Embroidered Dogtag cover Golani Battalion 51 “Habokim Harishon” (First Emerged) November 2020

Battalion 51 – The First Breakthrough Battalion took the first step towards breaking through the Negev, which was besieged during the War of Independence until the end of Operation Yoav, hence its name. The battalion was established as the first battalion in the 5th Brigade, the Givati ​​Brigade, in 1958, and in September 1956, a few weeks before Operation Kadesh, it was transferred to the Golani Brigade. The battalion’s emblem consists of the brigade tree with a double-edged sword in the center, symbolizing the fighting spirit of the battalion.

The battalion has six companies:

1. “PLASM” (Command Company) “The Genie” (Command Company)
2. Rifle Company A (“The Last Apaches”, “Rifle”)
3. Rifle Company B (“The Last Samurai”)
4. Rifle Company C (“The Vikings”, “The Arabs”, “Rifle”)
5. Auxiliary (“The Winds of the North”)
6. Exposure – Assault Company “The Spartans” (Exposure Company)

Fighters of the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade during the ground maneuver in southern Lebanon, October 2024

The battalion actively participated in all Israeli campaigns. In the War of Independence, the battalion fought as part of the original regular Givati ​​Brigade. During the war, it participated in Operation Ben Nun II, in the containment battles against the Egyptian army, in Operation Yoav, and in other operations. He participated in the Battle of Tel Azziat in the Six-Day War, in the conquest of Mount Hermon, in the Yom Kippur War, in two incidents in the eastern sector in southern Lebanon in October 1995, in which the battalion’s support company lost nine of its soldiers in three days, including the company commander and his deputy, and in one of the most difficult battles that took place in the Second Lebanon War, the Battle of Bint Jbeil, in which the battalion lost eight of its fighters, including the battalion commander, Roi Klein, and was later also decorated with sixteen different individual medals and in addition a battalion medal.

In 2023, during the October 7 massacre, the battalion’s fighters fought battles against the many terrorists who infiltrated the Erez crossing, the Kissufim outpost, and later also in the nearby kibbutz, the Mars outpost and the South R&D outpost. 30 of the battalion’s fighters fell in battle, saving their fellow base members and residents with their bodies.