During the Two Hundred Days of Dread, from the spring of 1942 until the British Army's victory in the Second Battle of El Alamein, Yitzhak Sadeh ordered the formation of the German Platoon of the Palmach, which was intended to carry out guerrilla operations behind enemy lines if Palestine were to fall to the German army.

The platoon was established in May 1942, during a time when there was fear in the Yishuv that Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps, advancing through North Africa towards Egypt, might cross the Suez Canal and invade Palestine.

The platoon continued to exist, and rumors occasionally circulated about potential operations it would carry out on various fronts, but none materialized.

Yigal Allon opposed the handover, but Palmach commander Yitzhak Sadeh strongly supported carrying out the Saison.

Several weeks before the end of World War II, Avidan was discharged from the Palmach and returned to Kibbutz Ein Hashofet, where he worked in agriculture.

The brigade was formed from Hish units that had been fighting in the Tel Aviv and southern regions, as well as Mahal forces and an Irgun battalion.

David Ben-Gurion regarded Jerusalem as the focal point of the entire campaign and ordered the assembly of a large force of about 1,500 fighters for the operation.

Avidan was appointed commander of the operation due to his military experience in the German Platoon and the Palmach, as well as his leadership and personal qualities.

The road to Jerusalem was opened, and large supply convoys carrying food and fuel reached the city.

On May 29, 1948, two weeks after the Arab armies’ invasion, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force began advancing north from Ashkelon.

The column consisted of over 500 (1,300 vehicles according to the logbook of the reinforcement platoon from the 53rd Battalion stationed at Nitzanim, reporting to the battalion command in Be'er Tuvia)[1]: trucks, half-tracks, medium tanks, and artillery of all kinds moved in a "parade" along the main road west of Nitzanim towards the town of Isdud (today Ashdod).

As part of Operation Yoav, the Givati Brigade, under Avidan's command, captured the "Junction Strongholds" (modern-day intersections of Highway 35 and Highway 232) and the Hulikat Strongholds, thereby opening the road to the Negev and encircling a large Egyptian force in the Faluja Pocket.

Avidan’s name is forever associated with the Givati Brigade, which fought fierce battles in the War of Independence and stopped the Egyptian advance towards Tel Aviv.

A jeep he was riding in near the Suez Canal as the deputy commander of a post was hit by a mine, and he was captured with both legs crushed.

His brother was Walter Koch, who Hebraized his name to Uri Kochva, and was an artist and painter, a member of Kibbutz Na'an.