Medal of Courage

עיטור העוז
Awarded by Israel Defense Forces
Type	Military decoration
Eligibility	Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces
Awarded for	Acts of Valor
Status	Currently awarded
Statistics
Established	1970
First awarded	1973
Total awarded	220
Distinct recipients	218
Precedence
Next (higher)	Medal of Valor (Israel)
Next (lower)	Medal of Distinguished Service
Medal of Courage ribbon

The Medal of Courage (Hebrew: עיטור העוז‎, Itur HaOz) is an Israeli military decoration. The medal is awarded for carrying out acts of gallantry at the risk of life, during combat duty. The medal was established in 1970 (though it has been given retroactively) by act of law in the Knesset.

Design

The medal was designed by Dan Reisinger, on the obverse there are six crossed swords and between them an olive branch. the reverse is plain.

The medal is attached to a red ribbon symbolizing the fire and blood in battle. Officially, two time recipients of the medal wear a small clasp in the form of the medal on its ribbon. In practice, Rav Aluf Amnon Lipkin-Shahak (the only person to be awarded the medal twice whilst still alive) wore two ribbons.

The medal is minted by the Israel Government Coins and Medals Corporation, is made of 25 gram silver/935 and the clasp is chrome plated metal.

Recipients

To this day 220 awards have been made, the latest were in 2005 after a period of 23 years in which the medal was not awarded. In 2007 it was announced that the medal would be awarded to six soldiers who fought during the Second Lebanon War. Two recipients have been awarded the medal twice.

Notable recipients

• Amnon Lipkin-Shahak two time recipient.
• Oved Ladishinsky two time recipient.
• Meir Har-Zion received the medal for his conduct during a raid in 1956.
• Rafael Eitan received the medal for his conduct during a raid to Syria in 1955.
• Shmuel Gonen received the medal for his conduct during the Sinai War.
• Meir Dagan received the medal for his disarming a terrorist in 1971.
• Yitzhak Mordechai received the medal for his conduct during the Yom Kippur War.
• Yossi Ben Hanan received the medal for his conduct during the Yom Kippur War.
• Roi Klein was posthumously awarded the medal for jumping on a grenade to save his fellow soldiers during the Second Lebanon War.

References

• John D. Clarke, Gallantry Medals & Awards of the World, pp. 108-109