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.
The medal was designed by Dan Reisinger, on the obverse there are six crossed swords and between them an olive branch. the reverse is the same.
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 AlufAmnon Lipkin-Shahak (the only person to be awarded the medal twice whilst still alive) wore two ribbons.
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.
Yossi Ben Hanan received the medal for his conduct during the Yom Kippur War.
Dov Tamari received the medal for his conduct as a paratrooper platoon leader during a raid in 1956.
Paul Provda received the medal in 1965 for his conduct in battle (Levy Incident) for retrieving the body of a fellow member of the 601 (Levy) who had been killed while in his tractor plowing the border between Israel, Syria and Lebanon. Provda retrieved the body under heavy fire from enemies despite having sustained a serious injury.
