THE BATTLE OF JISR BENAT YAKUB & THE END OF THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN OF WORLD WAR I
The battle of ‘Jisr Benat Yakub’ Bridge, today known as the ‘Daughters of Jacob Bridge’, was one of the major clashes of the Palestine campaign in 1918. The battle serves as an important link in the chain of historical events surrounding the bridge, and a vital part in the advance of the Allied forces in the Middle East during the war.
On 26 September 1918, tidings of the victory against the Ottoman forces in Galilee arrived in Jerusalem. The news spurred Mordechai Ben-Hillel, a Jewish author, to joyously write in his diary about the delight that spread through the city as word got around. The general feeling across Jerusalem was that the war was over, the Ottoman and German forces were beaten and the victory celebrations could finally begin.
The truth, of course, was different. Ben-Hillel’s joy was slightly premature and the end of the war itself was still some time away. His diary entry came only one day after the end of the Battle of Megiddo, the final part of the vast campaign led by General Edmund Allenby to conquer the northern part of Palestine from the Ottoman forces, which took place on 19-25 September 1918 – although very little fighting occurred around the site of Megiddo itself.
The battle for the Daughters of Jacob Bridge on 27 September 1918 was essentially the last phase of the greater Battle of Megiddo. On 26 September Allenby ordered the forces to move northwards and continue with the plan to capture Damascus. In order to do that, the forces had to first secure the pass over the Jordan River and eventually team up with the forces of Lawrence of Arabia and conquer Damascus.
The Jordan River, flowing southward from the slopes of Mount Hermon all the way to the Dead Sea became an important strategic point during the final months of World War I. However it also held even older military significance.
Slightly south to Lake Hula, wedged in between the Golan Heights in the east and the Korazim Block in the west, is Jacob’s Ford, and crossing it is the bridge then known as Jisr Benat Yakub. Various Galilean traditions and legends, some dating to the Crusader period and even earlier, tie the location of the bridge to the biblical stories of Jacob and his sons from the
