Author and Historian Noah Gross shares with us the history of Israel’s forces during and after World War II. We also delve into KAPAP’s morphing into Krav Maga during the 1950‘s and find that the truth of how Krav Maga came to be is not what is widely believed....

KAPAP, World War II & the Correct History of Krav Maga

The history of Israeli Martial Arts has become gradually warped over time, and to look at many organization websites, one would think that they all started in the 1950’s and were the invention of just one man. KAPAP Worcester is committed to spreading the correct version of history, and our philosophy is simply this: It has already happened, and we will present it as it really was - not to promote a system or organization, but to honour the men and women that fought for their country, for each other, for their beliefs, for their families and for their homes.
Noah Gross, author, historian and good friend to true research has kindly answered some of our questions relating to the roles of the Pal-mach, Hagana and Pal-yam during WWII, and has also gone into great detail as to how historical KAPAP slowly became what is now known across the world as Krav Maga.
First all, please can you tell us a little about yourself and your writing?
Well, okay, I'm 42 years old and grew up in Israel. I was doing martial arts off and on since the age of six until my mandatory service in the IDF. During my service in the paratroopers I served in the security zone in Lebanon as well as the west bank and Gaza during the first intifada. After my army service I got back into the martial arts deciding to focus on Ninjutsu and with a firm commitment to stick to it until I reach black belt and then fifth dan. Soon after I moved to the USA and continued my study of Bujinkan Ninjutsu with Mark Davis.
I returned to Israel in 1996 and where I kept training in Ninjutsu and finally tested for my fifth dan in 1999 in the UK That was a pivotal year for me, it was the year in which I met Maishel Hurwitz whom had developed the short stick fighting method in 1941.

I am currently co-founder of ACT – Armed Combat and Tactics; a full contact weapons sparring system developed by Alexander Zhelelzniak.
How did your interest in the history of Israeli martial arts and military begin, and what was the most important discovery for you when you went through the archives for your writing?
This came about through my Ninjutsu teacher Moti Native. We went together to meet Maishel and interview him. During this meeting I was struck by two things, the first was the simplicity and charm of this old man who was 80 years old, clear minded and healthy. The second thing that stuck in my mind and nagged at me was the fact that Maishel had shown me a little red book titled the walking stick method of self-defense by R. Lang. He went on to tell me that this method was learned from the book and then incorporated into the Hagana's hand-to-hand training. He said it was an Indian system and gave me a photocopied of a translation of the book.
I started surfing the internet to find out more about this. At the time the internet was no where as big as it is today but I managed to stumble onto Savate and Le canne. This in turn led to discovering that there was a whole heritage of western martial arts which I got involved with in 2000 through ARMA. By this time I really wanted to know more about what had taken place here in Israel in the 1940's and started reading up on the subject. More and more questions cropped up so I decide to call Maishel and see if he would meet me again. He responded positively and this was the beginning of a ten year long relationship until his passing in Dec 2009. The focus of my research shifted several times along the way but remained centered on hand-to-hand combat with stick fighting methods as the main interest.
This was in a sense a very late discovery only confirmed without a doubt two years ago.
I have also been surprised to find out that so far there is no evidence for the existence of a department of Krav Maga in the IDF as late as 1956 and perhaps 1958. This is not to say that there was no Krav Maga but there was no department yet. Another discovery which intrigues me to this very day is that there were Jujutsu teachers in Israel as early as 1920 and people teaching some form of stick fighting or cane fencing as early as 1890.
Regarding the development of the Pal-mach, Pal yam and the Hagana how did their roles differ through the years that they were operational?
Here is the link to the official Pal-mach museum and archive information center.
There you will find many answers to the questions pertaining to the Pal-mach. Although it is not as extensive as the Hebrew version and suffers here and there from poor translation, it does a good job of answering most of the questions about the structure, philosophy and training.
I will try to address some of the questions assuming one has done their homework and read up on the subject, so here goes:
The Pal-mach was a branch of the Hagana with a great measure of autonomy. Naturally there were differences of opinion as to what it should be and power struggles between some the Hagana command and Pal-mach command. Hand-to-hand Pal-mach fighting strategy was based on concepts of guerilla warfare and commando units. Much experience was gained by Hagana members during the Arab uprising 1936-1939, in various units such as the Jewish Settlement Police, "hanodedet" ( a mobile unit based on the use trucks) and "Fush" (plugot sadeh – field companies), special night squads. The knowledge gained was then tested and developed through exercise training and application by the Pal-mach and deeply influenced by the conditions of being a very poorly funded underground force. The Hagana’s main military force other than the Pal-mach was the "Hish" (field core), they were trained in the use of guns, and hand guns, scouting and KAPAP. They provided security for the settlements towns and cities and were a reserve unit.
The clear difference between both forces is in the intent and training, one was oriented towards a more defensive approach and organized similarly to a classic army, while the other was trained as an elite commando unit.
It is important to note that the Pal-mach was not able to raise funds for its members training and living needs and was therefore forced to have its members live on kibbutzim all over the country and work for their keep. This means that in actuality the Pal-mach members although belonging to a standing force were not able to train every day and spent three weeks out of every month working on the kibbutz. This limited training to one week of every month and occasional evenings during the work week. When considering this the level of skill they achieved is impressive.
On 29 of November 1947 after the U.N. resolution for the partition of Palestine into two states, war broke
out. At the time there were 3000 Pal-mach members and 10'000 Hish members. The only standing force ready to fight on the Jewish side was the Pal-mach. Of course Hish members and settlement police members participated as well, but the Pal-mach led the fighting. As the war progressed the Hagana organized and mobilized more of its forces. The declaration of independence and the end of British mandate on May 1948 and the formation of the IDF a few days later were game changers for the Pal-mach, soon after the Pal-mach was dismantled and its members integrated into the IDF.
Pal-yam was the Pal mach's naval force and served as the foundation for the IDF's navy. In a similar fashion it's other special units served as the bases for IDF forces. There was a "German" unit, an "Arab unit", and a fledgling air force unit. Imi lichtenfeled (founder of civilian Krav Maga) is often cited as being the trainer of the Pal-yam in hand-to-hand combat on official Krav Maga websites. Not knowing the history of KAPAP would give the impression that Imi was a free lancer teaching his system to this special unit, rather than the fact that he was a KAPAP instructor assigned to the Pal yam by his commanders in the Pal-mach.
Did the Pal-mach and Hagana work independently or as joint units?
The Pal-mach worked independently but it was directly liked to the Hagana. When Hagana headquarters decided to do something, it was the Pal-mach who executed it. Examples can be found in the activities during the "season" (from hunting season). This refers to a period of time during which the Hagana decided to "fight" the renegade undergrounds of the "Etzel" and "Lehi". As part of this campaign, Pal-mach members were trained in KAPAP and sent out in small groups to track down, kidnap, and many times hand over to the British secret police, members of the renegade undergrounds.
What type of engagements did the Pal'mach have with the Axis forces during WWII? Was it mainly guerilla warfare and strategic raids, or were there pitched battles?
If the question is what kind of combat or conflicts Pal-mach forces engaged in against British Mandate forces, then the answer is mostly raids and sabotage. If on the other hand this referred to work alongside axis forces then the answer is to be found in my answer to the following question.
Of the battles they were involved in, is any particular one considered to be the most pivotal in the war?
This I cannot answer fully, I don’t know enough about this area. Pal-mach members participated in covert activity in Syria and Lebanon (for a few weeks) alongside the British, mostly as scouting and recon preparing the way for the British invasion forces. They saw some action, and this is when Moshe Dayan lost his eye.
One other force in which several Pal-mach members participated was active in the African desert during the campaign against general Romel. The force was formed by Captain Herbert Cecil A Buck, MC and was called Special Interrogation Group or S.I.G. Several members of the Pal-mach German unit were leant to it, among them Karl Kahane, a Jewish German WWI veteran. After the war of independence Kahane became an officer in the IDF paratroopers and was a legendary figure for many years.
Other than that tens of thousands of Jews from Palestine joined the British army during WWII and many saw action in Europe.
When did their roles change from guerilla warfare roles into official military capacity?
The war of independence broke out in 1947, and the declaration of independence and the end of British mandate led to the Invasion by the Arab armies and full-blown war. The IDF was formed with the Hagana command and forces forming the main body. Initially Pal-mach command still functioned separately, but in coordination with the IDF, and was soon dissolved and integrated into it as were the "Etzel" and "Lehi".
This was a traumatic event for the Pal-mach members who prided themselves on belonging to this special force. The change from guerilla to military body was with the outbreak of the fighting in 1947 since the Pal-mach was in essence the only standing military force the Hagana had at the time.
What would be the most valued lesson that could be taken from history regarding KAPAP and the units that used it?

KAPAP played a very minor roll in the grand scheme of things yet at the same time was still extremely important. It was through KAPAP training that the Pal-mach members gained courage and transformed into warriors. Of course in cases where hand-to-hand skills were needed it proved useful, even though it was relatively rare the same way it is today in warfare on the battle field. There were many successful operations that the Pal-mach forces conducted, both as commando units and as a military force after during the war of independence. I am not an expert on this area of knowledge regarding operations, so cannot provide a detailed analysis of it.
How much training from the British in Fairburn & Sykes combative training influenced this the early version of KAPAP as it was trained at this point?
I have yet to find any proof that hand-to-hand training was received from the British forces save for a very basic knife use and bayonet. In this respect KAPAP had very little British influence unlike many other aspects of military doctrine and skills taught in the Hagana, Pal-mach, and later on, the IDF.
Can you tell us what the day-to-day training would consist of for a soldier being drilled in KAPAP and what the syllabus consisted of?
Again some of this can be found on the Pal-mach website.
During the one week of training out of every moth Pal-mach members trained in physical skills such as climbing buildings, running in gear and passing obstacles, hand-to-hand combat, a lot scouting-reconnaissance, the use of guns and explosives, and fighting as a unit. A lot of time was spent on recon, scouting out the surrounding environment getting intimately familiar with it, mapping the surrounding Arab villages and studying them.
There was very little ammunition for training and constant danger of being caught with a gun which was punishable by death or at the least a very long prison term. As a result most of the time they traveled armed with sticks and concealed grenades or hand guns. Training was aimed and fostering independence courage and improvisation. The ability to get along alone or in small squads was critical. Hand to hand fighting and especially stick fighting fostered courage. Long hikes were the norm and essential for being able to reach targets.
At what point in time did KAPAP begin to become Krav Maga and who was involved in this early phase? Can you elaborate with a time frame of this occurring year by year and what was dropped from the KAPAP curriculum as time went by?
Now were talking, this is something I have something to say about. KAPAP as a term shows up for the first time in 1940, and until then hand-to-hand combat was referred to as “Defense-Sport”. The change in terminology from a defensive outlook to a combative one is evidenced by the transition to the use of KAPAP – "krav panim el panim" – translation = face to face combat, which means hand to hand combat. This can be understood in light of the Arab uprising which had a transformative effect on the Hagana as an underground military force, pushing it to become more of an army than a civil defense militia.
KAPAP was an acronym for the hand-to-hand skills taught in the Hagana and its related units and youth movements. It included, long and short stick, knife, boxing Jujutsu, stone throwing and bayonet. The curriculum was formulated over time and several key figures can be recognized as those who led the instruction of specific skills.
•Gershon Kopler was head instructor of Jujutsu from 1935 to 1942 when he was killed in action on a sabotage mission on behalf of the British forces
•After Koplers death Maishel Hurwitz took over for a couple of months until Yehuda Markus was brought in to take Koplers place as chief jujutsu instructor. He held this position until he was killed by a stray bullet in 1947, while at a training facility
•Meir Rabinovitz "Batz" seems to be the main source of Knife techniques, which he acquired in the British Army. This material was modified and expanded on by many people. Maishel Hurwitz was the developer of the short stick fighting method and the lead instructor of the short stick and walking stick methods
•Bayonet work was 100 percent British. This skill received the least training for practical reasons, mostly lack of guns. Stone throwing was taught by Menashe Harel and had limited distribution, unlike the stick and jujutsu
•Yitzhak Stibel was chief boxing instructor from 1935 – the mid 1950's
Its important to understand that one of the main ways of disseminating knowledge and skill in hand-to-hand combat was through training many instructors to do the work in house in every unit. So yes there were lead instructors who taught at courses but there were many instructors working in the units of Pal-mach and Hagana. Since the Pal-mach was a standing force, the closest to an enlisted army the Hagana could manage at the time, it was only natural that instructors and members tested the material they were being taught. The first generation of instructors and members did this intensively with the KAPAP material. This attitude of testing things and not teaching them verbatim as they were handed down continued on in the units. Instructors would not teach techniques they did not test and prove that they worked for them. The Pal-mach pushed these skills further as part of the training of its units, and they spent more time at it than any other unit / force in the Hagana.
When the IDF was formed and the Pal-mach was assimilated into it, this included many of the Pal-mach hand-to-hand combat instructors. A service for physical training was formed and headed by Moshe Pinkel Zohar, who had been until then the chief physical training instructor for the Pal-mach. As part of the service, a training school was formed and commanded by Mayron Avramson and initially there were 8 instructors inducted into service at the school. At the school courses for sports instructors were conducted on a regular basis and included a lot of hand-to-hand combat training. This was called KAPAP, and was the same material taught in the Pal-mach by the same instructors, only now as part of the IDF.
Early on a new term shows up on official documents: “Krav Maga” – translation = contact fight, or in other words hand-to-hand combat. Both KAPAP and Krav Maga were in use as terms referring to the same material for the better part of the 1950's. Naturally over time as a natural process changes and adjustments are made to the overall curriculum and specific techniques, however at no point is there a replacement of one with the other or a major transformation and revision of the material. In essence KAPAP and Krav Maga for all intents and purposes are one and the same in the 1950's.
One of the 8 instructors was Imi Lichtenfeld; a well respected and talented KAPAP instructor from the Pal-mach and a good personal friend of Moshe Pinkel Zohar who brought him to the Pal-mach and then the IDF. Imi stayed on while others left and were replaced, and he became the lead instructor and authority on KAPAP training in the IDF. By the very late 1950's the term KAPAP had fallen out of use and was almost totally replaced by the term Krav Maga. This is not a major event in the news; no one is offended or bothered by this, and no one feels hurt or cheated out of their place in history. It is not an event but rather a slow gradual process that no one cares about, and it simply is what it is.
By the mid 50's Imi is recognized in the army as the lead authority on hand-to-hand combat and is respected and looked up to. Krav Maga is the common term for what is taught by him, but under no circumstance was it his "invention". In the early 1960's Imi retired and opened a civilian Krav Maga school, and on that very day what he taught was Krav Maga by name, but no different than KAPAP. It is true that as a result of his instructing hand-to-hand combat in the Pal-mach and then the IDF for 20 years, he left a mark on the techniques and curriculum. This is undeniable and there is no need to deny this. There are terms and concepts that can be related to Imi such as the 360 degree defense which seems to have been formulated in the late 1950's and documented by 1960. Taking military Krav Maga and changing it for the civilian arena started a new stage in the life of Krav Maga and the eradication of the memory of KAPAP as it was practiced by the military.
What transpired thereafter with the development of modern KAPAP I will leave for another time.
Thanks for the opportunity to share with you my research, I hope that my answers were informative.

Noah.

This article has been created for KAPAP Worcester and the KAPAP community worldwide. It may not be re-published in any form either partially or in whole in any format without permission.

Author and Historian Noah Gross shares with us the history of Israel’s forces during and after World War II. We also delve into KAPAP’s morphing into Krav Maga during the 1950‘s and find that the truth of how Krav Maga came to be is not what is widely believed....
There were many discoveries that were important to me and I'm sure more will surface. When researching such a subject where there is no previous work directly on it to rely on, one needs to piece together a puzzle, so one constantly tries guessing at what the whole picture is. To picture this you need to know what the question I asked myself was. I kept asking my self, what took place to bring about the formulation of a stick fighting system in 1940? What happened to make this possible, how did it come about and why did it disappear? I had assumed that the short stick fighting system had in fact disappeared and that then Krav Maga showed up. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this was not the case