Joining the "Masu'ot" Group

Kibbutz Masu'ot Yitzhak, 1947. Kneeling front left: Moshe Jakobovits, his brother Yoseph. Standing rear right: Immanuel Jakobovits.

At the end of 1943/44 academic year, Jakobovits finished high school at Mikveh Israel and, with other graduates of the school, formed the "Czech Gar'in" ["Gar'in" refers to a "nucleus" or formative group] which began its training at Kibbutz Tirat Zvi in 1943. During his training at Tirat Zvi, he volunteered to be a "Noter" in the Jewish Settlement Police set up by the British, serving as a Noter in the Gilboa Brigade at Tirat Zvi station, and, in parallel, continued to be active in the Haganah. During this period he met his spouse to-be, Sarah Schwarz.

In November 1944, he and fellow members of his Gar'in, then already called the "Masu'ot Group", established a temporary kibbutz settlement within the bounds of Kfar Haroeh, with the objective of establishing a permanent settlement on Mount Hebron, next to Kibbutz Kfar Etzion. In April 1945, the Gar'in moved to Gat Rimon, next to Petach Tikva. At the beginning of November 1945, the Gar'in established a settlement on the land of Hubela, to the west of Kfar Etzion, and decided to name the new kibbutz "Masu'ot Yitzhak," after the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevy Herzog, then still living.

Commander of Masu'ot Yitzhak

Moshe Jakobovits continued to serve as a Noter at Masu'ot Yitzhak as well. He was sent to a Notrim course at the central school for Notrim at a youth village next to Afula, and, upon his return from the course, he was appointed commander of the Notrim station at Masu'ot Yitzhak. In parallel, he continued his activity with the Haganah, as was customary in that period.^[7] In this context he participated in the squad leader training course of the Haganah, Jerusalem District, conducted at Gush Etzion (the "Etzion Bloc") in the summer of 1946. That same year, he was called upon to serve as regional director of Masu'ot Yitzhak – this, too, in the context of the Haganah. A dispute erupted between the people of the young kibbutz and the Arabs of the area over a portion of the lands of the settlement, especially concerning a plot that was called the "600 dunam". In the summer of 1947, the Arabs attacked a group of kibbutz members engaged in agricultural work in the disputed area, and a squad of Notrim was summoned from Masu'ot Yitzhak under the command of Moshe Jakobovits. On the heels of a riot that erupted, the British police were summoned and separated the belligerents. An investigation was launched against Moshe Jakobovits for use of arms, and he was suspended from his post as commander of the Notrim station until the investigation was completed. During the period of his suspension (summer to fall, 1947), the Haganah Jerusalem Zone Command sent him to a course for platoon commanders, at that time, effectively an officers' training course.

Platoon Commander Course

The platoon commander course in which Jakobovits participated (Course 19)^[8] was the last such course directed by the Haganah. The course, under the command of Mundak Pasternak (Moshe Bar-Tiqvah),^[9] was initially conducted at the kibbutzim Sarid and Ginegar in the Jezreel Valley, with the participants under the cover of naturalists. The platoon of Moshe Jakobovits – Platoon 1, under the command of Danny Mass – trained unarmed at Kibbutz Sarid, while Platoon 2, under Natanel Hitron, and Platoon 3 under Uzi Narkis, trained at Kibbutz Ginegar and included training with a medium machine gun in a hidden cave. A British patrol detected the site of machine gun training and it was consequently decide to move the entire course to Juara. At the end of the course, in November 1947, Moshe Jakobovits stood for oral examination by Haim Laskov and Yigael Yadin, and participated in the graduation review in the presence of Haganah Commander-in-chief Yaakov Dori. Beside Moshe Jakobovits, other graduates of Platoon Commander Course 19 included personalities who held key positions in the War of Independence, and thereafter, as major generals and brigadier generals. Among them were Yekutiel Adam, Avraham Adan ("Bren"), Uri ben Ari, Mordechai ben Porat, Rehavam Ze'evi ("Gandhi"), Avraham Tamir (Avrasha), Israel Tal (Talik), Yaakov Salman, Elad Peled, Moshe Rusnak, Nachum Shoshani, Aharon (Jimmy) Shemi, and many others.

Command of Masu'ot Yitzhak

After completion of the course, Jakobovits returned to Masu'ot Yitzhak. A few days thereafter, on 29 November 1947, the United Nations decided upon the partition of Palestine. The Etzion Bloc was included in the intended Arab state. The day after the partition declaration (the onset of the War of Independence), Jakobovits was summoned to the headquarters of the Jerusalem Sector of the Haganah for assignment of a command role. Among the various roles he was offered, Jakobovits elected to return to his role as regional commander in Masu'ot Yitzhak. During the first weeks, he was responsible for securing convoys from Jerusalem to the Etzion Bloc. On the night of 15–16 January 1948, Jakobovits stood at the head of his men, at the western emplacements of Masu'ot Yitzhak, awaiting the arrival of the Mountain Brigade (the Brigade of the Lamed-Heh = Convoy of 35) that had been dispatched to reinforce and resupply Gush Etzion. With dawn, Jakobovits discerned heavy traffic of military vehicles and ambulances in the region of the village of Jeva. Only later would the connection with the bitter fate of the Brigade of the Lamed-Heh become clear.

Commander of the Western Sector

On 21 March 1948, Moshe (Mosh) Zilberschmidt assumed command of Gush Etzion. In early May, he redesigned the defenses of the four settlements of the Bloc, and divided the Bloc into three defensive sectors. Moshe Jakobovits was named commander of the western sector, in addition to his position as regional commander of Masu'ot Yitzhak. Under his command was a company composed of defenders of Masu'ot Yitzhak and Revadim, responsible for the defense of the two settlements and the adjacent command posts: "the Fifth Point," "Giv'at Olga," "the 600 Dunam," and "Giv'at Hasla'im" ["Boulder Hill"] that connected Masu'ot Yitzhak to Kfar Etzion. In the Arab attack on Gush Etzion on 4 May 1948, Jakobovits sent forces of the brigade under his command to capture the first three command posts.

Rescue of the Hospital and Its People

On the 12 May 1948, a massive Arab attack began on the redoubts of Gush Etzion.^[10] To maintain constant communication between Masu'ot Yitzhak and Kfar Etzion – even in the face of Arab penetration of the first line of defense – Moshe Jakobovits sent a squad from Masu'ot Yitzhak to capture Giv'at Hasla'im. This force managed to deflect charges of the Arab Legion and thus prevent an attack on Kfar Etzion from this direction. Under the cover of darkness, Jakobovits managed to reach Kfar Etzion to coordinate with Ya'akov Altman (named commander of the Bloc after Mosh fell at the Battle of the Russian Monastery)^[11] and to convince him to move the hospital, and all of its medical personnel and injured to Masu'ot Yitzhak. Evauation of the hospital was conducted during the course of the night by the men of Masu'ot Yitzhak who carried the injured on their backs and secured the path via Giv'at Sela'im. The hospital was lodged in natural caves in Masu'ot Yitzhak that had been cleaned and prepared in advance for possible shelter. Thus, Jakobovits saved the lives of about sixty injured and medical staff, among them Weisenberg, director of the hospital, and the chief medic, Rivka Nedivi (Prague, born 1926) who volunteered to remain in Gush Etzion and treat the injured while her infant was evacuated to Jerusalem, along with the other mothers and children.

The "Queen" Has Fallen

POW group in Jordan, 1949. Moshe Jakobovits is second row, middle.

The next morning, several armored vehicles of the Legion succeeded in penetrating into Kfar Etzion, and its defenders decided to surrender. After the surrender, a massacre was perpetrated on the men of Kfar Etzion, among them Ya׳akov Altman. Nachum ben-Sira, member of Masu'ot Yitzhak, succeeded in escaping the massacre and reached the kibbutz. Moshe Jakobovitz assumed command of the Bloc, the forces under his command were arrayed for the defence of Masu'ot Yitzhak, Revadim and Ein Tzurim. Later in the day, he telegraphed Haganah HQ in Jerusalem, by means of a heliograph: "Queen has fallen, we are left without ammunition and will not be able to hold. Requesting assistance." ('Queen' was the code name for Kfar Etzion.)