Israel - Knesset Election - 2024?
Upon the decision being made in the government, the secretary of the government will apply for the approval of the Knesset's interior committee for the new date of the elections, and as long as the committee approves holding the elections at the end of February with a majority of 75%, the Knesset plenum will also be asked to vote on the approval of the new date. At the same time, the High Court of Justice was also expected to discuss the petitions submitted to postpone the elections - some even to a date later than February 2024.
At a time when a special campaign was launched calling for the overthrow of the Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu , due to the failure of the war on Gaza and the failure to achieve any of the declared goals, the Israeli political and partisan arena is witnessing behind-the-scenes movements to overthrow Netanyahu during the war and form an alternative government.
The campaign - which was launched from the Knesset Square, entitled "No confidence now... a pillar of fire to bring down the government" - was accompanied by calls for periodic demonstrations and protests, in addition to the ongoing sit-in by the families of Israeli detainees in front of the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem.
The protest campaign expanded in the wake of the disagreements within the emergency government, the debate in the war council regarding the day after this war, as well as the noisy session of the Ministerial Council for Political and Security Affairs (the Cabinet), and the attacks of the ministers of what is classified as the "extreme right" on the Chief of Staff of the Army, Herzi Halevy, following his decision to form An investigation team into the failure to prevent the " Al-Aqsa Flood " attack.
Readings by military and political analysts indicate that the deliberations of the War Council suggest that the Israeli army has not achieved any of its goals in Gaza so far, as Hamas' governmental and military capabilities are still present, its military leadership is alive and working, the majority of the tunnels have not been destroyed, and half of the Israeli detainees remain. In the sector.
Analyzes agree that the joining of the "National Camp" led by Minister Benny Gantz to the emergency government was the reason for the war on Gaza, out of a sense of responsibility towards the future of the "national homeland of the Jewish people." However, due to the approach and practices of Netanyahu and the "extreme right" ministers in the government, analysts agree on "It is the responsibility that now forces them to move away from the nightmare of the Netanyahu government and bring it down."
Analysts agree that the so-called "day after the war" is also the day in which the signal will be given for the political and civil battle to overthrow the Netanyahu government, but this battle is still within a scope that does not dominate public Israeli discourse.
Analysts suggested that it is difficult to plan the political battle, just as it is difficult to determine the date of the "mass volcanic eruption" in Israel, even though the protests are flowing and escalating, in light of the campaigns demanding early elections, and calls for Netanyahu's dismissal. With ministers and cabinet members attacking the army chief of staff, and voices calling for Netanyahu's departure, party affairs analyst for Haaretz newspaper Yossi Verter believes that Gantz, who "entered the emergency government out of national responsibility," must withdraw from the government that "employs... The war is for coalition goals and narrow personal and partisan interests of Netanyahu and his partners."
Werther pointed out that the slander of the ministers - appointed by Netanyahu - against the Chief of Staff during wartime is only the first introduction to what is expected in the coming months, saying, "No one will be saved from the poisons that Netanyahu is spreading, and it will affect everyone, and therefore it seems that the emergency government is on the verge of exploding and collapsing."
The party affairs analyst says, "The clear conclusion from the far-right ministers' attack on the army commanders at the Ministry of Security headquarters in Tel Aviv is that the prime minister and the ministers of the right-wing parties have no intention but to cling to their seats, even if that means setting the country on fire."
According to the same source, Werther's other conclusion is that "the popular struggle to overthrow the government must begin and expand immediately. Every moment that these people are present, in government offices, and at decision-making points, constitutes a clear and immediate danger to Israel's security, and the protests must expand." It is located opposite the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, and the request must be immediate elections."
The same political analyst believes that Gantz, Gadi Eisenkot, and Gideon Saar from the "National Camp" have exhausted their membership in the emergency government, saying that "their continued participation in the broad forums of the government, the cabinet, and the war council does not contribute to the unity of the Israeli people. It only helps this group of right-wing ministers." "Extremist extremists continue to rampant abuse and poisoning."
In a scenario that reflects the possibility of the "National Camp" leaving the emergency government and withdrawing from the war council, political analyst for the "Israel Hayom" newspaper, Matti Tutfeld, revealed the presence of movements in the political and party arena, in order to overthrow Netanyahu during the war, and form an alternative government without heading to early parliamentary elections.
The same political analyst reviewed these movements led by the head of the "Israel Our Home" party, Avigdor Lieberman , who refused to join the emergency government or the war council, and justified this by saying that Netanyahu is exploiting the war for his personal and political goals, in order to remain in the prime minister's chair, as he called for Netanyahu's removal from office. Likud presidency, and expressed his readiness to join any government that does not include Netanyahu.
Tutfeld pointed out that Lieberman, with the formation of the emergency government and the expansion of the war, renewed his relations with his old friend, Shas party leader Aryeh Deri , in a joint attempt to formulate a step to replace Netanyahu in the current Knesset and form an alternative government. Tutfeld adds, "At some point, figures linked to Minister Bezalel Smotrich, opposition leader Yair Lapid, and several members of the Knesset from Likud were involved as well, but without achieving any fundamental progress, but it has become clear to everyone that this involvement is only the first step, and so is Netanyahu, who has become "He also realizes the approaching political storm."
Peace Now spokesman Adam Clare believes that "procrastinating the war and arguing about the future of Gaza is a good approach for almost everyone in the Israeli political scene, and not just for Netanyahu, as it also serves Gantz and Lapid." Clare told Al Jazeera Net, "There are aspects of the issue of the day after the war that the majority in Israel does not accept and even strongly opposes. No one in the Israeli political and party structure supports any political settlement with the Palestinians, in anticipation of early parliamentary elections, for fear that the Israeli voter will hold him accountable."
Clare, an activist in the protest campaign to overthrow the Netanyahu government, explained, "There is an Israeli political consensus that rejects the position of the American administration, which calls for starting a settlement with the Palestinians the day after the war, and pushing for a settlement of the conflict through the establishment of a Palestinian state that includes Gaza and the West Bank, with safe passage between them."
The same spokesman believes that "when the time comes for a real and fundamental discussion regarding the nature of the future settlement with the Palestinians, on the basis of international resolutions and the two-state solution, a large portion of the left and the center will lean several degrees to the right," explaining that this is "not only because of the fear of losing voters' votes." "But because of a real change in perceptions among the Israelis after the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood."
Opinion polls in Israel continued to give their back to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , as 64% believed that his performance in the war on Gaza was not good. The poll also expected the decline of the Likud Party in exchange for the rise of the state camp led by Benny Gantz. In addition to the 64% who said they were not satisfied with Netanyahu's performance, 50% of the 600 Israeli respondents said they were completely dissatisfied with his performance. On the other hand, 63% expressed their satisfaction with the performance of Defense Minister Yoav Galant during the current war, and only 25% believed that Netanyahu is suitable for the position of prime minister.
At the same time, the poll revealed that if parliamentary elections were held in Israel, the State Camp party led by Benny Gantz would be the largest party in Israel, winning 33 seats compared to the 12 seats it won in the November 2022 elections, while the Likud Party led by Benjamin Netanyahu won 20 seats, compared to the 33 he won in the last elections.
55% also expressed their support for the decision of Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi to form an investigation committee regarding the events of last October 7 (the Al- Aqsa flood ), compared to 20% of those polled who considered the decision unjustified.
Another opinion poll published by Maariv newspaper said that 48% of Israelis preferred Gantz as prime minister over Netanyahu, who received the support of 34% of those polled, while the rest of the participants did not have a specific opinion.
According to Anatolia News Agency, the possibility of holding parliamentary elections does not appear on the horizon in light of the ongoing war on Gaza since the seventh of last October, but Israeli estimates indicate the possibility of returning to the ballot boxes after the war.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrate weekly throughout Israel, demanding the resignation of the current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu and the holding of early elections. Since the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, Netanyahu has also been subjected to many criticisms from the opposition and former officials and soldiers, who accused him of failing to manage the government and the war on the Gaza Strip.
An opinion poll released 12 January 2024 showed that only 29% of Israelis believe that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is most suitable to head the government. Maariv newspaper reported - according to the results of the poll - that 29% of Israelis believe that Netanyahu is most suitable to head the government, compared to 42% who said that Minister in the War Council, Benny Gantz , is most suitable for the position. According to the poll, 20% of Israelis did not have a specific answer in this regard, according to what the newspaper reported. The survey was conducted by the Lazar Institute (private) on a random sample of 515 Israelis, with a margin of error of approximately 4.3%.
An opinion poll released 22 January 2024 by Israeli Channel 13 sheds light on the current preferences for the leadership of the Israeli regime, and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to be hitting absolute rock bottom at a time of war. The survey, conducted among a diverse cross-section of Israeli settlers, indicates that if elections were held today, former Israeli occupation forces chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot would garner 45% of the vote, while Netanyahu trails with 32%.
In a hypothetical face-off between opposition leader Benny Gantz and Netanyahu, Gantz leads with 48%, leaving Netanyahu at 30%. Similarly, if the competition were between former Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Netanyahu, Lapid would garner 36% of the vote compared to Netanyahu's 41%. When asked about the motivations behind Netanyahu's decisions during times of war, 53% of respondents believe personal motives and issues guide his actions, while 33% perceive that the interests of the Israeli occupation are the driving force behind his decision-making process. The survey delved into public opinion on a potential peace deal involving a cessation of hostilities and a prisoner exchange. Results show that 35% of respondents support such a deal, while 46% oppose it. A notable 19% remain undecided on the matter.
The center-left French newspaper Liberation, a newspaper of record in France, said 22 January 2024 that protests were increasing in Israel 3 and a half months after the start of the war on Gaza , and that the opposition has begun its preparations in conjunction with calls from more Israelis to hold early elections in the hope of ousting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The newspaper - in a report by its correspondent from Tel Aviv, Nicolas Roger - began by criticizing former General Gadi Eisenkot - a member of the war cabinet - publicly and surprisingly of Netanyahu's policies, saying: "What is happening in Gaza today is that the goals of the war have not been achieved, those who talk about... The complete defeat of Hamas . They are not telling the truth." He added, "No," when the journalist asked him, "Are the decision makers honest with the public?"
Eisenkot's comments sparked some criticism, but the former chief of staff cannot be touched, because his son and nephew were killed in Gaza, and he is more capable than others - as the correspondent believes - of understanding the reality and repercussions of Israeli military actions. Therefore, when Eisenkot says that elections are necessary "in the coming months," it is a clear message that the opposition will not wait for the end of the war, which will be long - as Netanyahu promised - to force the country to go to the polls.
The correspondent explained that the Prime Minister is trapped in what appears to be a growing turmoil reminiscent of the months preceding last October 7, from protests by hostage families in front of his house to thousands of people demanding his departure in the streets of Tel Aviv, in addition to the torrent of criticism of the new budget.
On the main street that surrounds Tel Aviv from the east, new billboards say, "We need elections," in a campaign that appears expensive and of unknown origin. In the background - as the reporter sees - there are "veterans who participated in the demonstrations against judicial reform and a number of people from Technology.
Ronen Koehler of the "Brothers in Arms" leadership believes that "there is no point in the campaign as long as Benny Gantz is still in government," adding, "What we want is to rebuild the democratic space by encouraging our members to join civil life. Our liberal secular values ??must return." To the forefront and fight for the hearts of Israelis." It is an ambitious project - according to the correspondent - and it is almost ideal to reverse what the extreme Israeli settler right has done over the past 15 years to the point that, although it represents only 5% of the population - as Kohler insists - it has become the one that determines the content of political debate, even in times of war.
As for Netanyahu and his partners, they launched their election campaigns early last December, while the opposition was very late, despite the great anger at Netanyahu, whose opinion polls indicate his loss every time, even though he is the only one who proposes a simple and coherent project for the next day, according to the correspondent. He confirms that there is no going back. To the world before October 7, and therefore no concessions to the Palestinians who are being killed in Gaza.
The reporter concluded that Benny Gantz is the one who will become prime minister if the elections are held today, and he will be at the head of a warlike right-wing government without a clear political project, which indicates that the Israeli opposition still believes that getting rid of Netanyahu will change everything, and that this is the key to a new beginning.
An opinion poll for the Maariv newspaper reported 26 January 2024 that the popularity of the "Official Camp Party" in Israel, led by Minister in the War Council Benny Gantz, has more than tripled. The results of the poll showed that the ruling Likud Party, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is losing half its electoral power, adding that 52% of Israelis support Gantz assuming the presidency of the government, compared to 32% who support Netanyahu. The results also indicated that 57% of Israelis support the families of detainees in Gaza escalating their popular movement against the government to demand the conclusion of an exchange deal with Hamas.
On 09 June 2024 Benny Gantz announced his resignation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government. Opposition leader Benny Gantz is a former chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces who ran against Netanyahu in five recent elections, and had soared past the prime minister in polling. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is a rival from within Netanyahu’s own Likud party. A further two non-voting “observers” were Ron Dermer, Israel’s former ambassador in Washington and one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, and Gadi Eisenkot, another former IDF chief of staff with Gantz’s center-right National Unity Party.
Yechiel Tropper, a member of the Knesset for National Unity resigned from the Israeli war cabinet as the third person after Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot to resign from the war cabinet. The resignation of National Camp leader Benny Gantz and his party deputies, Gadi Eizenkot and Yechiel Tropper, from the governing coalition and the War Cabinet placed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a tough position.
The departure of Gantz's centrist party will not pose an immediate threat to the government. But it could have a serious impact nonetheless, leaving Netanyahu reliant on hardliners with no end in sight to the war in Gaza and a possible escalation in fighting with Lebanon's Hezbollah.
With Gantz gone, Netanyahu lost the backing of a centrist bloc that broadened support for the government in Israel and abroad, at a time of increasing diplomatic and domestic pressure eight months into the Gaza war. While his coalition remained in control of 64 of parliament's 120 seats, Netanyahu will now have to rely more heavily on the political backing of ultra-nationalist parties, whose leaders angered Washington even before the war and who have since called for a complete Israeli occupation of Gaza. This would likely increase strains already apparent in relations with the United States and intensify public pressure at home with the months-long military campaign still not achieving its stated goals : the destruction of Hamas and the return of more than 100 remaining captives held in Gaza.
Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reacted to Benny Gantz's resignation from Israel's war cabinet by stating in a post on X, "There is no act less stately than withdrawing from the government during a war." Smotrich also said, referring to Hamas and Hezbollah leaders "This is exactly what [Yahya] Sinwar, [Hasan] Nasrallah and Iran were aiming for, and unfortunately you are fulfilling their request... I call on all the leaders of the Zionist parties for whom the State of Israel is important to join the unity government until victory."
Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir demanded Benny Gantz's now vacant seat at the war cabinet soon after his resignation was announced. "I have issued a demand to the prime minister to join the war cabinet," Ben-Gvir said in a letter posted on X. Ultra-nationalist Jewish Power, headed by Ben-Gvir, held six seats in parliament.
Dissolving the War Cabinet and transferring its decisions to the smaller security cabinet, where extremist ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich hold sway, could push Israel and the entire region closer to the brink of a broader war. On the other hand, keeping the cabinet and replacing Gantz with a figure like Gideon Sa'ar could open the door to a political battle led by Gantz and the opposition, which appears more likely to succeed.
From the time the modern Jewish community in Palestine (the new yishuv) became an entity following the first and second aliyot (waves of immigration) - from 1870 until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 - every Jewish town, neighborhood, moshava (village), farm, moshav and kvutza (cooperative and collective settlements, respectively), faced the necessity of protecting itself. At the time, protection was necessary mainly against local Arab thieves, individuals and organized gangs.
Jewish security organizations evolved in several phases. At first, Jewish settlements designated at least one person to be responsible for the security of the built-up area and, when necessary, the fields. This guard, armed with a personal weapon (a rifle and, in most cases, also a handgun) operated by day and by night, on horseback or on foot. As time passed, these guards hired Arabs for guard duty, especially at night. The method proved inefficient because soon the Arab guards began to collaborate with the thieves and bandits. As a result, in a few settlements (Zikhron Ya'akov is one example) young Jewish settlers organized small groups for guard duty on a voluntary basis, having learned the art of guarding and securing their settlements from the very few professionals.
In these circumstances, with guard duties in most settlements carried out by Arabs, and in some villages by young Jewish "irregular" volunteers - the Bar Giora organization was founded in 1907 in the home of Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, who later became Israel's second president, in Neve Tzedek, near Jaffa. Bar Giora established the first communes of Jewish guards at Sejera. From within these communes of workers and guards Hashomer was founded in 1909, defining itself as a countrywide organization that would assume responsibility for the security of as many Jewish settlements as possible. Hashomer's condition, before undertaking to guard and secure any settlement, was that only Jewish laborers be employed in it. Hashomer was thus able to regard these laborers as a reserve for guard duty and quickly organized its operations in a three-tiered hierarchy: a small core of founders (veterans of Bar Giora); a larger circle of active guards, members of Hashomer; and the Jewish laborers, who termed themselves a "labor legion", as reserves.
In 1913, the Hashomer leadership established relations with the institutions of the Zionist Organization in Europe, but this connection was disrupted in August 1914 when World War I broke out. Hashomer continued its security assignments in Palestine as before, taking pains to deny the Ottoman regime any pretext to liquidate it. An additional security organization came into being at this time: the Jaffa Group, comprised of young people who provided security services for Tel Aviv and the Jewish community in Jaffa. The leading personality in Hashomer throughout its existence (1909-1920), was Yisrael Shohat; the main figure in the Jaffa Group was Eliyahu Golomb.
In Palestine under Ottoman rule, young men who lived in the moshavot around Zikhron Ya'akov formed an organization called the Gideonites. During the war, this organization served as the basis for NILI (the initials of netzah yisrael lo yeshaker - I Sam. 15:29), which engaged in active espionage for Great Britain, under the leadership of the agronomist Aaron Aaronson. On the other hand, during the war several thousand Jewish residents of Palestine were inducted into the Turkish army; a few of them were trained and appointed as officers and NCOs in the Turkish army. Examples are Moshe Sharett, Dov Hoz (who later deserted to the British army), Alexander Aaronson, and Elimelekh Zelikovich (Avner); the latter eventually became a senior commander in the Haganah.
Important developments in the military sector of the Zionist enterprise took place during World War I in the British army, which fought against the Turks. The first of these developments occurred in Egypt in 1915, when the Zion Mule Corps was formed, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson, an Irishman, and Captain Joseph Trumpeldor. The Zion Mule Corps joined the British Expeditionary Force that landed on the Gallipoli peninsula in the Dardanelles (May 1915) and saw action there until the British were forced to evacuate their strongholds (January 1916). Almost all the soldiers of this corps were Jews who had been expelled by the Turkish authorities from Palestine because of their alien citizenship.
Only after the setback in Gallipoli and relentless petitioning in British government circles in London by Jabotinsky, Rutenberg and Trumpeldor did the British War Office agree, in September 1917, to the formation of a new infantry regiment based on nearly one hundred veterans of the Mule Corps who had come to Britain, plus Jewish emigres from Russia who had settled in Britain and agreed to join a Jewish combat unit. Thus, the 38th Royal Fusiliers came into being in southern England under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson, the former commander of the Zion Mule Corps, which had been dismantled. In February 1918, the 38th Fusiliers was transferred to Egypt, and took part in the British offensive of September 1918 under General Edmund Allenby. The regiment, then stationed in the Jordan Valley near Jericho, participated in crossing the Jordan river eastward in the direction of Salt. Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky was a deputy commander of this regiment, with the honorary rank of lieutenant.
A second Jewish regiment, the 39th Royal Fusiliers, was formed in Britain immediately after the 38th shipped out. The 39th Fusiliers, composed of Jewish volunteers from the United States and Canada, plus Jewish emigres from Russia, was sent to Egypt in April 1918 under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Eliezer Margolin, who had led a battalion in the Australian expeditionary force on the French front. During its maneuvers in Egypt, this regiment began to absorb Palestinian Jewish volunteers who had enlisted in the British army after the British occupied the southern half of Palestine. The trained half of this regiment fought alongside the 38th Royal Fusiliers in September 1918.
A third Jewish regiment, the 40th Royal Fusiliers, was created on the basis of Jewish volunteers from the United States and Canada (including David Ben-Gurion and Itzhak Ben-Zvi, who had been expelled from Palestine by the Turks, as well as Dov Joseph and Nehemia Rabin). This regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel, reached Egypt in August 1918 and began to take on Jewish volunteers who had come over from Palestine (including Eliyahu Golomb, Dov Hoz, Berl Katznelson, and several members of Hashomer). The 40th Royal Fusiliers was transferred from Egypt to Palestine, but too late to see action.
Almost all the members of the three Jewish regiments were discharged immediately after the end of World War I in November 1918. Those from Britain and Palestine returned to their respective countries and some of those from North America settled in Palestine to realize their Zionist convictions. Representatives of the Zionist Executive in Britain and Palestine persuaded the British authorities to establish a Jewish volunteer regiment (commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Eliezer Margolin), as part of the armed forces garrisoned in Palestine. This regiment, known as the First Judeans, was organized in 1919 at Sarafand (now Tsrifin), but the British did not allow it to take part in either the incidents in Tel Hai and Jerusalem in 1920, nor during the Arab disturbances in May 1921. Thereafter, when violence broke out on the border between Jaffa and Tel Aviv, Margolin sent part of the regiment into action on his own initiative. In response, the British disbanded it.
https://www.knesset.gov.il/vip/jabotinsky/eng/Revisionist_frame_eng.html https://www.likud.org.il/en/about-the-likud/former-leaders/zeev-jabotinsky https://blog.nli.org.il/en/jabotinsky-comes-home/ https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/1435 Ze'ev Jabotinsky
Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky - Zionist leader, writer, orator, journalist and soldier - and the Zionist Revisionist movement he founded have been steeped in controversy, but have left their own distinct mark on the course of Zionist history, despite years of anti-establishment status. Ze'ev Jabotinsky was born in Odessa in 1880. When he was only six years old, his father died, a tragedy that plunged the family into economic distress. An uncle advised his widowed mother to have the children learn a trade. But she wanted them educated, despite her difficulties. Odessa was at its height as a center of Jewish and Zionist activity; still Jabotinsky grew up steeped in Russian, more than Jewish culture. At age 18 he left Odessa for Switzerland and later went to Italy to study law.
Ze'ev Jabotinsky's promise as both a leader and a critic had already surfaced at the age of 14 - in a critique of the grading system, which he published in a local paper. In Bern, he began a lifelong writing career, serving as foreign correspondent for two Odessa newspapers (writing under the pen name "Altalena"). He joined a Russian student group and became interested in both socialist and Zionist ideas.
Jabotinsky's articles were so popular that in 1891, his paper recalled him to Odessa to join the editorial staff. Under the impact of the 1903 pogrom in Kishinev, he soon became immersed in Jewish self-defense as well as Zionist activities. Elected as a delegate to the Sixth Zionist Congress, Jabotinsky was deeply impressed by Herzl. Envious of the fluent Hebrew he heard spoken at the Congress, Jabotinsky - who already spoke Russian, French, English, German and various Slavic languages - set about gaining mastery of Hebrew, becoming an accomplished orator and translator. His writings include both original works - poems, plays and novels as well as polemic and philosophical tracts - and translations of classics, including an unparalleled rendition of Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven" into Hebrew, and the works of Hebrew national poet Chaim Nachman Bialik into Russian.
Jabotinsky rose to prominence as a professional journalist and provocative publicist - but first and foremost as a gifted and passionate orator. As a speaker his tone and message introduced a sense of urgency, not always shared by mainstream Jewish leaders, to Zionist deliberations and aspirations. He traveled widely all over Russia and Europe - lobbying for the Zionist cause in Constantinople following the Young Turk revolution - advocating unrelenting international political activity along with ongoing Jewish settlement in Palestine.
Jabotinsky stressed the importance of learning Hebrew, which he perceived as a central element in nation-building - even serving for a brief stint as elocution teacher for the founding actors of the Habimah Theater, the first Hebrew-language theater troupe, destined to become Israel's national theater. While socialist Zionists encouraged Jews to fight for their civil rights as Jews within the countries of their origin, Jabotinsky was skeptical of this avenue of emancipation, proclaiming that salvation for Jews - both on a personal level and as a national entity - lay only in the Land of Israel.
Jewish self-defense was at the epicenter of Jabotinsky's socio-political philosophy, both as a physical imperative and as a wellspring of pride and self-confidence, capable of "ennobling" the Jewish spirit. With the outbreak of the World War I in 1914, Jabotinsky found himself in disagreement over strategy with prevailing opinion within the Zionist camp. Unconvinced that the Turks or the Arabs would accommodate the aims of Zionism, he advocated bolder tactics. As he was convinced of an ultimate Allied victory, Jabotinsky, together with Joseph Trumpeldor, called for the establishment of a Jewish fighting force to join the Allies in liberating Palestine from Ottoman rule. Thus they could earn a place at the peace table, with the right to demand establishment of an independent Jewish state in Palestine.
While both the Allied powers and mainstream Zionists were at first reluctant, the Zion Mule Corps was formed in 1915. The corps fought in Gallipoli, but was later disbanded. Despite objections by the official Zionist leadership, which favored neutrality in order not to jeopardize the Jews of Palestine, Jabotinsky convinced the British government to permit the formation of three Jewish battalions. A man of action as well as words, Jabotinsky became an officer in the 38th Royal Fusiliers, which fought with General Allenby in 1917, and was decorated for heading the first company to cross the River Jordan into Palestine. After the war, Jabotinsky wanted to maintain a Jewish unit as defense against growing Arab hostility to Zionism, but the unit was disbanded by the British.
Settling with his wife and two children in Palestine, Jabotinsky became editor of the Hebrew newspaper, Hadoar. During the Arab riots in Jerusalem in 1920, he organized Jewish defense. Subsequently, Jabotinsky was arrested and sentenced by a British military court to 15 years in jail, for illegal possession of arms. He was released several months later. In the same year, he again became active within the Zionist establishment. However, since WWI, during which he had championed alignment with England, he had became disenchanted when Great Britain severed almost 80% of Mandate Palestine originally designated for a Jewish Homeland to create Transjordan (1922). Disillusioned with Britain and angry at Zionist acquiescence to British reversals, Jabotinsky resigned in 1923 from the Zionist Organization.
He set about establishing a separate Zionist federation based on "revision" of the relationship between the Zionist movement and Great Britain. This federation would actively challenge British policy and openly demand self-determination - Jewish statehood. The goals of the Revisionist movement he founded included restoration of a Jewish Brigade to protect the Jewish community and mass immigration to Palestine - of up to 40,000 Jews a year.
In 1925, the establishment of the World Union of Zionist Revisionists was announced, with Paris as headquarters for the movement. Jabotinsky spent the next years actively lecturing and collaborating on dozens of publications to further the cause worldwide. He lived in Jerusalem between 1927 and 1929. In 1930, while on a speaking engagement abroad, the British administration barred his return to Palestine by canceling his return visa. Unable to return home, from that point until his death a decade later, Jabotinsky fought for the Zionist cause around the world. In 1931 Jabotinsky demanded that the Seventeenth Zionist Congress make a clear announcement of Zionist aims - a Jewish state - but the delegates refused to do so.
Seriously alarmed by Hitler's rise to power in Germany, Jabotinsky pressed in 1933 for a worldwide Jewish boycott of Germany, hoping to crush Germany economically, but Jewish and Zionist leaders declined to cooperate. In 1934, an agreement was signed between Jabotinsky and David Ben-Gurion, then Labor Zionist leader, general secretary of the powerful Federation of Labor and undisputed spokesman for mainstream Zionism in Palestine. The agreement was aimed at easing the growing conflicts between the groups; cooperation, however, was stymied when the Federation of Labor failed to ratify the agreement. Revisionists and Laborites were to remain bitter political adversaries for decades to come.
In 1935, the Revisionists withdrew from the Zionist Organization in protest over the organization's refusal to state clearly and unequivocally its final goal of statehood. Revisionists also claimed that the Zionist establishment was too passive, failing to challenge British restrictions on the pace of development of the Jewish National Home and thwarting attempts by Jews to flee Europe to the safety of Palestine. Jabotinsky focused his efforts on assisting Jews to reach Palestine by all means - legal or illegal. Sensing that Jews of Eastern Europe were in great danger, he called, in 1936, for an "evacuation" of Eastern European Jews to Palestine to solve the Jewish problem.
Outspoken and candid, Jabotinsky appeared before the Palestine Royal Commission in 1937 declaring that the "demand for a Jewish majority is not our maximum - it is our minimum. Stressing there would soon be 3-4 million European Jews seeking a safe haven in Palestine, he compared "Arab claims to Jewish demands" as akin to "the claims of appetite versus the claims of starvation." He and his followers argued that all territory in the original 1920 British Mandate over Palestine - encompassing all of the Land of Israel on both banks of the Jordan River - should be part of the Jewish homeland.
When the Peel Commission recommended the partition of the remainder of Mandated Palestine into two states, Jabotinsky opposed the plan. While Zionist leadership reluctantly accepted it, feeling that a truncated state was better than no state, the Arabs rejected it. As conditions in Europe worsened, Jabotinsky began to support underground armed resistance against the British in Palestine, and, in 1937, officially became the supreme commander of the Etzel - the Revisionist underground military organization. He continued to focus on the rescue of Jews from Europe by all means available - including some of the first attempts to circumvent immigration restrictions by the clandestine landing of immigrants who arrived by sea. His plans for the future included a Jewish army to be formed after World War II.
Jabotinsky died suddenly of a heart attack on 4 August 1940, while visiting a summer camp operated in New York by the Revisionist youth movement - Betar. Jabotinsky left an intellectual legacy of thousands of papers and documents - correspondence, speeches, published articles, pamphlets and books - including an unfinished rhyming dictionary in Hebrew, but the only personal effects on his person at the time of his death were $4 and a tobacco pipe.
Throughout his life, Ze'ev Jabotinsky was convinced that Jewish statehood was an historic necessity that must and would come to pass. In his writings he recalled how, at the age of six, he had asked his mother whether the Jews would ever have a state of their own." His mother had retorted: "Of course, foolish boy." Jabotinsky, who devoted a lifetime to the realization of a Jewish state, never questioned the validity of her reply. In 1935, five years prior to his death, Jabotinsky composed his will, stating that should he die, he could be buried anywhere, but requested that his remains be transferred to Israel "only at the instructions of a Jewish government ki takum - "that shall be established." No "ifs".
With the establishment of the Jewish state, Jabotinsky’s disciples and family members appealed to the prime minister to assist them in fulfilling the beloved leader’s last will and testament. But David Ben-Gurion, who had been one of Jabotinsky’s staunchest political rivals, adamantly refused. When Levi Eshkol was appointed prime minister, the efforts in this matter were renewed. On March 15, 1964, Eshkol officially announced that he had instructed the government to bring Jabotinsky’s remains for reburial in Jerusalem.
As soon as the government’s decision was announced, Menahem Begin, who was perhaps Jabotinsky’s most prominent follower, wired a telegram to the prime minister. It was an impassioned message of praise and gratitude to Eshkol for his symbolic act of reconciliation, which, it was hoped, would help foster unity between Israel’s two most antagonistic political camps. The remains of Ze’ev Jabotinsky and his wife Johanna were brought to Israel and reburied on Mt. Herzl on July 9, 1964, 24 years after Jabotinsky’s passing.
Haganah
The Haganah was the underground defense organization of the yishuv from 1920 to 1948. The yishuv regarded the Haganah as a legitimate military defense organization and every Jewish rural settlement, town and neighborhood was affiliated with it. Established in 1920 by the founders of the Histadrut (General Federation of Jewish Labor), it was considered illegal by the British mandatory authorities. During its first ten years, the Haganah (defense) was subordinated to the elected institutions of the Histadrut, since leaders of the Zionist Organization and of the yishuv were not yet prepared to accept responsibility for this illegal military entity.
In 1920 the Haganah was formed as a "grassroots" military organization, admittedly illegal from the British point of view but regarded by its founders, who were also the founders of the Histadrut (the General Federation of Jewish Labor), as a full-fledged national armed force, subordinate to an elected political leadership and authorized to use its military potential in defense of the yishuv's interests. For its first ten years, the Haganah was subordinated to the elected public institutions of the Histadrut, since the elected political institutions of the Zionist Organization and of the yishuv were not yet prepared to accept responsibility for this illegal military entity.
In the aftermath of the 1929 disturbances, and after two years of discussions among leaders of Zionist parties across the political spectrum, the Haganah was transferred to the joint authority of the Jewish Agency Executive and the Va'ad Leumi (National Council). In 1931, the Haganah was placed under the authority of a parity committee - an evenly-split political High Command composed of six political figures - three representing the "Left" (among them Eliyahu Golomb and Dov Hoz) and three representing the "Right" (among them Sa'adya Shoshani and Yissaschar Sidkov). Thus the Haganah became a national military organization, subordinate to the nation's elected leadership. Although the British, as well as the Arabs, considered the Haganah illegal, the yishuv regarded it as a legitimate popular military organization. Every rural settlement - moshava, moshav, kibbutz - and every Jewish town or neighborhood was affiliated with the Haganah, and the identity of the Haganah district commander was known to most inhabitants.
In 1931 a group of Haganah members seceded from the organization, refusing to accept the authority of the parity committee - High Command. Shortly afterwards, from 1932 on, the breakaway group, headed by Avraham Tehomi, became known as the National Military Organization (Irgun tzeva'i le'umi) or its acronym, Etzel. This organization received the full backing of Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Revisionist Party and partial support from factions of the right-wing General Zionists and the Mizrahi.
During the disturbances of 1936-1939 - called by the Arabs the "Arab uprising" - strategic interests persuaded the British governments in Jerusalem and London to allow a certain degree of military collaboration between the British army and police and the Haganah. This cooperation gave the Haganah a measure of legality for three years, manifested in the Supernumery Police venture that lasted until 1948 and in the fraternity of arms in the Night Squads commanded by Captain Orde Charles Wingate.
In 1938, the Jewish Agency Executive decided to appoint a nationwide leader for the Haganah; a non-partisan personality who would be chairman of the High Command. The first to fill this position was Yohanan Ratner. Some eighteen months later, in September 1939, after thorough discussion by the High Command and the political bodies to which it was subordinate - the Jewish Agency Executive and the National Council - it was decided to appoint a professional Military General Staff (M.G.S.) which would be in command of all military components and operations of the various Haganah bodies. The M.G.S. functioned under the authority of the High Command; the first Chief of the General Staff was Ya'akov Dori (Dostrovsky).
The Arab rebellion was quelled in the 1938-39 period by British forces in cooperation with the Haganah, which mobilized more than 20,000 Jewish supernumery police plus the field troops under Yitzhak Sadeh and the special night squads of Captain Orde Wingate.
After about two decades of activity, clear indications of extensive professional institutionalization became evident. "Regional Defense" had come into being, as had Field Troops that operated for about two years (1937-1939). By September 1939, , the Haganah had created a Field Corps, a Medical Service, a Signals Corps, an Intelligence service, Aliya Bet (which handled illegal immigration), an arms industry and services for the procurement and storage of weapons. It had also mobilized more than 20,000 Jewish supernumery policemen, plus field troops and night squads. In 1941, the Gadna (youth regiments) and the Palmach (strike force) were added. The country was divided into operational districts and a professional military journal called Ma'arakhot (campaigns) made its debut.
In the same year, the tenets of the Haganah, emphasizing the national and Zionist character of the Haganah, as the sole military force of the Zionist enterprise and of the Jewish state-in-the-making, were formulated:
- The Haganah is the military force of the Jewish people which strives for political independence in the Land of Israel.
- The Haganah answers to the authority of the World Zionist Organization in conjunction with the organized Jewish community in the Land, is at their service and obeys their orders.
- The functions of the Haganah are: 1) to defend the Jewish community in Palestine against attack on its people, property, and dignity; 2) to defend the Zionist enterprise and the political rights of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel; and 3) to defend the Land of Israel against enemy action from outside its borders, commensurate with its capabilities and political circumstances.
- The Haganah serves the entire nation, the entire yishuv, and the entire Zionist movement. Its flag is the national flag - blue and white. Its anthem is the national anthem, Hatikva. Any Jewish man or woman willing and able to undertake the tasks of national defense may join the Haganah.
- The Haganah is absolved from the laws of the non-Jewish government. Its existence, its weapons and its operations are subject to painstaking secrecy. Those who breach this principle do so at the risk of their lives.
- The Haganah educates its members to allegiance to the Jewish people and Eretz Israel, love of freedom and Jewish revival, courage, endurance in the face of suffering and adversity, willingness to sacrifice, respect for human life, honesty of character, simplicity and respect for human and Jewish values.
During World War II, Haganah members enlisted in the various units of the British Armed Forces. Of great importance to the development of armed Jewish defense in Palestine were the more than 30,000 Palestinian Jews who enlisted in the British army in the course of World War II. In the last stages of the war, the Jewish Brigade Group was established and saw action against the Nazis in northern Italy. The Palestinian Jews in the British army and air force learned a broad range of military subjects - combat, administration, technology and logistics of a modern army - and transferred this knowledge to the Jewish defense forces in Palestine. This was to be of great use to the Israel Defence Forces, offspring of the Haganah, to be established during the War of Independence. The Haganah cooperated with British Intelligence in gathering information and in parachuting Haganah members into occupied Europe to rescue Jews. As long as the war lasted, cooperation with the British overrode resistance and struggle against British policies in Palestine.
After the end of World War II, the Haganah was the largest and most important Jewish military force operating against the British - liberating interned immigrants, bombing the country's railroad network, sabotaging radar installations and bases of the British police, sabotaging British vessels engaged in deporting clandestine immigrants and destroying all road and railroad bridges on the borders. The Haganah was also responsible for mass clandestine immigration from Europe and North Africa (1944-48) both by sea and land, and provided military protection for Homa Umigdal (stockade and watchtower), the Jewish settlement enterprise conducted in defiance of British land laws.
On June 18, 1946, the Defense Department of the Jewish Agency instructed the Haganah to ready itself for defense against possible attack by the armies of the neighboring Arab countries. From November 29, 1947, when the United Nations passed the Partition Resolution, until the departure of the British and the invasion of the newborn State of Israel by the regular armies of five Arab states on May 15, 1948, the burden of the defense of the Jewish community against local irregulars and foreign Arab troops fell on the Haganah. It had reorganized, was under the command of a nationwide General Staff and, in addition to its terrritorial units, also had the beginnings of an airforce and a navy.
After the end of WWII, between October 1945 and the beginning of the War of Independence in December 1947, the Haganah was the largest and most important Jewish military force that operated against the British. Its acting chief of staff, Yitzhak Sadeh, was the most senior and most authoritative personality in the "Jewish resistance movement." The Haganah carried out anti-British military operations - liberation of interned immigrants from the Atlit camp; the bombing of the country's railroad network ("Night of the Trains"); sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British police mobile force; sabotage of British vessels that engaged in deporting clandestine immigrants and destruction of all road and railroad bridges on the borders ("Night of the Bridges"). It was also the Haganah, under Shaul Avigur (Meirov), that operated the mass clandestine, illegal immigration from Europe and North Africa in 1944-1948, on the escape (Beriha) trails and maritime routes, as well as overland from Middle Eastern countries. Furthermore, the Haganah provided military protection for the country-wide Jewish settlement enterprise, which took place in defiance of the constraints imposed by the British land laws. One such operation was the establishment of eleven settlements in the Negev on the night after Yom Kippur 1946, under the command of the deputy chief of staff of the Haganah, Yosef Avidar (Rokhel).
On May 26, 1948, the Provisional Government enacted the ordinance establishing the Israel Defense Forces, incorporating Haganah (defense) in its name. In the daily Order of the Establishment of the Israel Defence Forces, issued in the midst of the invasion by Arab armies on May 31, 1948, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion made the following statement: "Vast is the debt that the yishuv and the Jewish people owe the Haganah during all the phases of the founding [of the state], in Petah Tikva, Rishon Lezion, Gedera, Rosh Pina, Zikhron Ya'akov and Metulla, via Hashomer of the Second Aliya vanguard, the Jewish Legion in the First World War [the three fusilier regiments, the 38th, the 39th and the 40th], the defenders of Tel Hai and the steady growth of a national defense organization in the period between the two world wars, the formation of the supernumery police corps during the disturbances of 1936-1939, the founding of the Palmach and the Field Corps, the mass volunteering in the Second World War and the formation of the first Jewish Brigade and up to the mighty struggle by the Haganah in the first half of the war against us, from 30 November 1947 to 31 May 1948. Were it not for the experience, the planning, the operational and command ability, the loyalty and spirit of valor of the Haganah, the yishuv could not have withstood the terrible, bloody ordeal that has come upon us these past six months and we would not have attained the State of Israel. In the annals of the Jewish people, the chapter on the Haganah will glow with a grandeur and pride that will never tarnish."
Thus, it was the Haganah that was responsible for defense, security, retaliation, and counterattack against the Arab-Palestinian enemy, the foreign Arab volunteers and the Arab regular armies which invaded Palestine after 30 November 1947, the beginning of the War of Independence. It accomplished this mission until June 1, 1948, when the Israel Defence Forces - the IDF - officially came into being, several days after the provisional government passed a resolution to this effect (May 26). The IDF was not an ex nihilo product but an evolutionary and natural development of the Haganah, having inherited from it the General Staff and its Chief, the combat units, the operational and logistical formations, the air and naval arms, procurement and manufacture of arms, intelligence services and mobilization systems. It was the IDF, the offspring of the Haganah, that brought to an end the military campaign that the Haganah had begun in the War of Independence.
Irgun Zva'i Leumi (Etzel)
The Irgun Zva'i Leumi (National Military Organization) was an underground organization that operated in Palestine in the 1930s and 1940s. Following the disturbances in the summer of 1929, in 1931 a group of Haganah members seceded from the organization, refusing to accept the authority of the parity committee - High Command. Shortly afterwards, from 1932 on, the breakaway group, headed by Avraham Tehomi, became known as the National Military Organization (Irgun tzeva'i le'umi) or its acronym, Etzel. This organization received the full backing of Ze'ev Jabotinsky's Revisionist Party and partial support from factions of the right-wing General Zionists and the Mizrahi. Soon afterwards Betar's youth groups affiliated themselves with the new organization.
On December 5, 1936, Avraham Tehomi signed an accord with Ze'ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky , the leader of the Revisionist Movement, making Jabotinsky commander of Etzel. Etzel experienced a crisis during the first year of the Arab "disturbances." In April 1937, half of its members (about 1500), led by Avraham Tehomi himself, abandoned it and returned to the Haganah. The other half continued in Etzel, which now answered to the political authority of the Revisionist Zionist Organization under Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Etzel rejected the Haganah's moderate policy against the Arabs, the so-called "restraint" (havlaga) doctrine of the elected Zionist leadership, and adopted a policy of intimidation and terror.
Etzel advocated a forceful line of action against Arab aggression and protested the policy of restraint adopted by the Haganah. In April 1938, three Etzel members attacked an Arab bus on its way from Safed to Rosh Pinah, in retaliation for the killing of one of their comrades. The action failed and the three were captured by the British. Shlomo Ben-Yosef, one of the three, was sentenced to death and executed in Acre prison on June 18, 1938; his young partners were sentenced to long jail terms. Shlomo Ben-Yosef was the first Jew to be hanged by the British in Palestine. Between 1938 and 1947, eleven more members of Etzel and Lehi were executed by the British.
In the 1930s, the organization was also involved in illegal immigration and, by 1939, succeeded in bringing 6,000 illegal immigrants to Palestine. The outbreak of World War II and the alliance with Britain in the fight against Nazi Germany caused the organization to announce cessation of aggressive actions in Palestine.
Etzel was engulfed in controversy. The Revisionist leadership ruled that, notwithstanding the White Paper, Jews should cooperate with Britain against the Nazis on the military level. A smaller group, led by Abraham (Yair) Stern, deemed Britain to be the bitter enemy of Zionism, which should be fought militarily by means of guerrilla action and terrorism. After Jabotinsky died in 1940, this group seceded from the Etzel and began to operate separately under the name "Etzel in Israel" (popularly known as the Stern group). After the murder of Stern by the British in February 1942, the new leaders of the group (Natan Yellin- Mor, Yitzhak Shamir, and Yisrael Eldad) reorganized their underground group under the name Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Jewish Freedom Fighters) and its acronym, Lehi.
However on February 1, 1944, Menachem Begin, the new Etzel commander who had arrived in Palestine during the war with the Polish army of General Anders, declared a "revolt" against the British, who persisted in the 1939 White Paper policy. This revolt took the form of a series of attacks on government buildings. In October 1945, the Haganah reached an understanding with the Etzel and Lehi to coordinate the struggle.
The Etzel and Lehi were, of course, also active in the resistance movement, their many operations focusing mainly on individual terrorism and guerrilla warfare against the British. Examples are the bombing of the British government and military headquarters at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, raids on British air force bases at Qastina and near Kfar Syrkin, liberation of Jewish prisoners from the prison in Acre, and sabotage of the railroad repair workshop near Haifa. The organizations' cooperation with the Haganah broke up following Etzel's bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Mandate government secretariat, which, the Haganah claimed, had not been coordinated with it. On May 31, 1948, when the Israel Defense Forces were established, Etzel announced that its members would join the IDF.
Stern Gang / LEHI
The Jewish underground active in 1920-1948, Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), was founded by Avraham Stern, hence its alias Stern Gang. At first, it was composed chiefly of a group headed by Avraham ("Yair") Stern, that broke off from Etzel in 1940. The split was due to disagreement on three main issues: (a) the group's demand that the military struggle against the British government be continued irrespective of the war against Nazi Germany; (b) opposition to enlistment in the British army, which Jabotinsky supported; and (c) willingness to collaborate, as a tactical measure, with anyone who supported the struggle against the British in Palestine.
Lehi rejected the authority of the yishuv's elected institutions and the worldwide Zionist movement, and sometimes clashed bitterly with the Haganah. The seventh Prime Minister, Yitzhak Shamir was born Yizhak Yzernitzky in Ruzinoy, Poland in 1915. He attended the Bialystok Hebrew Gymnasium, and from 1929 was an active member of the Betar Zionist movement. In 1932 he began studying law at the University of Warsaw, but in 1935 interrupted his studies to move to Israel. He enrolled at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, but never graduated. In 1937, opposing the mainstream Zionist policy of restraint vis-à-vis the British Mandatory administration, Shamir joined the Irgun Tzeva'i Le'umi (Etzel) - the Revisionist underground organization - and in 1940 he followed Avraham Stern, resigned from the Etzel, and joined the Lehi ("Lohamei Herut Israel").
Lehi's goals were maximalist: conquest and liberation of Eretz Israel; war against the British Empire; complete withdrawal of Britain from Palestine; and establishment of a "Hebrew kingdom from the Euphrates to the Nile." In contrast to the scope of these goals, Lehi's strength was limited; it never had more than a few hundred fighters and its arms stores were meager. The disparity between its aspirations and its real power dictated Lehi's method of fighting: bold, extremist actions, intended both to obtain funding and weapons and to demonstrate that it was possible to strike at the enemy successfully.
By 1940 Etzel was engulfed in controversy. The Revisionist leadership ruled that, notwithstanding the White Paper, Jews should cooperate with Britain against the Nazis on the military level. A smaller group, led by Abraham (Yair) Stern, deemed Britain to be the bitter enemy of Zionism, which should be fought militarily by means of guerrilla action and terrorism. After Jabotinsky died in 1940, this group seceded from the Etzel and began to operate separately under the name "Etzel in Israel" (popularly known as the Stern group).
The small, but more militant, faction led by Avraham Stern, the Lehi (Lohamei Herut Israel - Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), broke away from the larger body. There, as part of the leadership troika, he coordinated organizational and operational activities. After the murder of Stern by the British in February 1942, the new leaders of the group (Natan Yellin- Mor, Yitzhak Shamir, and Yisrael Eldad) reorganized their underground group under the name Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Jewish Freedom Fighters) and its acronym, Lehi.
In 1941 Shamir was imprisoned by the British Mandatory authorities in the Yizrael Valley detention camp, from which he escaped in 1943. He became one of the leaders of the Lehi and served as its principle director of operations until he was detained again by the British and exiled to a prison camp in Eritrea. In 1947 he escaped, made his way to the neighboring French colony of Djibouti, and was later granted political asylum in France. Upon his return to Israel, he resumed command of the Lehi until it disbanded in 1949.
As a result of its activities, Lehi found itself isolated in the yishuv. The yishuv's institutions condemned it and the British police hunted its members. On February 12, 1942, Avraham (Yair) Stern, the leader of Lehi, was captured in a Tel Aviv apartment and murdered by British detectives. The remaining fighters continued to wage his war, and a new command structure was established. Terrorism continued to be the organization's guideline, in the belief that a series of painful attacks would force the British to re-evaluate the wisdom and price of remaining in Palestine. On November 6, 1944, two Lehi members assassinated Lord Moyne, the British Minister for Middle East Affairs in Cairo. The perpetrators, Eliyahu Beit-Tzuri and Eliyahu Hakim, were caught, tried by a military tribunal, and hanged on March 23, 1945.
When the Hebrew Resistance Movement was founded in November 1945, Lehi joined it, along with the Haganah and Etzel. Lehi carried out several operations as part of the movement, the largest of which was the bombing of the Haifa railroad workshops in June 1946, in which 11 Lehi members were killed. After the Hebrew Resistance Movement broke up following Etzel's bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on July 22, 1946, Lehi continued with its harassment and attrition policy.
In 1947, Lehi decided to concentrate its activities in Jerusalem so as to prevent implementation of the partition plan and internationalization of Jerusalem.
On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly held its historic vote on the proposal of the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine calling for an end to the British Mandate, the partition of Palestine and creation of a Jewish State and an Arab State, the joining of these two states in an economic union, and an international regime in the city of Jerusalem. The Zionist Organization and the leadership of the Jewish community in Israel supported the committee’s recommendations despite its difficulties and the limited area allotted to the Jewish State. The Arab representatives, on the other hand, declared their opposition to the resolution and even warned that their resistance might be violent.
With the declaration of statehood, the formation of a regular national army became an urgent necessity. The forces that had defended the Jewish inhabitants of the country until then were disparate underground organizations formed during the British Mandate. These organizations now had to be joined together to create a unified fighting force under the control of the government. David Ben-Gurion, who served as both prime minister and minister of defense, composed this document on May 26, 1948, which represents the official order authorizing the formation of the Israel Defense Forces (or IDF). This order was issued as the IDF’s “Order of the Day No. 1” on May 31, 1948, and this date is therefore regarded as the official birth date of Israel’s armed forces.
When the IDF was established on May 31, 1948, Lehi was disbanded and its members enlisted in the IDF. Only in Jerusalem did Lehi remain an independent organization, arguing that at the time of the proclamation of independence the city's fate had not yet been determined. A few days earlier government representatives had signed separate agreements with the commanders of the Irgun Zvai Leumi (Etzel), also known as the Irgun) and the Lehi (an acronym for Lohamey Herut Yisrael or “Fighters for the Freedom of Israel”, also known as the Stern Gang) – which had not previously been subject to the leadership’s directives. These organizations were disbanded and their members integrated into the newly unified army.
In May 1948, while the War of Independence was still raging, the Swedish diplomat Count Folke Bernadotte arrived in Israel as a UN mediator. Some of his proposals were greeted with hostility from both the national leadership and the general public. On September 17, 1948, Bernadotte was murdered by an organization calling itself the “Homeland Front.” In effect, this was just a code name for the right-wing Lehi organization. Although the organization had been disbanded elsewhere along with all the other Jewish undergrounds, in Jerusalem it continued to operate independently, because Jerusalem was not supposed to be part of the Jewish state according to the UN Partition Resolution.
Lehi members were suspected. The government outlawed the organization's branch in Jerusalem and shut down its publication, Hamivrak. The leaders of Lehi, Natan Yellin-Mor and Mattityahu Shmuelevitz, were sentenced to long jail terms by a military court, but were released in a general amnesty. As a result of the murder, the Lehi and the Homeland Front were officially declared terror organizations. Dozens of Lehi members were arrested, and the organization’s independent status in Jerusalem was abolished.
There has always been tension between the Land of Israel and Babylon or between the Land of Israel and the exiles. Arab migrations in and out of the country fluctuated in response to prevailing economic conditions. Late in the 19th century, when Jewish immigration stimulated economic growth, many Arabs were attracted to the area by its employment opportunities, higher wages, and better living conditions. The majority of Israel's Arab population lives in self-contained towns and villages in Galilee, including the city of Nazareth, the central area between Hadera and Petah Tikva, the Negev, and in mixed urban centers such as Jerusalem, Akko (Acre), Haifa, Lod, Ramle, and Yafo (Jaffa).
Israel's Arab community constitutes mainly a working-class sector in a middle-class society, a politically peripheral group in a highly centralized state and an Arabicspeaking minority in a Hebrew-speaking majority. Essentially non-assimilating, the community's distinct identity is facilitated through the use of Arabic, Israel's second official language; a separate Arab/Druze school system; Arabic mass media, literature, and theater; and maintenance of independent Muslim, Druze, and Christian denominational courts which adjudicate matters of personal status.
While customs of the past are still part of daily life, a gradual weakening of tribal and patriarchal authority, the effects of compulsory education and participation in Israel's democratic process are rapidly affecting traditional outlooks and lifestyles. Concurrently the status of Israeli Arab women has been significantly liberalized by legislation stipulating equal rights for women and prohibition of polygamy and child marriage.
The political involvement of the Arab sector is manifested in national and municipal elections. Arab citizens run the political and administrative affairs of their own municipalities and represent Arab interests through their elected representatives in the Knesset (Israel's parliament), who can operate in the political arena to promote the status of minority groups and their share of national benefits.
Since Israel's establishment (1948), Arab citizens have been exempted from compulsory service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) out of consideration for their family, religious, and cultural affiliations with the Arab world (which has subjected Israel to frequent attacks), as well as concern over possible dual loyalties. At the same time, volunteer military service is encouraged, with some choosing this option every year. Since 1957, at the request of their community leaders, IDF service has been mandatory for Druze and Circassian men, while the number of Bedouin joining the career army voluntarily increases steadily.
Arab citizens, who constitute more than one-sixth of Israel's population, exist on the margins of the conflicting worlds of Jews and Palestinians. However, while remaining a segment of the Arab people in culture and identity and disputing Israel's identification as a Jewish state, they see their future tied to Israel. In the process, they have adopted Hebrew as a second language and Israeli culture as an extra layer in their lives. At the same time, they strive to attain a higher degree of participation in national life, greater integration into the economy and more benefits for their own towns and villages.
Development of inter-group relations between Israel's Arabs and Jews has been hindered by deeply-rooted differences in religion, values, and political beliefs. However, though coexisting as two self-segregated communities, over the years they have come to accept each other, acknowledging the uniqueness and aspirations of each community. As a multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-religious, and multi-lingual society, Israel has a high level of informal segregation patterns. While groups are not separated by official policy, a number of different sectors within the society are somewhat segregated and maintain their strong cultural, religious, ideological, and/or ethnic identity.
https://web.archive.org/web/20040603190330/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Centenary%20of%20Zionism/Lexicon%20of%20Zionism#A
The cooperation in security matters between the Druze community and the Jewish community in Eretz Israel began during the British Mandate. In April 1948, a secret “blood pact” was forged between the Druze and the Jews of Israel when in effect, the Druze moved to fight alongside the Jewish defense forces. Through the mediation of Giora Zaid, the main contact of the Druze community, members of the Druze community were recruited to the IDF on the northern front and actively participated in the battles conducted on this front.
At the end of the summer of 1948, the General Staff decided to establish a regular minorities unit in the IDF, and its organization was based on an ethnic basis. In December 1948, a festive party was held in the village of Peki’in, in honor of the enlistment of a large group of members of the Druze community to the IDF. At the ceremony Yusuf Hosni Ali, one of the elders of the community spoke and congratulated them on their new path.
https://en.idi.org.il/israeli-elections-and-parties/
Meir David HaKohen Kahane
Meir David HaKohen Kahane was an American-born Israeli ordained Orthodox rabbi, writer, and ultra-nationalist politician who served one term in Israel's Knesset before being convicted of acts of terrorism. Kahane was a controversial and influential figure in Israeli and American politics, known for his strong nationalist views and militant activism. Kahane's ideology has influenced some right-wing and nationalist groups in Israel. His followers continue to promote his vision, despite the official ban on his party. His legacy remains divisive; some view him as a defender of Jewish rights, while others see him as a promoter of hate and violence. Kahane's life and work continue to evoke strong reactions, reflecting the broader debates within Israeli society and the Jewish diaspora about nationalism, security, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Among other issues, Kahane addresed the question of whether Jews are commanded to live in the Land of Israel at all times, in all generations, or is the ingathering of the exiles to Israel something that occurs with the Mashiach’s arrival, may it be soon. "Living in Eretz Yisrael is a mitzvah de’oraita – a mitzvah commanded by the Torah itself. Not only that, but it carries equal weight to all the other mitzvot combined. In fact, it supersedes them in importance, because all of them are dependent upon it, since we are commanded to perform all the commandments there, in the Land of Israel. The Torah says, “When the L-rd your G-d cuts off the nations whom you are approaching to inherit, you shall expel them and live in their land” (Deut. 12:29). This verse explicitly states the two mitzvot tied to Eretz Yisrael. The first is expelling the non-Jews. The Hebrew corresponding to, “whom you are approaching to inherit,” is rendered by Onkelos as, “Whom you are approaching to banish.” The second is “You shall live in their land.” It is a mitzvah to live in their land, in Eretz Yisrael.
" R. Yehudah ben Beterah and R. Matia ben Cheresh and R. Chanina ben Achi and R. Yehoshua and R. Yonatan... said, “Living in Eretz Yisrael equals the combined weight of all the mitzvot in the Torah. Here our Sages state explicitly that living in Eretz Yisrael is not just a mitzvah but such a great mitzvah that it equals all the others in their combined value. Likewise, it emerges clearly from here that the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisrael does not depend on the existence of the Temple....
”Living in the Land is not merely a right, but a duty that cannot be forgone. It is a mitzvah, a Divine decree, that we must live in Eretz Yisrael under G-d’s dominion, sanctifying His name, in order to create a holy state and society which clings to mitzvot completely and properly, uninfluenced by the alien, false culture of the nations.
"Ramban wrote in Sefer HaMitzvot (Ibid., Mitzvah 4): “This is what our Sages call ‘milchemet mitzvah.’ In the Talmud (Sotah 44b) Rava said, ‘Joshua’s war of conquest was an obligatory duty according to all opinions.’ One should not make the mistake of saying that this mitzvah only applies to the seven nations we were commanded to destroy… That is not so. We were commanded to destroy those nations when they fought against us, and had they wished to make peace we could have done so under specific conditions. Yet, we cannot leave the Land in their control or in the control of any other nations in any generation.”...
"... the only security for the Jewish People is in Eretz Yisrael, whereas the exile is their burial place.... G-d, Who knows His people’s mind, knew, as well, that the Jews would always prefer the non-Jewish life of the exile, whose abominable depravity is so sweet to the sinner among us."
Born on 01 August 1932, in Brooklyn, New York, he attended Brooklyn College and later studied law at New York Law School. He also received rabbinical ordination. Meir Kahane came of age amid the radical politics of the counterculture, becoming a militant voice of protest against Jewish liberalism. Founded in 1968, the Jewish Defense League (JDL) was aimed at protecting Jews from anti-Semitic attacks, initially in New York City. The group became known for its aggressive tactics and confrontations.
In Magid’s telling, Kahane deserves a place in any list of the most influential Jews in American history. He was ahead of his time, writing about the problems of intermarriage before it became one of the main existential issues of the mainstream Jewish establishment. He was an “’Israel right or wrong’ advocate before AIPAC,” and was warning about antisemitism from the ‘anti-racist’ and ‘anti-imperialist’ left while everyone else was focused on the far-right, many years before the threat from that side of the political map was widespread.
He made Aliyah to Israel in 1971, where he continued his political activism. The Kach ("This is the Way") Party, founded in 1971, advocated for Jewish nationalism and the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories. Kahane’s views and rhetoric were seen as extreme by many. Kahane’s own racist views were informed by the identity politics of postwar America, specifically black nationalism, that all congealed into a political theology of power and purity.
Though he had declared that once in Israel he would not engage in politics, he spoke out against the black Jews in Dimona, and later openly advocated the expulsion of Arabs from Israel. One of his first campaigns against Arabs was in 1972, when he distributed pamphlets in Hebron calling upon the mayor to stand trial for his part in the massacre of the Jews in Hebron in 1929. The Kach movement first sought election to the Knesset in 1973, but received only about 13,000 votes, which were not enough to win a seat. Two years later Kahane returned to his activities in Hebron, this time calling for the expulsion of the Arabs from the city.
In the 1977 Knesset elections, Kach received less than 4,500 votes. In 1980, Kahane was sentenced to six months in prison for plotting with others to commit a grave act of provocation on the Temple Mount. In 1981, Kach once again failed to introduce any of its members into the Knesset. During the evacuation of the Israeli settlers from Yamit in 1982, Kahane gained popularity. At the government's request, he helped convince some extremists in Yamit who had barricaded themselves in the synagogue and threatened to commit suicide to withdraw their ultimatum.
When the Kach movement submitted its list for the 1984 Knesset elections, the Central Elections Committee ruled that could not participate in the elections. Kach appealed to the High Court of Justice, and its appeal was upheld. The court ruled that the existing electoral law did not allow for the debarring of a party on the grounds of racism. The Court further suggested that the law be amended. The Kach movement thus ran for election in 1984, winning 26,000 votes, and Kahane became a member of Knesset. He announced that Kach would not support any government that did not advocate the expulsion of the Arabs from Israel.
Kahane was elected to the Knesset in 1984, representing the Kach party. His term was marked by controversy due to his radical views and proposals. Kahane’s advocacy for the forced removal of Arabs from Israel and his opposition to any peace process with Palestinians were central to his ideology. His views were widely condemned as racist and extremist. A law he tried to pass in 1985, aimed to strip Israeli Arabs of their citizenship. He demanded prison sentences for the ‘crime’ of sexual relations between Jews and Arabs. Prime minister Yitzhak Shamir was not the committed liberal that his predecessor Menachim Begin had been, but he was the Likud leader who would lead his party out of the Knesset chamber whenever Kahane made a speech.
In response to this victory and to the presence of Meir Kahane as one of its members, the Knesset soon passed an amendment to the Basic Law: The Knesset, which stipulates that no party may participate in Knesset elections if one of its objectives is incitement to racism. The Kach party was banned from participating in Israeli elections in 1988 under the grounds of incitement to racism. Kahane’s last book, The Jewish Idea, clearly outlined the impossibility of a Jewish state being democratic, with the West’s liberal values posited as the antithesis of Judaism.
On November 5, 1990, Meir Kahane was assassinated in New York City by El Sayyid Nosair, an Egyptian-born American. Nosair was initially acquitted of the murder but later convicted on other charges related to the case. There are two movements which follow in his footsteps: 'Kahane Lives', led by his son Benjamin Kahane, based in the settlement Tapuah; and 'Kach' led by Baruch Marzel, based in Kiryat Arba. Both movements were disqualified by the Central Elections Committee in the 1992 elections. Both appealed to the High Court of Justice, which rejected their appeals, ruling that they are followers of the original Kach movement.
In November 1992, following the movements' support of the grenade attack in the butchers' market in the Old City of Jerusalem, Minister Amnon Rubinstein asked the Attorney-General to initiate a criminal proceedings against the leaders of the two movements, on the charge of incitement to terrorism.
Kach ("This is the Way") was an extreme right-wing anti-Arab party with outright racist characteristics. The party was founded in the early 1970s by Rabbi Meir Kahane and the Jewish Defense League, an organization that he had established in the United States a number of years earlier. Kach's platform called for legislation to transfer the Arab population from Israel before it became a majority and put an end to the Jewish state. The party also championed the imposition of Israeli sovereignty over all parts of the Land of Israel west of the River Jordan (including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), a transition to a state governed by Jewish law, and a radical change in the educational system that would emphasize Torah study and religious revivalism. Kach ran in the elections for the Eighth, Ninth and 10th Knessets in 1973, 1977, and 1981, respectively, but did not pass the electoral threshold. Prior to the 1984 elections for the 11th Knesset, the Central Elections Board disqualified the party from running. The Supreme Court overruled the decision, and the party went on to win a seat for the first time. In response to this victory and to the presence of Meir Kahane as one of its members, the Knesset soon passed an amendment to the Basic Law: The Knesset, which stipulates that no party may participate in Knesset elections if one of its objectives is incitement to racism (section 7a of the law). In the 1988 elections for the 12th Knesset, Kach was indeed disqualified from running. Following Kahane's assassination in New York in 1990, Kach split into two factions, one that continued to carry the name “Kach” and a second called “Kahane Hai” (also "Kahane Chai," meaning “Kahane Lives”). Both factions were disqualified from running in the 1992 elections for the 13th Knesset. In 1994, after the massacre in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron committed by Dr. Baruch Goldstein — who had appeared on the party’s list and represented the party in the Kiryat Arba local council — both Kach and Kahane Hai were declared terrorist organizations and were made illegal.
The Chief of Aviation of the Armed Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced 10 June 2024 the development of its own analogue of the UMPK, the integration of French AASM-250 bombs into Su-25 attack aircraft and the use of cluster bombs. The Chief of Aviation of the Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sergei Golubtsov, said in an interview that Ukraine is developing its own analogue of the Russian UMPK and American JDAM-ER . According to Golubtsov, the first tests of such modules should be carried out “in a few weeks.”
Some Russian observers noted the need to adapt the UMPK for the Su-25 attack aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces in order to turn the currently practically useless attack aircraft, operating exclusively from an ineffective pitching position, into a modern carrier of high-precision weapons. Rostec also announced some plans to modify the Su-25 for “modern means of destruction” in 2023, but by June 2024 nothing had happened.
https://nuou.org.ua/u/stru/others/muzei/outdoor/ Su-25 attack aircraft of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been adapted for the use of high-precision French air bombs AASM HAMMER [Armament Air-Sol Modulaire ]. Serhii Golubtsov, chief of aviation of the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said this in an interview with "Donbass. Realities". This aviation weaponry, which Ukraine receives as part of military aid from France, is actively used for strikes against the occupiers.
According to him, at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine had stocks of unguided aircraft weapons for Su-25 attack aircraft. However, during the first year of active hostilities, these reserves were exhausted. To continue the use of attack aircraft of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, the United States transferred Zuni air missiles to Ukraine , which were available in warehouses. These unguided air-to-ground missiles are designed to hit ground targets, fortifications, other objects and columns of enemy equipment.
However, these stocks have also run out, and the resumption of production is impractical due to the transition of Western aviation to high-precision weapons. Therefore, in order to keep the Su-25 in service, the Ukrainian military adapted them to use French AASM HAMMER aerial bombs.
AASM is a kit for free-falling unguided aerial bombs that turns them into highly accurate ones. The kit consists of a front part with a guidance system and flaps and a rear part with a rocket accelerator designed to increase the flight range of ammunition. Overall, the integration of AASM into these aircraft can significantly increase their combat potential. It is also worth recalling that earlier the Americans turned their famous A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft into full-fledged air-to-surface guided weapon carriers.
Mass drone attacks targeting military equipment have become a defining element of the war in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian and Russian militaries are working to adapt to this growing threat. As Business Insider writes , in many cases, elite armored vehicles worth millions are destroyed by systems costing only a few hundred dollars. So now anti-drone defense has become commonplace. Tanks are often equipped with large welded "cages" that prevent exploding drones from disabling them. "More and more people are agreeing that these cages and similar means of protection will not go anywhere, because unmanned systems are the future of war," BI writes.
As Mark Kansian, a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noted, as drones, like anti-tank weapons, will increasingly appear in warfare, such protection will become a permanent part of armored vehicle equipment. "In the future," he explained, "you'll see that either tanks will already be equipped with them, or there will be a standard kit that can be installed."
Photos recently published online show a US M1A1 Abrams tank with makeshift cages. As BI points out, these cages were built into the sides and top of the turret, providing the tank with external protection against exploding UAVs, especially small FPV drones. "The latest photos show that even the Abrams, which is considered the best tank received by Ukraine from Western allies, needs additional help to protect against drones and other anti-tank weapons," BI notes.
It is noted that early models of such armor covered only certain areas of the machine - for example, the upper part, while the side and rear parts remained open. However, the new cage of the Ukrainian Abrams tank looks like it was designed more purposefully to add another layer of protection and potentially increase the survivability of the crew. Ukrainian crews working on US-supplied Abrams tanks spoke about a number of shortcomings of the armored vehicles , which calls into question their usefulness on the war fronts. In particular, crews trained in Germany said that the tanks did not have enough armor to stop modern weapons.
Experts said that both the Ukrainian and Russian forces are trying to develop countermeasures to protect tanks from drones , which, according to experts, are becoming an increasingly serious problem even for fast-moving equipment.
The process of reducing operators and decommissioning fighters of this type is currently underway. France itself is engaged in the relevant process. Greece has already announced plans to sell them. Qatar was going to sell them to Indonesia in 2023, but the deal was canceled in February 2024. Peru wanted to decommission them by 2025, and the UAE has already begun replacing the Mirage 2000 with the Rafale F4 in a record deal.
Unlike the F-16, which continues to be constantly updated due to the same type of Block, the Mirage 2000 was updated for each customer individually.
Mirage 2000-5 Mk2, which was ordered by Greece in 2000, has the upgrade of the onboard radar - RDY-2 with a target detection range of fighter type up to 140 km (instead of 130 km) and a SAR mode that allows you to map the terrain and implement a flight with a terrain contour. In addition, an updated ICMS Mk3 built-in EW complex and a more accurate inertial and satellite navigation system were integrated into the aircraft. The fighter also received a new Damocles optical aiming station and updated monitors in the cockpit.
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