thumb|Adan (seen mounted on the flagpole) raising the [[Ink Flag in present-day Eilat at the end of the First Arab–Israeli War in March 1949]]

Avraham "Bren" Adan (; – ) was an Israeli major-general and author. Prior to Israel's independence, he served with the Palmach, an elite formation within the Haganah paramilitary force of the Yishuv community in British Mandatory Palestine. Adan fought under the Haganah and later under the newly formed Israel Defense Forces during the First Arab–Israeli War, and was photographed while raising the Israeli Ink Flag at the site of what is now Eilat to mark the end of the war. He served with the Israel Defense Forces from 1948 to 1977, and fought in all of the major Arab–Israeli wars that occurred during that period.

Biography

Adan was born into a Jewish family on 5 October 1926 in Kfar Giladi, British Mandatory Palestine; he was born with the surname Eidelson, but later changed it to Adan as part of a Hebraization process. He attended Tichon Hadash high school in Tel Aviv. In 1943, he joined the Palmach, an elite force of the Haganah paramilitary organization that operated on part of the Yishuv community in British Palestine. During the war, he served as the commander of the 162nd Division, which suffered severe losses from 6–8 October during repeated attempts to stop the Egyptian assault and push Egyptian forces back across the canal. Later during the war, Adan led his unit across the canal and into Egyptian territory north of the Great Bitter Lake during Operation Stouthearted Men, and subsequently maneuvered his forces southward to Suez City, where they surrounded the Egyptian Third Army.

From 1974 to 1977, he served as the military attaché at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, D.C.

Bibliography