The son ofNahum Shadmi. Shadmi was born in 1922 in the agricultural farm of Bitanya, above Lake Kinneret. He attended the Kadoorie Agricultural High School alongside Yitzhak Rabin, where he enlisted in theHaganah pre-state military under- ground, and served in the Palmach and Palyam, the Palmach's naval branch. Heserved as the commander of a battalion in the Harel Brigade of the Palmach elite pre-state underground Jewish militia during the War ofIndependence and later served in other senior command positions in the Israel DefenseForces. His name,however, is best re- membered for his involvement in the incident in which dozens of Arab civilians were killed during the Sinai Campaign in 1956. During the War of Independence, he served as the commander of the 5th Battalion in the Harel Brigade and participated ni the Nahshon campaign to break through the Arab blockade on the main road to Jerusalem. Later, Shadmi was ap- pointed the commander of the 7th Battalion of the Negev Brigade and took part in Operation Horev in the Sinai. Later in his military career, he commanded the offi- cers' training school, the Golani Brigade and was the chief of Ground Forces and Paratroopers. Golani Brigade is Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).