Shot-Kal, Centurion

SHOT-KAL (CENTURION) TANK
STATE MEDAL 5763/2003
5th in the “Tanks that Made History” Series

Just as the Israeli Air Force controls the skies of the country and protects from above, the Armored Corps ensures ground protection. This series of medals is dedicated to the Armored Corps and salutes “the soldier in the tank” – the tens of thousands of men and women who have served and fought in the Armored Corps since the establishment of the State of Israel. The Armored Corps added the British Centurion Tank to its ranks in 1959 and renamed it “Shot”. Some 300 Shot Tanks participated in the Six Day War and over 1,000 of them in the Yom Kippur War, serving as the backbone of combat in the Golan Heights and advancing into Egypt after curbing the Egyptian forces in the Sinai, Shot-Kal tanks also participated in Operation Peace for the Galilee.

Obverse: The Shot-Kal in motion along mountainous terrain; the words “SHOT-KAL” are inscribed along the lower section in Hebrew and English, as well as “CENTURION”.

Reverse: A war chariot from the Period of Israel’s Kings with the words and source in Hebrew and English “Chariots of Salvation”, “Habakkuk”; the Armored Corps emblem appears in the lower part of the medal.

Edge: State emblem with the words "STATE OF ISRAEL" inscribed in Hebrew on the right and in English on the left; serial number and metal.

Designer: Eliezer Weishoff

Engraving: Tidhar Dagan.

Mint: Hecht Ltd., Israel.