Beaufort Castle Torah Scroll Returns After 44 Years

Four decades after the fierce 1982 battle at Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, a poignant ceremony brought closure to families and comrades of fallen soldiers. A Torah scroll commissioned to honor Major Guni Harnik and other members of the Golani Brigade's reconnaissance unit who died in the fighting was carried back to the mountaintop fortress where they gave their lives.

The memorial scroll, dedicated to those who fell in that battle and to members of the same cohort who died in subsequent years—including Brigadier General Erez Gerstein, was read at the site where the soldiers fought. The ceremony marked a deeply emotional homecoming for a sacred object tied to one of the Israel Defense Forces' most costly engagements during the 1982 Lebanon War.

The Torah Scroll of the Fallen of Beaufort Returns

The Torah Scroll of the Fallen of Beaufort Returned to the Mountain.

The Torah Scroll of the Fallen of Beaufort Returned

Major Harnik fell alongside several comrades as a Golani reconnaissance force he commanded advanced toward the northern section of the Beaufort fortress to complete its capture. The battle had already exacted a heavy toll when reconnaissance company commander Moshe Kaplinsky was severely wounded. Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, then serving in a senior field position, ordered Harnik to join the force, assume command, and complete the mission.

En route, the armored personnel carrier transporting Harnik overturned, leaving him lightly wounded. Undeterred, he continued on foot until he reached his men. Harnik reorganized the scattered force and planned a renewed assault on the fortified positions.

The soldiers encountered fierce machine gun fire as they pressed forward, clearing trenches with rifles and grenades. Harnik and a fellow fighter named Goldman reached a particularly well-fortified position where a PLO gunman had taken cover. The enemy fighter shot and killed Harnik at close range. Goldman immediately threw an explosive charge into the fortified position, destroying it and the fighter inside. When the battle finally ended, one of the soldiers climbed to the fortress's highest point and raised the Israeli flag.