The
Zionist Century- Concepts - Struggle and Defense
Jewish Defense Organizations
[ Under Ottoman Rule - 1882-1917 ] [ Under
British Mandatory Rule 1918-1948 ]
Under Ottoman Rule - 1882-1917
Bar Giora
In the last quarter of the 19th century, when
the first Jewish agricultural settlements came into being (see
First Aliyah), the Jewish settlers
had to cope with border friction, disputes over water rights
and intrusions on their crops and property. Their choice was
either to fight for their rights or to be left to the mercy
of their neighbors. As a result, individuals and groups of young
people organized to fight for these elementary rights. This
was the period of the first shomrim - watchmen - typical of
whom was Abraham Shapira. After some time, guard duty in most
of the settlements became the task of local Arab strong men,
who undertook to protect the Jewish settlers by sending their
men to guard Jewish life and property.
The immigrants of the Second Aliyah were critical
of the early settlers and well aware of the dangers involved
in employing non-Jewish watchmen. On the initiative of Yisrael
Shochat, about ten of them, including Yitzhak
Ben Zvi and Alexander
Zeid, met in Jaffa in 1907 and founded a secret sociey called
Bar-Giora (named after Simeon Bar Giora, the Jewish military
leader in the war against Rome, (66-70 C.E.), with the aim of
winning the right to work and guard the settlements as well
as developing Jewish settlement in new areas. The members of
Bar Giora were given responsibility for the protection of Sejera
(Ilaniyah) and, in 1908, of Mesha
(Kefar Tavor). In 1909, Bar Giora merged with the new defense
body - Hashomer.
HaShomer
HaShomer ("The Watchman") - the
association of Jewish watchmen in Eretz Yisrael was active between
1909 and 1920. It was founded in April 1909 and was headed by
a committee of three - Yisrael Shohat, Yisrael Giladi, and Mendel
Portugali. Within three years, HaShomer assumed responsibility
for the protection of some seven villages. Other settlements
also passed to an all-Jewish guard system. Members of Ha-Shomer
were prominent in the life of the new yishuv and played an important
part in settling new land.
At the outbreak of World War I, Ha-Shomer was
forced underground and two of its leaders, Manya
and Yisrael Shochat, were exiled in 1915 to Anatolia. In 1916,
it began to recover: its members collected and stored arms,
and organized the protection of Jewish property. Ha-Shomer opposed
the espionage activities of Nili (see also Yosef Lishanski).
During the British campaign in Palestine, members
of Ha-Shomer joined the Jewish Legion,
while others joined the mounted police, and played a prominent
part in the defense of Tel - Hai and Jerusalem during the Arabs
riots in 1920 and 1921. However, new members of the yishuv leadership
demanded the reorganization of defense on a broader basis under
the discipline of the recognized Jewish authorities. In June
1920 Ha-Shomer ceased to exist as separate body. Its members,
however, maintained contact and made an important contribution
to the yishuv's defense.
The Jewish Legion
Logo of the British army's
Zion Mule Corps |
Military formation of Jewish volunteers in
World War I, who fought in the British Army for the liberation
of Eretz Yisrael from Turkish rule. The idea was raised, on
December 1914, by Vladimir
Jabotinsky and was fully embraced by
Yosef Trumpeldor. By the end of March 1915, 500 Jewish
volunteers from among the yishuv deportees in Egypt had started
training.
British military command opposed the participation
of Jewish volunteers on the Palestinian front and suggested
they volunteers serve as a detachment for mule transport on
some other sector of the Turkish front. Trumpeldor succeeded
in forming the 650 -strong Zion Mule Corps, of whom 562 were
sent to the Galipoli front. Meanwhile, Vladimir Jabotinsky pursued
his project of a Jewish Legion for the Palestinian front. Finally,
on August 1917, the formation of a Jewish regiment was officially
announced.
The unit was designated as the 38th Battalion
of the Royal Fusiliers. It included British volunteers, members
of the former Zion Mule Corps and a large number of Russian
Jews. On April 1918 it was joined by the 39th Battalion of the
Royal Fusiliers, over 50% of whom were American volunteers.
In June 1918, The 38th Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers was
sent to Palestine, where the volunteers fought for the liberation
of Eretz Yisrael from Turkish rule. The Jewish Legion was demobilized
by the anti-Zionist British Military Administration (1918 -1920).
First Judeans Regimental Symbol |
Nili
Secret, pro-British spying organization, which
operated under Turkish rule in Palestine during World War I,
under the leadership of the agronomist
Aaron
Aaronsohn. An acronym for the Hebrew verse "Netzah Yisrael
Lo Yeshaker" - the strength of Israel will not lie (I Sam. 15:29),
which served as its password.
Nili was founded by a number of Jews in the moshavot
who believed that the future of the Jews depended on Palestine
(Eretz Yisrael) being taken over by Britain. In February 1917,
contact was first established between the espionage center in
Atlit and British intelligence in Cairo. The connections were
maintained by sea for several months and the British received
useful information collected by the group.
In September 1917, the Turks caught a carrier
pigeon sent from Atlit to Egypt with clear proof of espionage
within the Jewish population. The leadership of the Yishuv and
the Ha-Shomer organization dissociated itself from Nili's actions.
One of the group, Na'aman
Belkind, was captured by the Turks. The network was later
uncovered by the Turkish police and in October 1917, Turkish
soldiers surrounded the moshava Zikhron Ya'akov and arrested
numerous people, including Aaronsohn's sister, Sarah
Aaronsohn, who committed suicide after four days of torture.
The prisoners were incarcerated in Damascus.
Lishansky and Belkind were sentenced to death. With Aaron Aaronsohn's
death in an air accident on May 1919, the group finally broke
up.
Under British Mandatory Rule 1918-1948
The Haganah
The underground military organization of the
yishuv in Eretz Yisrael from 1920 to 1948. The Arab riots in
1920 and 1921 (q.v., see also Tel Hai) strengthened the view
that it was impossible to depend upon the British authorities
and that the yishuv needed to create an independent defense
force completely free of foreign authority. In June 1920, the
Haganah was founded.
During the first nine years of its existence,
the Haganah was a loose organization of local defense groups
in the large towns and in several of the settlements. The Arab
riots in 1929 (q.v.) brought about a complete change in
the Haganah's status.
- It became a large organization encompassing nearly all
the youth and adults in the settlements, as well as several
thousand members from each of the cities.
-
It initiated a comprehensive training program
for its members, ran officers' training courses;
-
Established central arms depots into which
a continuous stream of light arms flowed from Europe.
- Simultaneously, the basis was laid for the underground
production of arms.
1936-1939, the years of the
Arab
Revolt, were the years in which the Haganah matured and
developed from a militia into a military body. Although the
British administration did not officially recognize the organization,
the British Security Forces cooperated with it by establishing
civilian militia (see Jewish Settlement Police - J.S.P., and
also, Jewish Auxiliary Police - ghafirs). In the summer of 1938
Sepcial Night Squads - S.N.S. were extablished, under the command
of Captain
Orde Wingate
(Plugot Sadeh,
Yitzhak Sadeh).
During the years of the riots, the Haganah protected
the establishment of over 50 new settlements in new area of
the country (see Homa Umigdal
- Stockade and Watchtower Settlements). As a result of the
British government anti-Zionist policy, expressed in the White
Paper of 1939, the Haganah supported illegal immigration and
organized demonstrations against the British anti-Zionist policy.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Haganah
was faced with new problems. It headed a movement of volunteers,
from which Jewish units were formed for service in the British
army (see Jewish Brigade Group). It
also cooperated with British intelligence units and sent its
personnel out on various commando missions in the Middle East.
Another example of this cooperation was the dropping of 32 Jewish
parachutists in 1943-44 behind enemy lines in the Balkans, Hungary
and Slovakia. Europe (see also Hannah
Szenesh, Enzo Sereni,
Haviva Reik).
At the same time, the Haganah
further strengthened its independent basis during the war. A
systematic program of training was instituted for the youth
of the country. In 1941, the Haganah's first mobilized regiment,
the Palmach came into being. At the end of the war, when it
became clear that the British government had no intention of
altering its anti-Zionist policy, the Haganah began an open,
organized struggle against British Mandatory rule in the framework
of a unified Jewish Resistance Movement, consisting of Haganah,
Irgun Zevai Le'umi - Etzel, and Lohamei
Herut Yisrael - Lehi.
Haganah branches were established at Jewish D.P.
[displaced person] camps in Europe and Haganah members accompanied
the "illegal" immigrant boats. In the spring of 1947, David
Ben Gurion took it upon himself to direct the general policy
of the Haganah, especially in preparation for impending Arab
attack. On May 26 1948, the Provisional Government of Israel
decided to transform the Haganah into the regular army of the
State, to be called "Zeva Haganah Le-Yisrael"
- The Israel Defense Forces.
Irgun Zeva'i Le'umi - "The National Military
Organization" (abbr. Etzel, I.Z.L.)
Armed Jewish underground organization, founded
in 1931 by a group of Haganah commanders, who left the Haganah
in protest against its defense charter. In April 1937, during
the Arab riots, the organization split - about half its members
returned to the Haganah. The rest formed a new Irgun Zeva'i
Le'umi (abbr. Etzel), which was ideologically linked with the
Revisionist Movement and accepted the authority of its leader,
Vladimir Jabotinsky.
Etzel rejected the "restraint" policy of the
Haganah and carried out armed reprisals against Arabs, which
were condemned by the Jewish Agency. Many of its members were
arrested by the British authorities; one of them, Shlomo Ben
Yosef, was hanged for shooting an Arab bus. After the publication
of the White Paper in May 1939, Etzel directed its activities
against the British Mandatory autorities.
At the outbreak of World War II, the organization
declared a truce, which led to a second split (see Lohamei Herut
Yisrael). Etzel members joined the British Army's Palestinian
units and later the Jewish Brigade.
From 1943 Etzel was headed by Menahem
Begin. In February 1944, Etzel declared war against the
British administration. It attacked and blew up government offices,
military installations and police stations. The Jewish Agency
and the Haganah moved against the Etzel in a campaign nicknamed
the Sezon. Etzel joined the Jewish Resistance Movement and after
its disintegration in August 1946, Etzel continued attacks on
British military and government objectives.
In April 1947, four members of the organization
were hanged in Acre prison. In May 1947, Etzel broke into the
fortress at Acre and freed 41 prisoners. In July 1947, when
3 other Etzel members were executed, the I.Z.L. hanged two British
sergeants.
After the Declaration of Independence, the Etzel
high command offered to disband the organization and integrate
its members into the army of the new Jewish state. It was subsequently
disbanded and full integration was achieved in September 1948.
Lohamei Herut Yisrael (abbr. Lehi)
Armed underground organization founded by
Abraham Stern in June 1940,
after the Irgun Zeva'i Le'umi decided on a truce on armed activities
against the British during the war. Lehi declared a continuation
of the struggle against the British, opposed the voluntary enlistment
of Jews into British Army, and even attempted to contact representatives
of the Axis.
During January and February 1942, clashes between
members of the "Stern group" and the British authorities reached
their peak. The British forces reacted by arresting and killing
leading members of the group. Abraham Stern himself was caught
and killed by British police officers. In early 1944, Lehi resumed
its operations, joining in the struggle against the British
through affiliation to the Jewish Resistance Movement. During
and after this period, Lehi carried out sabotage operations
and armed attacks on British military objectives and government
installations. In April 1947, Lehi began organizing sabotage
operations outside Palestine, mailing bombs to British statesmen.
In May 29, 1948, two weeks after the establishment
of the State of Israel, members of Lehi joined the Israeli army.
In Jerusalem, however, they continued to fight separately. After
the assassination of the U.N. mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte,
in Jerusalem in September 1948, an act which a group of Lehi
members were suspected of carrying out, the Israeli authorities
enforced the final disbanding of Lehi in Jerusalem. Lehi ceased
to exist.
The Jewish Resistance Movement
At the end of world War II, when it became clear
that the British government had no intention of altering its
anti-Zionist policy, the yishuv organized the Jewish Resistance
Movement, which was run by the Haganah in cooperation with Etzel
and Lehi.
The movement carried out its first operation
on Oct. 1945, when a Palmach unit attacked the Atlit internment
camp and liberated the 208 "illegal" immigrants held there.
In Nov. 1945, the Movement showed its strength by launching
a major attack on railroads all over the country and sinking
several coastal patrol launches. In the following months, the
Movement carried out attacks upon British police posts, coast
guard stations, radar installations and air-fields.
In June 1946, the Jewish Resistance Movement
blew up the bridges linking Palestine with neighboring states.
The British authorities reacted to this attack on June 29, 1946
("Black Saturday"), by arresting the members of the Jewish Agency
Executive. Military forces conducted searches for arms caches
in the settlements and thousands of people were arrested. The
Jewish Agency ordered a halt in the armed operations against
the British, but Etzel and Lehi refused to comply. In July 1946,
Etzel blew up the central government offices at the King David
Hotel in Jerusalem. 80 people were killed - government officials
and civilians, Britons, Jews and Arabs. After this operation,
condemned outright by the Jewish Agency and by the Haganah,
the Jewish Resistance Movement ceased to exist.
Jewish Brigade Group
The only military unit to serve in World War
II in the British Army - and, in fact - in all the Allied forces
- as an independent, national Jewish military formation, the
Jewish Brigade Group comprised mainly of Jews from Eretz Yisrael
and had its own emblem. The establishment of the Brigade was
the final outcome of prolonged efforts by the yishuv and the
Zionist Movement to achieve recognized participation and representation
of the Jewish people in the war against Nazi Germany.
In 1940, the Jews of Palestine were permitted
to enlist in Jewish companies attached to the East Kent Regiment
(the "Buffs"). These companies were formed into three infantry
battalions of a newly-established "Palestine Regiment". The
battalions were moved to Cyrenaica and Egypt, but there, too,
as in Palestine, they continued to be engaged primarily in guard
duties. The Jewish soldiers demanded to participate in the fighting
and the right to display the Jewish flag.
It was not until September 1944, however, that
the British government agreed to the establishment of a Jewish
Brigade. It consisted of Jewish infantry, artillery, and service
units. After a period of training in Egypt, the Jewish Brigade
Group - approximately 5,000 soldiers - took part in the final
battles of the war on the Italian front. In May 1945, the Brigade
was moved to North East Italy where, for the first time, it
encountered survivors of the Holocaust. The Brigade became a
major factor in the "Illegal Immigration" (see also Berihah).
In the summer of 1946, the British authorities decided to disband
the Brigade.