Oded Brigade

{{Short description|Israeli military unit}}

{{Infobox military unit

| unit_name = Oded Brigade

| native_name = חטיבת עודד

| image = OdedBrigade.svg

| image_size = 150px

| caption = Brigade insignia

| dates = 1948-?

| country = {{flag|Israel}}

| allegiance = Israel Defense Forces

| command_structure =

| branch = Infantry

| type =

| specialization =

| size = Brigade

| garrison =

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| nickname =

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| battles = {{tree list}}

• 1948 Arab–Israeli War
• Battle of Al-Malkiyya
• Operation Hiram
• Operation Yoav
• Suez Crisis

{{tree list/end}}

| notable_commanders =

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}}

The Oded Brigade ({{langx|he|חטיבת עודד}}), is a unit in the Israel Defense Forces, also known as the 9th Brigade. It is part of the Bashan division in the IDF Northern Command, responsible for the front with Syria. In the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, it was one of ten brigades fielded by the Haganah (the precursor of the Israeli Defense Forces).{{cite book|last=Tal|first=David|title=War in Palestine, 1948: strategy and diplomacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dL29_RBATv0C&pg=PA392|series=Cass series--Israeli history, politics, and society|volume=26|year=2004|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-7146-5275-X|page=392}} It was headquartered in Jerusalem. It was "a ragtag organization composed mainly of home guardsmen and other defense groups."{{cite journal|last=Hughes|first=Matthew|date=Winter 2005|title=Lebanon's Armed Forces and the Arab-Israeli War, 1948–49|journal=Journal of Palestine Studies|publisher=University of California Press|volume=34|issue=2|pages=24–41|doi=10.1525/jps.2005.34.2.024|s2cid=154088601|url=http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/jps.2005.34.2.024|access-date=2010-07-31|archive-date=2012-03-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311193515/http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/abs/10.1525/jps.2005.34.2.024|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}} The poorly supplied brigade was defending Al-Malkiyya in June 1948, replacing the Yiftach Brigade, when the Lebanese army attacked. The Oded Brigade had to withdraw after 10 hours of fighting.

In July 1948, the brigade moved to capture the Arab villages Malha and Ein Karim, with the support of LEHI and Irgun, aiming to link up with the Harel Brigade and capture the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Railway. There was limited fighting.{{cite book|last=Bell|first=J. Bowyer|authorlink=J. Bowyer Bell|title=Terror out of Zion: the fight for Israeli independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Df_2trrOLPAC&pg=PA331|year=1996|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=1-56000-870-9|page=331}}

The brigade had attached to it a "Unit of the Minorities" made up of Druze, and smaller numbers of Bedouins and Circassians, who had defected from the Arab Liberation Army. The unit saw action with the brigade in Operation Hiram during October 1948. This was a propaganda coup and helped strengthen Jewish-Druze relations.{{cite book|last1=Rogan|first1=Eugene L.|last2=Shlaim|first2=Avi|title=The war for Palestine: rewriting the history of 1948 By Eugene L. Rogan, Avi Shlaim|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oi8cmbTa6qMC&pg=PA63|series=Cambridge Middle East studies|volume=15|year=2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-79476-5|page=63}} Ben Dunkelman says that the brigade had a mainly diversionary role in Operation Hiram.{{cite book|last=Dunkelman|first=Ben|title=Dual Allegiance: An Autobiography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dbc8cPprYnMC&pg=PA328|year=1984|publisher=Formac Publishing Company|isbn=0-88780-127-7|page=328}} The brigade also took part in Operation Yoav in October 1948, which opened the road to the Negev.{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Yoav.html|title=Operation "Yoav" (October 15-22, 1948)|work=Jewish Virtual Library|accessdate=31 July 2010}}

Involved in the Sinai Campaign against Egypt, the brigade held a victory assembly at Sharm el-Sheikh on 6 November 1956.{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Benny|authorlink=Benny Morris|title=Israel's border wars, 1949-1956: Arab infiltration, Israeli retaliation, and the countdown to the Suez War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YUthqHRF-m8C&pg=PA444|edition=2|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-19-829262-7|page=444}}