The statue at Um Rash Rash
Um Rush Rush is a small park in Eilat between a shopping mall and the coast at the tip of the Gulf of Aqaba and which contains a statue, a plaque, and a nondescript closed building from the time of the British Mandate. The statue shows a soldier hoisting a flag on pole. None of this seems particularly important. Yet historically, this is one of the most important places resulting from Israel’s 1948-1949 War of Independence.
Um Rash Rash was formerly a small and abandoned police post, and from it emerged Eilat, now a major port and tourist resort. Its capture without a shot being fired enabled Israel to retain the Southern Negev and provided the country with a strategically crucial gateway to the Red Sea and the wider world.
The Gulf of Aqaba is shared with four countries — Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Israel has a tiny 10-12 km coastline at Eilat. Jordan has the port city of Aqaba. Egypt has the Sinai coasts, including Sharm El-Sheikh. Saudi Arabia has the eastern shore of the Gulf.
Eilat has grown in stages. Israel built the strategic Port of Eilat in the 1950s to 1960s, providing Israel its only access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean and permitting trade with Asia and Africa without passing through the Mediterranean. During the 1950s and 1970s, oil from Iran was shipped to Eilat and piped to the Mediterranean via the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline. Since the 1980s Eilat has become a major resort destination.
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​Directions: Enter “Umm Rashrash Beach” into Waze. The park is adjacent to the beach.
Public transport: Enter “Umm Rashrash” into Moovit and click on “Hof Umm Rashrash.”
The iconic picture of the Negev Brigade raising the home-made flag in this park at Um Rash Rash
How did the Palmach capture Um Rash Rash?
The Negev was allotted to Israel by the 1947 UN Partition Plan. In March 1949, armistice agreements were beginning with Jordan to bring the War of Independence to an end. Jordan was demanding the southern Negev and the city of Eilat, and Britain supported their claim. An armistice agreement had been signed with Egypt and they remained to the east of the recognized border between Egypt and the British Mandate, which went from Rafah to Taba. Um Rash Rash was a remote police outpost containing a small police building, a few huts and a well. But the Jordanians were not in the area! This desert area was remote and difficult to reach and Jordan’s army had little interest in occupying the far southern desert. Israel realized that the armistice negotiations would inevitably follow the lines where armies were actually stationed and it was crucial that they occupy it.
On March 10 1949, the Negev and Golani brigades raced to Um Rash Rash. The Negev Brigade travelled through the center of the Negev and reached the site before the Golani Brigade which travelled along the Arava. This operation was called Operation Uvda. Uvda is Hebrew for a fact, and this was what they were attempting to achieve – to establish facts on the ground. When the Negev Brigade reached Um Rash Rash, they found it abandoned. They did not have an Israeli flag with them, and so they improvised one. They drew the blue stripes and Star of David on a white sheet, and this became the famous “Ink Flag.” After raising this flag, the soldiers sung Hatakvah. A photograph of soldiers raising this flag became one of the iconic images of Israel’s War of Independence. About two hours after this the Golani forces arrived, and they had brought a real Israeli flag with them and this replaced the make-shift one. These armed forces sent a telegram that said: “On Haganah day, the 11th of Adar, the Palmach Negev brigade and the Golani brigade present the Gulf of Eilat to the State of Israel.” The next day, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wrote in his diary: “This was the greatest event in recent months. If not during the entire war of liberation and conquest.”
The occupation came just before armistice negotiations with Jordan had concluded, and as a result of its capture, Israel was able to retain Eilat and the southern Negev.
The biblical background to the Eilat area
Already in the biblical period, the northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba was known as a strategic maritime outlet. Two closely related places are mentioned – Elath and to its east along the coast Etzion-Geber. The book of Kings relates: “King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Etzion-Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom” (I Kings 9:26). From this port, Solomon sent trading expeditions to Ophir, and these voyages brought back gold, exotic woods and precious stones. According to the Bible, the Phoenicians assisted Solomon.
This port remained strategically important during the period of the Judean kings, and King Uzziah rebuilt and fortified the port city: “He built Elath and restored it to Judah after the king slept with his fathers”) II Kings 14:22). The copper mines in the Timna Valley may have supported this trade network. Control of Elath and Ezion-Geber eventually passed to Edom and subsequently to other regional powers.
It needs be mentioned that excavations at Tel el-Kheleifeh near modern-day Aqaba have confirmed this site as being a fortress or administrative center, but no evidence of a harbor or ship building facilities have been found. On the other, there is no particular reason these would have survived over thousands of years.
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Other than the copper mines, Jewish history is repeating itself with respect to the importance of a port leading to the Red Sea.​​
Other places in Eilat that are worthwhile visiting and are described on this website include the Eilat Bird Sanctuary, Underwater Observatory and Marine Park, and Um Rash Rash.
Consider also the Red Sea cruises, a walk along the promenade for cafes, restaurants and shopping, jeep tours, Dolphin Reef, Coral Reef, and a trip to Petra in Jordan.
For a view of Eilat and its surroundings there is the Red Sea View Lookout at Lavender St 15. A recording describes the view you are seeing. There is street parking. For directions enter “Red Sea view Lookout” into Waze or Moovit.
The Red Sea view Lookout