History of Al Latrun

Following the 1936-1939 Arab revolt, the British authorities built a number of police forts (named Tegart forts after their designer) at various locations; Latrun was chosen due to its strategic significance, particularly its dominant position above the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem road. Many members of the Yishuv who had resisted the British administration were imprisoned in a detention camp at Latrun. Moshe Shertok, later Israel's second Prime Minister, and several other members of the Jewish Agency's Executive Committee, were held at Latrun for several months in 1946.

1948 Arab-Israeli War

The road from the coastal plain to Jerusalem was blocked after the British withdrew and handed the fort of Latrun over to the Arab Legion. The Arab Legionnaires used the fort to shell Israeli vehicles traveling on the road below, effectively imposing a military siege on Jerusalem.

On 24 May 1948, ten days after Israel's declaration of independence, the fort was assaulted by combined forces of Israel's newly-created 7th Armoured Brigade, and a battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade. Ariel Sharon, then a platoon commander, was wounded at Latrun along with many of his soldiers. The assault, code-named "Operation Ben Nun Alef", was unsuccessful, sustaining heavy casualties. On 1 June 1948, a second attack against the fort, codenamed Ben Nun Bet", also failed, although the outer defenses had been breached.

Many of the Israeli fighters were young Holocaust survivors who had just arrived in the country and had minimal military training. The official casualty figure for both battles was 139.

To circumvent the blocked road, a makeshift camouflaged road through the seemingly impassable mountains towards Jerusalem was constructed under the command of Mickey (David) Marcus. This