Stamps Show Israel's Fight for Independence The Military Stamp 1 | 2 | 3 | NEXT Israel recognized its debt to its military forces very early in its philatelic history. The first of its annual issues marking the High Holidays in September 1949 (#28-30) depicted the insignia of the army, navy and air force. Sites of significant battles in the War of Independence first appeared on #46-7 issued on the third anniversary of Independence Day in May 1951 and again on the fourth and sixth anniversaries (#62-4 and #84-5). They also have appeared in 1998 issues marking Israel's 50th anniversary (#1325-27). A set of three stamps and a souvenir sheet issued in February 1998 noted battles fought for Jerusalem, Zefat (gaining control on May 11, 1948) and Elat (captured in March 1949). Israel issued stamps (1321-22) recognizing the contributions of those it recruited in the Diaspora -- the so-called Gachal (an acronym for Hebrew words for "overseas recruits") -- and the volunteers who came from 37 different countries -- the so-called Machal (acronym for "overseas volunteers"). The stamp for the recruits is especially poignant as it depicts a Holocaust survivor with a yellow Star of David still sewn on his back. The tab quotes poet Nathan Alterman (see #1270c, issued in 1996): "And a homeland awaited him ... But he gave his life some time in the night, dying for its sake." Israel's struggle in the air was noted in a set released in 1998 (#1337-39) depicting some of its first airplanes. These included its first twin-engine plane (a Dragon Rapide) and a B-17, which had arrived along with some German planes from Czechoslovakia in the first months of independence. Other stamps honoring Israel's military have been issued throughout its history. Israel has also honored its war dead with an annual Memorial Day stamp since 1966 (#311). The first philatelic reference, however, to Memorial Day (which is the day before Independence Day) was in 1952 (#62-4 commemorated both days). Many of these stamps have depicted memorials, while some have been of a symbolic nature. For example, in 1998, the Memorial Day stamp featured an olive branch (#1331). Israel did not philatelically note its second war, when it joined Britain and France to seize the Suez Canal. The Six-Day War (fought June 5 through 10, 1967), on the other hand, was noted by a set of stamps issued in August 1967 (#345-7). It includes the Western Wall in Jerusalem which Jews had not been able to visit while it was under Jordanian control. The Arab attack on Israel on Yom Kippur in 1973 was noted indirectly by Israel when its 1974 Memorial Day stamp (#535) depicted a helmeted soldier wearing a "tallit" or prayer shawl. Its other struggles -- the war in Lebanon and the Palestinian wars of attrition and violence (including the intifada) have not been recognized philatelically by Israel, but have been by a number of Arab and Moslem countries. More than Military Might 1 | 2 | 3 | NEXT © 2002, J-Stamps/Murray Frost. All Rights Reserved. froststamps@yahoo.com