Zvika Greengold
| Zvika Greengold | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
10 February 1952 Lohamey HaGeta'ot, Galilee, Israel |
| Allegiance | Israel |
| Service/branch | Israel Defense Forces |
| Years of service | 1972–1974 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Unit | 188th Armor Brigade |
| Battles/wars | Yom Kippur War |
| Awards | Medal of Valor |
| Other work | Politician; businessman |
Zvi "Zvika" Greengold (Hebrew: צבי "צביקה" גרינגולד; born 10 February 1952) is a former Israeli officer who fought during the 1973 Yom Kippur War as an IDF tank commander. He is one of only eight people who fought in the war to be awarded the Medal of Valor, the nation's highest medal for heroism. He is a former mayor of Ofakim.
Born and raised on Kibbutz Lohamey HaGeta'ot (English: Kibbutz of the Ghetto Fighters, founded by Holocaust survivors of underground and partisan combat against the Nazis), twenty-one-year-old Lieutenant Greengold was home on leave when Egypt and Syria launched a coordinated surprise attack on two fronts. He was not attached to any unit as he was about to take a course for company commanders. Once he realized war had broken out, he hitchhiked to Nafekh, a command center and important crossroads in the Golan Heights, where he initially helped with the wounded, as no tanks were available. When two damaged Centurion tanks were repaired, Greengold was put in charge of them and, at 2100 hours, was ordered to take hastily assembled scratch crews down the Tapline Road.
Greengold's "Koah Zvika" (Zvika Force) spotted Syrian tanks belonging to the Syrian Army's 51st Independent Tank Brigade, which had broken through the line and were advancing unopposed northwest along the road to Nafekh. Greengold's two tanks engaged the opposing T-55s, with Greengold destroying six. His tank was damaged, so he switched tanks and sent his original tank back for repairs.
Then he spotted the advancing 452nd Tank Battalion. He engaged the enemy, taking advantage of the darkness and moving constantly to fool the Syrians into thinking the opposition was stronger than it was. Greengold destroyed or damaged ten enemy armoured vehicles before the confused Syrians withdrew, believing they were facing a sizable force. Even Greengold's superiors were deceived; as the fighting wore on, he did not dare report how weak he actually was over the radio for fear it would be intercepted. He could only hint "the situation isn't good". At a time when Zvika Force consisted of only one tank, Colonel Yitzhak Ben-Shoham, the brigade commander, assumed it to be "of at least company strength".
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