''Adan'' as part of a [[Hebraization of surnames|Hebraization]] process.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2012-09-28|title=General Avraham 'Bren' Adan passes away|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4286715,00.html|access-date=2021-06-20|website=Ynetnews|language=en|last1=Levy|first1=Elior}}</ref><ref name="independent.co.uk"/><ref name="ynet">{{cite news|last=Levy|first=Elior|date=28 September 2012|title=General Avraham 'Bren' Adan passes away|newspaper=YNet News|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4286715,00.html|accessdate=30 September 2012}}</ref> He attended [[Tichon Hadash]] high school in Tel Aviv.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-08-29 |title=תיכון חדש, ביה"ס של הסלבס, חוגג 75 |url=https://www.makorrishon.co.il/nrg/online/54/ART2/277/079.html |access-date=2025-10-07 |website=[[NRG360]]}}</ref> In 1943, he joined the [[Palmach]], an elite force of the [[Haganah]] paramilitary organization that operated on part of the [[Yishuv]] community in British Palestine.<ref name=ynet/> During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War|First Arab–Israeli War]], Adan was a [[company commander]] in the 8th battalion of the [[Negev Brigade]], and participated in [[Operation Uvda]], in which the brigade successfully captured the [[Jordan]]ian-held outpost of Umm al-Rashrash—now known as [[Eilat]]—at the southernmost tip of the newly created country.<ref name="hashavia124"/> Adan, then a captain in the newly formed [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF), was photographed while raising the [[Ink Flag]] of the [[Israel|State of Israel]] at the site. The photograph has since become an icon, and has been compared to ''[[Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima]]'', an iconic photograph in which six [[United States Marine Corps|United States Marines]] are raising the [[Flag of the United States|American flag]] atop [[Mount Suribachi]] during the [[Battle of Iwo Jima]] in [[World War II]].<ref name="Aderet" />

In 1949, Adan joined the [[Armored Corps (Israel)|Israeli Armoured Corps]] and founded the first [[M4 Sherman]] tank unit of the IDF. During the [[Suez Crisis|Suez Crisis of 1956]], he commanded the 82nd battalion of the [[7th Armored Brigade (Israel)|7th Armoured Brigade]] in the [[Sinai Peninsula]], decisively defeating [[Egypt]]ian forces in the region. After the war, Adan became the [[Operations (military staff)|operations officer]] of the Armoured Corps and later the commander of the 7th Armoured Brigade as well as the Armoured Corps School.<ref name="hashavia124"/> During the [[Six-Day War|Third Arab–Israeli War]], he was the deputy commander of the Armoured Corps and of the 31st Armoured Division, where he once again engaged Egyptian forces in the Sinai. On 10 March 1969, he became the commander of the Armoured Corps.

Adan was defending the northern portion of the [[Suez Canal]] in the Sinai—[[Israeli occupation of the Sinai Peninsula|occupied by Israel in its entirety]] during the 1967 war—when the [[Yom Kippur War|Fourth Arab–Israeli War]] broke out in October 1973.<ref name="Aderet">{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/former-idf-general-israeli-icon-avraham-adan-dies-at-86.premium-1.467408|title=Former IDF general Israeli icon Avraham Adan dies at 86|last=Aderet|first=Ofer|date=September 29, 2012|work=Haaretz|accessdate=1 October 2012}}</ref> During the war, he served as the commander of the [[162nd Division (Israel)|162nd Division]], which suffered severe losses from 6–8 October during [[Yom Kippur War#In the Sinai|repeated attempts]] to stop the Egyptian assault and push Egyptian forces back across the canal. Later during the war, Adan led his unit across the canal and into Egyptian territory north of the [[Great Bitter Lake]] during [[Operation Abirey-Halev|Operation Stouthearted Men]], and subsequently maneuvered his forces southward to [[Suez|Suez City]], where they surrounded the [[Third Army (Egypt)|Egyptian Third Army]].

From 1974 to 1977, he served as the [[military attaché]] at the [[Embassy of Israel, Washington, D.C.|Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=ynet/>

Adan was a co-founder of the [[kibbutz]]im of [[Nirim]] and [[Gvulot]], located in the [[Negev|Negev Desert]] near the [[Gaza Strip|Palestinian Gaza Strip]].<ref name="Aderet" />

==Published works==
* ''On Both Banks of the Suez'' (1979) – Idanim Publishing
* ''Up to the Ink Flag'' (1984) – Ministry of Defense Publishing

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="hashavia124">[[#refHashavia|Hashavia (1981)]], p. 124</ref>
}}

===Bibliography===
{{Commons category|Avraham Adan}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|author=Hashavia, Aryeh|year=1981|title=Armored Corps|encyclopedia=IDF in its Corps: Army and Security Encyclopedia|publisher=Revivim Publishing|volume=7|language=he |ref=refHashavia}}

{{IsraelSouthernCommandChiefs}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adan, Abraham}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:Palmach members]]
[[Category:Israeli generals]]
[[Category:Israeli military personnel of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War]]
[[Category:Israeli people of the Yom Kippur War]]
[[Category:People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph]]
[[Category:People from Northern District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Kibbutzniks]]
[[Category:Israeli people of the Six-Day War]]
[[Category:People of the Suez Crisis]]
[[Category:Tichon Hadash high school alumni]]