Operation Lot (November 23-25, 1948) was a military operation of the IDF in the 1948-49
Israel War of Independence
which reestablished the land link with Sodom, the Dead Sea and the Potash works there. The operation was the
responsibility of the Negev Brigade, led by the Negev Beasts commandos. A major part of the operation was preparing a
road through the Maale Akrabim pass that could be traveled by jeep.
The map shows the major highlights of the operation:
The operation took place following the capture of Beersheva in the previous month in
Operation Yoav, which allowed
Beersheba to be used as a forward base of operations. Kurnub (Mamsheet) was captured without a fight on
November 23, as it had been abandoned by its defenders.
| Trucks overturned in the Ma'aleh Akrabim (Scorpions rise) pass, followed by jeeps. This shows how
Negev beasts
first worked on the road before making the descent. The road twists and turns all the way down. It's a drop of between
400 and 500 meters to the valley of the Dead Sea. |
 |
A second convoy passed through Maaleh Akrabim to the Arava, capturing Ein Husub (Hatzeva) police station without
resistance and likewise so was Tel Elmilkh. The convoy then proceeded through Nachal Amazia to Sodom and opened the land
link, relieving the workers and garrison of the Dead Sea Potash works, who had been isolated for months and had to
receive supplies by airlift.
Dead Sea
Potash
Works, 1948
However, the road was so poor at the time that the Dead Sea Potash works continued to be supplied by air. Israeli
presence in the Dead Sea area was used to monitor communications and hamper operations of the Jordan Legion. At
Ein Husub, Palmach 7th battalion set up a "deterrent" to the watching Jordanian forces, in the form of a large number of
cardboard buildings and cardboard trucks being pulled by jeeps.
References: Teperson, David, "Eyes of the Beholder," 2008. See
Negev Beasts. All photos from the book.
Synonyms and alternate spellings:
Further Information: See also
Operation Lot
Hebrew/Arabic pronunciation and transliteration conventions:
'H - ('het) a guttural sound made
deep in the throat. To Western ears it may sound like the "ch" in loch. In Arabic there are several letters that
have similar sounds. Examples: 'hanukah, 'hamas, 'haredi. Formerly, this sound was often represented by ch,
especially in German transliterations of Hebrew. Thus, 'hanukah is often rendered as Chanuka for example.
ch - (chaf) a sound like "ch"
in loch or the Russian Kh as in Khruschev or German Ach, made by putting the tongue against
the roof of the mouth. In Hebrew, a chaf can never occur at the beginning of a word. At the beginning of a word, it has
a dot in it and is pronounced "Kaf."
u - usually between oo as in spoon
and u as in put.
a- sounded like a in arm
ah- used to represent an a sound made by
the letter hey at the end of a word. It is the same sound as a. Haganah and Hagana are alternative
acceptable transliterations.
'a-notation used for Hebrew and Arabic
ayin, a guttural ah sound.
o - close to the French o as in homme.
th - (taf without a dot) - Th was
formerly used to transliterate the Hebrew taf sound for taf without a dot. However in modern Hebrew there
is no detectable difference in standard pronunciation of taf with or without a dot, and therefore Histadruth and
Histadrut, Rehovoth and Rehovot are all acceptable.
q- (quf) - In transliteration of
Hebrew and Arabic, it is best to consistently use the letter q for the quf, to avoid confusion with similar sounding
words that might be spelled with a kaf, which should be transliterated as K. Thus, Hatiqva is preferable to Hatikva for
example.
Definitions of
Zionism General History of Zionism and the
Creation of Israel History of Israel and Zionism
Historical Source Documents of Israel and Zionism
Israeli and Zionist Biographies
Back to main page:
http://www.zionism-israel.com
Zionism and Israel Information Center
This site is a part of the
Zionism and Israel on the Web Project
Copyright
This work is copyright © 2005 by Ami Isseroff and
Zionism and Israel Information Center and may not reproduced in any form
without permission unless explicitly noted otherwise. This entry is copyright
© 2008. Quoted materials may be copyright by their authors and must not be used in commercial publications without
permission. Individual entries may be cited with credit to
The Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Zionism and Israel
ZioNation - Zionism-Israel Web Log
Zionism & Israel News
Israel: like this, as if History of Zionism
Zionism FAQ Zionism Israel Center
Maps of Israel Jew Israel Advocacy Zionism
and its Impact Israel
Christian Zionism Site Map
