on the odd chance that anyone here might have some thought on this, I'm posting my question here.

I am really impressed with the tank whose rear insignia is a very cool 7 sided plywood insignia with raised letters spelling 'Vulcan' in Hebrew. The tank number is 836667. I really like the rear markings of this tank, and plan to scratch build the 'Vulcan' insignia, for my Meng 4M tank, but unfortunately there are only photos of the rear of the tank, and I have no idea what markings, or equipment, are on the sides or front of the tank.

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on the odd chance that anyone here might have some thought on this, I'm posting my question here.

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The unit in question just happens to be my old outfit (when it was still equipped with Mk.2Bs), I might be able to help you out here, Curt.

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I am really impressed with the tank whose rear insignia is a very cool 7 sided plywood insignia with raised letters spelling 'Vulcan' in Hebrew. The tank number is 836667. I really like the rear markings of this tank, and plan to scratch build the 'Vulcan' insignia, for my Meng 4M tank, but unfortunately there are only photos of the rear of the tank, and I have no idea what markings, or equipment, are on the sides or front of the tank.

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The markings you describe here belong to the command vehicle of 'Vav' company ('Vulcan'), 77th Battalion, 7th Armored Brigade. They should be pretty much identical to the markings appearing on this rather excellent Mk.2B, built by Özgur Güner.

http://panzermania.com/Galerie/Merkava%20Mk%20IIB/Merkava%20Mk%20II%20B.html

The insignia on the front-left/rear-right mudguard marks the brigade, in case the 7th; the 2 in the middle indicates the that the 77th Battalion is the second battalion of the 7th Brigade (sandwiched between the 75th and the 82nd); the marking on the front-right/rear-left indicates the vehicles position within the company, in this case the letter 'Gimel' (ג) which indicates it's the CO's vehicle.

The front insignias are (almost) always painted on the rubber-flaps of the mud-guards, the rear-ones seem to be rather unit-specific: in most cases on the rubber-flaps, but sometimes on the metal-part above them; in some cases they're painted partially (only the brigade or the company-marking), in some cases they're missing altogether (checking references of the exact vehicle or at least the unit is advised).

The platoon-markings on either side of the turret-basket should also bear the letter 'Gimel'; the large, rather artistic rear marking (in this case 'Vulcan' written in Hebrew (וולקן), shaped like a tank) is present on the company CO's (ג) and on his deputy's (ד) vehicle only.

The company-markings (large white 'V' on the side-skirts) are obviously the same on all vehicles belonging to the same company. Luckily enough, in this case it corresponds to the latin 'V' letter used in 'Vulcan' (the Hebrew designation of the company is marked by the letter is 'Vav - ו').

The battalion-markings (the white barrel-rings) designate which battalion of the brigade the tank belongs to; in this case, two rings mean the second battalion of the brigade.

Isradecal has a set for 'Vulcan' company. Although the markings are for Mk.2Bs, I guess they could be used for the Mk.4M as well:

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/isradecal-35-decal-idf-01-idf-merkava-1927688847

The 'tank shaped' Vulcan word is on metal above the left rear mudflap. On that left rear mudflap, the insignia is what looks like a latin 'T', with the left hand part of the horizontal line being slightly longer than the right hand. There is a single horizontal 'dash' at the bottom of the 'T'.

On the right rear mudflap, there is the number 2 inside a wing shaped outline

The only other question I have is whether the tank would have a battering ram or towing horns on the front.