The Israel Defense Forces’ 401st Armored Brigade, especially Battalion 52, has become a symbol of the “after me” ethos as its command chain has been repeatedly hit since the war began. Lt. Col. Dor Ben Shimon, who was killed overnight between Thursday and Friday in southern Lebanon, was the fourth battalion commander to be struck, after all three of his predecessors were wounded in combat.
The brigade also lost its commander, Col. Ahsan Daqsa, who was killed in Gaza, and his replacement, Col. Meir Biderman, was badly wounded in Lebanon less than a month ago. The latest killing came near midnight when Ben Shimon’s command tank was hit directly by Hezbollah fire in the village of Tebnine, north of the Beaufort Castle. Hezbollah said the strike was carried out with an anti-tank missile. Three other soldiers from the crew were killed in the same incident.
The first commander in the chain to be wounded was Lt. Col. Daniel Ela, who was moderately injured in a July 2024 clash in Rafah in southern Gaza. He told his soldiers at the time, “Continue fighting, I will finish in the hospital and I will come back to you.” After recovering, he returned to service and now commands trainee tank crews at Shizafon.
Ela was replaced by Lt. Col. Yehuda Shalev, who was severely wounded in the deadly October 2024 incident in Jabalia in which Daqsa was killed by an explosive device. The third wounded battalion commander, Lt. Col. A., was badly injured in April during the advance into southern Lebanon, in fierce fighting around Bint Jbeil. After Biderman was injured, the brigade’s battalion commanders told Ynet that the 401st tends to be wherever the war is, and Lt. Col. L. said the brigade’s strength is that it has no gaps, adding that “exactly 20 minutes after Biderman was wounded, his replacement entered.”
