Israeli Early Paramilitary Groups
The Zionist movement's primary goal from 1897 to 1948 was to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Zionist political violence is a term for acts of terrorism or violence carried out by Zionists to establish and maintain a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been committed by individuals, paramilitary groups, and the Israeli government since the early 20th century. 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.
The Jewish population had doubled between the turn of the century and the end of WWI. (In 1900 there were 40,000 Jews in Palestine; in 1917 there were between 67,000 and 85,000. Britain would promise the Jews a Home in Palestine. Not Palestine as a Home, but a Home in Palestine. If too many Jews wanted to go to Palestine, there were always the Arabs as trouble-makers. The Arabs, when required, would "rebel" against the "foreign invasion;" and the Jews would be forever a threatened minority. Each would have to be protected against the other — by British bayonets. The British wanted Eretz Israel because it lies at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, because it is the crossroads of three continents, because it dominates one bank of the Suez Canal, because it lies athwart the road to India.
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.
Great Britain feared a loss of influence in Palestine caused by the increased Jewish immigration from Hitler's Germany. On May 17, 1939, Britain published a White Paper which essentially met all the Arab demands, Jewish immigration was to be limited to 15,000 per year for the next five years, at which time it would stop altogether unless the Arabs agreed to further immigration.
In the pre-state period (1920s-1940s), Zionist paramilitaries like the Irgun, Lehi, Haganah and Palmach engaged in violent campaigns against British authorities, Palestinian Arabs, and internal Jewish dissenters to advance their political goals. The Haganah, the Irgun Awai Leumi, and the Lohamei Herut, their military and paramilitary groups, their organization, leadership philosophy and actions were inseparable in their operations and their strong Zionist aims. These three groups attacked the British Administration and their White Paper policy, the Arabs, Hitler, and fought in their own civil war.
One example of Zionist political violence is the Irgun, an organization that committed acts of terrorism against Palestinian Arabs and the British authorities. The Irgun was known for two infamous operations. The bombing of the King David Hotel: On July 22, 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. The Deir Yassin massacre on April 9, 1948, when the Irgun and Lehi carried out the Deir Yassin massacre, killing at least 107 Palestinian Arab villagers, including women and children. The United Nations, British, and United States governments, as well as the media, described the Irgun as a terrorist organization. Albert Einstein called the Irgun and its successor Herut party a "terrorist, right wing, chauvinist organization".
Jewish terrorism against British and Arabs did contribute heavily to the removal of the British from Palestine, the abandonment of the League of Nations mandate and the creation of a Jewish state of Israel. There were no practically affordable alternatives to yielding the Mandate available to the government of Great Britain because of the cohesiveness of the terrorists and their sophistication. There is no true conclusion as to whether or not these groups posed a threat to the state of Israel as perceived by the ruler at that time, David Ben-Gurion; however much they have posed a threat to the personal power of Ben-Gurion, they played a significant part in the creation of the Jewish state.
https://www.knesset.gov.il/vip/jabotinsky/eng/Revisionist_frame_eng.html">Ze'ev Jabotinsky https://www.likud.org.il/en/about-the-likud/former-leaders/zeev-jabotinsky">Ze'ev Jabotinsky https://blog.nli.org.il/en/jabotinsky-comes-home/">Ze'ev Jabotinsky https://ecf.org.il/issues/issue/1435">Ze'ev Jabotinsky
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, or in its full name the Hebrew Defense Organization in the Land of Israel, 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.
From its first days until 1936, the "Haganah" focused on security and stationary defense of the settlements, according to the format of "defense from within the fence", placing an increasing emphasis on the building of the force and its training, fortification, weapons production and its purchase from any possible source. After the outbreak of the bloody riots in the spring of 1936, which lasted for three years (the "Arab Revolt"), there was a change in perception, and the "Haganah" forces increasingly moved to offensive activity, "outside the fence". This, while making an effort not to be drawn into reactions without a diagnosis. During these years, the theory of mobile warfare was developed in the defense: first in the "Nodat", and then in the Posh (field companies) and the "special night ships" under the command of the "friend" - the Scottish officer Ord 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.
Its popularity and its complete subordination to the elected institutions made it the army of the "state on the way". The "Haganah" took it upon itself to protect the soul and property of the settlement and its people, when the potential enemy was the Arab settlement in the country, whose people several times in the 1920s and 1930s went on rampages and harmed the Jews. Suffice it to say that between 1920 and 1939 more than 700 Jews were murdered by Arabs.
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.
When World War II broke out and Britain took on a key role in fighting against Nazi Germany, the Zionist leadership realized that direct or indirect military action against the British was out of the question, even though the British White Paper policy (May 1939) severely restricted Jewish immigration and land-acquisition rights. David Ben-Gurion, chairman of the Zionist Executive, ruled that the Zionist movement and the yishuv would cooperate with Britain against the Nazis on the military level but would continue to resist the White Paper in matters of immigration and settlement.
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.
https://palmach.org.il/veterans/
The Palmach (Strike Squads) was the military arm of the "Haganah" organization and the main military force of the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in the seven years preceding the declaration of the state, and on its basis the IDF was established. During its years of activity, the Palmach gained rich military experience in diverse combat and in many other fields, which later helped to develop the IDF upon its establishment. The Hagana organization itself operated in secret from the British government in Israel , and his friends were volunteers who trained underground and irregularly, mainly on Saturdays and holidays.
The Palmach was founded in 1941. Most of its years the Palmach operated underground, but it actually began with British-Jewish cooperation against the background of the fear of a possible invasion of the Land of Israel by the Nazi German army. In cooperation with the "Haganah", the British army trained companies of Jewish fighters, who sent them on missions in Syria and Lebanon and helped the British preparations. In the spring-summer of 1941, within the "Haganah" organization, six mobile assault companies (PALMAH) were established, as a national and regional combat reserve, suitable for immediate action. They were located in the eastern Galilee and the Jezreel Valley; in the western Galilee and the Jezreel Valley and in the Haifa region; in Samaria and Sharon; in Tel Aviv; In the south of the country and in Jerusalem, Yitzhak Sade was appointed as the commander of the Palmach.
The volunteers for the Palmach were initially engaged in basic military training. In the spring-summer of 1942, during World War II, in view of the danger of invasion by the Nazi German army, from the direction of the Western Desert and Egypt, the Palmach was helped by the British army, which trained its members for guerrilla warfare in the rear of the German army, should it invade , and in defense of the center of the country. Even earlier, the Palmach men assisted the British in conquering Syria and Lebanon from the hands of Vichy France; a boat with 23 fighters went out to attack the refineries in Tripoli, and did not return. The trainings held in the forests of Mishmar Ha'emek, Ben-Shman, Hanita and more, included sabotage, patrols, snipers , face-to-face combat, field training and courses for platoon commanders. In this framework, the "German Department", the "Arab Department" (undercover) and the "Balkan Department" were also established, to operate in the German occupation areas and to assist in rescuing Jews. Some of the fighters of the Balkan division even parachuted in Europe. During 1944, three companies were added to the Palmach and a framework of four battalions was created.
In the midst of the war against the German enemy, small deserter organizations, Lehi Vatzel, who refused to accept the command of the national institutions of the Jewish settlement and the Zionist leadership, found it appropriate to harm the English who then fought individually against Nazi Germany. According to the instructions of the elected Zionist leadership, groups of Palmach members arrested dozens of members of the deserters' organizations (as part of the "Haszon"), some of whom were handed over to the British and detained in administrative detention (of which they were exiled to East Africa until the end of the mandate).
After the Germans were defeated in the Battle of El Alamein in 1942, the British no longer needed the Palmach and stopped supporting it. At this point, the Palmach went into clandestine activity and existed in a model that combined military training and work in kibbutzim. The Palmach was involved in the defense of the Jewish settlement, road security, immigration and settlement, and after World War II focused on attacking military installations of the British Mandate in Israel. When the danger of invasion passed with the front's distance from the Land of Israel, the collaboration with the British faded and the Palmach found itself in a mobilized framework without a budget. The solution found was to house the Palmach units in the various kibbutzim, where they worked for a living for half a month and trained for half a month. Towards the end of World War II, the "kashrut" of the pioneering youth movements were added to the Palmach. Yigal Alon was appointed deputy commander of the Palmach.
The Palmach became an organized military force with department commanders (MM) and company commanders (MP), even if it had combat doctrine and a few weapons hidden in secret warehouses. The offensive-maneuvering military concept was formulated, operating at night and underground small-scale warfare. Professional units of Saboteurs, sailors and pilots. Veteran volunteers began to be released and were added to the reserves of the Palmach.
In the years 1945-1947, when the British government strove to stifle the Zionist enterprise, harassed the Jewish settlement and prevented Jewish Holocaust refugees from immigrating to Israel, the Palmach waged an active struggle against the British on several fronts: Organizing illegal immigration by land - from the neighboring Arab countries and across Europe - escorting and commanding most of the immigration ships with Holocaust survivors - about 60 ships with tens of thousands of immigrants from all over Europe - and disembarking them on the shores of the country despite the British blockade; Protection and assistance in the establishment of new settlements despite British resistance; participation in mass demonstrations; and conducting a fire fight against the English rule. The Palmach became the main operational arm of the Hagana, and was operationally and financially responsible for operations carried out by other units of the Hagana.
Yigal Alon was appointed commander of the Palmach, under the command of the General Staff of the Hagana. Under the guidance of the national leadership, in October 1945, the "Hebrew Mary Movement" was established. As part of it, the Palmach fighters took part, among other things, in the following anti-British fire operations (not personal terrorism): the release of the illegal immigrants from the Atlit camp, the bombing of the railways on the "Night of the Trains", the bombing of guard boats in the port of Jaffa, attacks on the coastal police stations in Givat Olga and Sidney-Ali, the bombing of the radar station on Mount Carmel, the attacks on the British mobile police stations, the demolition of 11 bridges at the borders of the country ("The Night of the Bridges") and more. These actions were connected to the immigration and settlement war and the political struggle. [June 29, 1946], many members of the Palmach in a large-scale British operation against the settlement and its leaders.
At the same time, under the direction of the political leadership, the Haganah and the Palmach also began to prepare for the expected dangers from the Arabs of the country and the neighboring countries, if the British evacuate the Land of Israel. In part of the Land of Israel, the Arabs responded with increasing violence, harming Jewish transport and besieging Jerusalem and other settlements, the Palmach was the first mobilized military force that was prepared and ready to meet the enemy and protect the Jewish settlement (about 600,000 people). It numbered 2,220 regular fighters at the time and 900 reserve personnel. His four battalions went into action with the outbreak of the fighting.
The Palmach units then played a decisive role and enabled the Hagana and the Yishuv's institutions to prepare for the invasion of Arab armies. At the beginning of the war, December 1947-March 1948, the Palmach battalions were deployed in the Galilee heights and the northern valleys (the 1st, 3rd battalions), in the Jerusalem area (the 4th, 5th, 6th battalions) and in the Negev areas (the 2nd, 8th battalions). The activity was mainly focused on securing the connection and the help to isolated and remote settlements (Yachiam, Tirat-Zvi, Ramot Naftali, Safed, the Negev settlements), protection of the supply convoys to the Negev, the besieged and bombarded Jerusalem, and Gush Etzion, as well as proactive actions against the attacks of the Arab gangs, until May 15, 1948.
The Palmach men fought in all stages of the War of Independence. About 6,000 Palmach men, including about 1,000 new immigrants, most of whom were Holocaust survivors, took part in the war against the Arabs of the Land of Israel and the invasion of Arab armies. With the Declaration of Independence), the Jewish forces moved to a combined attack in several sectors with the aim of opening the road to Jerusalem, taking control of the cities with a mixed population, transport junctions, police stations and army camps, which were vacated with the departure of the British from Israel. The most prominent operations in which the Palmach units operated were, Among other things, the campaign for the Valley Guard, the breakthrough to Jerusalem and the expansion of its borders, the occupation of Tiberias, the occupation of Haifa, the encirclement of Jaffa, the liberation of the Upper Galilee, the occupation of Safed and Beit Shan, the surrender of Jaffa and the liberation of the Western Galilee. During this period, the Palmach battalions were organized into three brigades: "The Negev", "Yiftah" and "Harel".
In the third stage, May 15-July 9, 1948, containment battles were held against the armies of Arab countries that invaded the Land of Israel. Units from the "Yiftah" Brigade operated in their kingdoms against the Lebanese Army and in the Jordan Valley - against the Syrian Army, in the Letron area ("Harel" and "Yiftah" Brigades) - against the Arab, Trans-Jordanian Legion, at Sha'ar HaGi and in Jerusalem and its surroundings, the "Harel" Brigade operated against the Arab Legion and Egyptian and Iraqi volunteers and broke the siege on the city and its neighborhoods. In containing the Egyptian army in the south - the area of Ashdod and Iraq-Suidan, Negva, Kfar Darom, Nirim, Nitsanim, Yad Mordechai - the Negev brigade (together with the Hagana brigade - Givati) operated.
After the establishment of the IDF, the Palmach brigades were integrated into it. On June 27, 1948, while fighting, the members of the Palmach, along with all members of the "Haganah", swore the oath of allegiance to the Israel Defense Forces, which had just been established. The Palmach at that time numbered 6,000 fighters, including about 1,000 companies. During the fighting, about 2,000 new immigrants, the survivors of the Holocaust, the Gachal men, who became active fighters, were absorbed into the units. Together with them, many Jewish and Christian volunteers, the Machal men, who came from around the world to help the Jewish community that was fighting for its life, fought within the Palmach units. Many of the Gachal men and the military paid a heavy price during the battles.
In the last phase of the war - July 9, 1948 to March 10, 1949 - the "Yiftah" Brigade participated in the occupation of the cities of Lod and Ramla and the countryside around the Ayalon Valley. After that, it operated in the Beit Hanon area in the south. The "Harel" Brigade Captured villages in the plains and in the mountains southwest of Jerusalem and expanded the corridor to the city; in the last war operation, with the participation of "Harel" and "Negev", the area of Asluj-Nitzna-Rafih was captured from the Egyptians. The "Negev" brigade captured the Be'er Sheva, broke through to Sodom and took control of the central and southern Negev; in Operation "Ovda" the brigade took control of the area between Ramon Crater and Eilat Bay. In the war for the establishment of the State of Israel and its defense, 1187 Palmach men fell (about 20% of all casualties).
In November 1948, the Palmach headquarters was disbanded and its units were assimilated into the Israel Defense Forces. The Palmach (Naval Company) formed the basis of the Navy, the pilot division was transferred to the Air Force, the "undercover" - to the Intelligence Corps. As part of the IDF, all of them have already participated in all subsequent wars. In the professional standing army, there are still many dozens of Palmach commanders who quickly integrated into the IDF's high command skeleton - among them 6 chiefs of staff; 40 troop commanders, commanders and generals of the General Staff; 80 lieutenant colonels and sub-generals - as well as in the defense establishment.
The IDF adopted many elements from the legacy of the Palmach, including its doctrine of combat, at the tactical and operational level, and the doctrine of military training that developed in the Palmach. "We are always under command" was the slogan of the Palmach that accompanied its members all along the way: in training, on expeditions, assimilation, in battle, on initiative, volunteering and settling. Also 50 kibbutzim and moshavim, from the north to the Negev, were established and completed by members of the Palmach and its enlisted training . And in order to preserve something of the pioneering nature and values of the Palmach, the Nahal Corps (warrior pioneer youth) was established in the IDF, which exists to this day. The Palmach generation also had a considerable contribution in all areas of the country's life: in settlement, in the economy, in society, in politics, In academia, mass mission, literature, art and folklore.
Between the years 1941-1949, 1,168 members of the Palmach were killed. The legacy of the Palmach had a profound effect on Israeli society. Many of the organization's graduates stood out in the security, political and cultural elite, and inspired by the spirit of the Palmach, books, plays, songs and scripts were written, many of which received great sympathy.
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.
As part of the joining of the Echelon fighters to the IDF, the question of disbanding the Echelon came up. As the commander of the organization, Begin proposed to transform it from an underground organization into a political party, one that accepts the rules of the political game. Therefore, immediately after the proclamation of the state, Menachem stood On May 15, 1948, as the commander of the underground and decided together with his subordinates, to establish the 'Harot' movement from the foundation of the national military organization, Begin's statement was published on the radio broadcast ' Kol Zion HaLochemat ' on the Etzal broadcasting station: "In the State of Israel, the organization announces this. The National Military for the establishment of the Hebrew Emancipation Movement that will remain faithful to the glorious tradition of the War of Liberation and will fight within the framework of Hebrew law." In the political axis, the movement was established on the right side of the political map, the movement was made up of several groups, among them, the Israel Defense Forces, the Histadrut National Workers Union, Ahdut Israel, the Etzal and the members of the 'Hebrew Committee'. In Begin's view, revisionist Zionism was translated politically by the establishment of the 'Freedom' movement, whose fundamental values ??are based on the following basic lines: the integrity of the homeland, kibbutzim, social justice, the rule of law and human freedom.
Stern Gang / LEHI Lohamei Herut Yisrael
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.
https://www.leava.co.il/about/">Flame Lahava [Flame] organization - acronym for Prevention Of Assimilation In The Holy Land - is an extreme right-wing Israeli Jewish nationalist organization, founded by Bentzi Gofstein. The organization's purpose, as stated in its publications, is to "save girls from the people of Israel who have been tempted to form a relationship with a Gentile". The organization works to prevent Jewish women from associating with Gentiles, It also offers practical and legal help to Jewish women to sever romantic ties with non-Jews. The organization calls for the employment of Jews only, on the grounds that the employment of Arabs in Jewish-owned businesses contributes to the increase in assimilation in Israel. In addition, the organization is characterized by anti-LGBT and anti-Christian activity. Lahava was founded on Hanukkah 577 (12/17/2009). In the organization's first publication, the organization's purpose was announced: " In light of the recent difficult situation of assimilation in the Holy Land, a number of people representing various organizations that have been involved for many years in rescuing Israeli girls have come together to establish a super organization to fight assimilation in the Holy Land. We have made it our goal to reach those girls before they reach the villages." The organization works to prevent Jewish women from associating with non-Jews, and also offers practical and legal help to Jewish women to break off a romantic relationship with a non-Jew. Lahava calls for the employment of only Jews, on the grounds that the employment of Arabs in businesses owned by Jews contributes to the increase in the rate of assimilation in Israel . The organization was founded and established by Benzi and Anat Gopstein, who after many years of activity in various organizations for the sake of the girls of Israel decided to establish an organization that would deal with the roots of the problem, not to be the hospital under the bridge but to repair the bridge. Ben-Zion (Benzi) Gofstein is the CEO of the organization and Anat Gofstein is the head of the therapeutic team of the organization. As part of his activities in the organization, Ben-Zion Gopstein usually publishes public letters to celebrities who maintain relationships or marry non-Jewish partners. Among other things, the organization published such letters to Yair Netanyahu (when he was in a relationship with a non-Jewish woman) Tzachi Halevi (in light of his marriage to Lucy Ahrish) and also to Daniela Pick (following the relationship with Quentin Tarantino). Benzi Gopstein grew up in Bnei Brak and in his youth was a student of Meir Kahane and active in the "Kaç" movement. Over the years, cases were opened against him for disorderly conduct, assault and damage to Arab property. Later, in November 1990, he was even arrested along with two others on suspicion of the double murder in Luban a-Shakaria, as revenge for the murder of Rabbi Kahana that happened the day before. However, he was released shortly after due to lack of evidence. Ahead of the elections to the 22nd Knesset, Gopstein was placed fifth on the "Otzma Yehudit" list, which would later win seats under the leadership of Ben-Gvir. However, the Supreme Court ruled that he cannot compete, due to "consistent and blatant incitement to racism on his part against Israeli Arabs". The organization employs professionals who provide an initial response to girls and women, and a team that accompanies the girls, women and their children afterward. The organization also operates a legal department that provides initial legal advice to the victims of assimilation and, if necessary, continues to manage the legal cases in the various courts. The Lehava website states "We invest most of our efforts in prevention; To anticipate a cure for Mecca, to reach those girls before they reach the Arab villages. To explain to boys and girls the danger of assimilation, the beauty of Judaism. We are not afraid to talk about the fact that assimilation is a disaster not only abroad but also in the Holy Land." "We are proud that we are the sons of God, whom he chose from among all the peoples, that is our pride. We must educate our children to be proud of their Judaism, to get up every morning and rejoice, "Blessed is that I am not a Gentile" to rejoice and be proud that we are Jews." "After 2000 years of exile we returned to the Holy Land, in order to establish a Jewish state in it, every Jew dreamed of this in exile, in Morocco or Poland, in Germany and Yemen, the dream of the return of Zion, for the establishment of a Jewish state in the Holy Land, he did not pray for the state of all its citizens, but The State of Israel is the state of the Jewish people. The Lahava organization is working as hard as it can so that the state will indeed be a Jewish state - a real one. The phenomenon of assimilation affects all layers of the public, all sectors and all regions of the country in enormous proportions. The phenomenon does not skip the religious or ultra-orthodox public and many of the victims come from normative families and homes." "The diasporic image of the Jews as weak creatures that can be stepped on, who do not fight back, is an image that must change. This image not only causes immediate damage to the Jews, but also perpetuates itself. When a Jew runs away or allows himself to be trampled, it is a guarantee that in the future another Jew will be attacked because of the image that was created and perpetuated. Moreover, when he runs away, the Jew begins to believe that he is indeed weak. He begins to lose the last drop of his confidence and self-respect. It is already clear to him that next time he will run away again, and the next time and the time after that. Much of the self-hatred that one finds in the younger generation is the result of their aversion to what they see as their weakness and that of the Jews in general. We will not agree to humiliate Jews in the Land of Israel because they are Jews, spitting on a Jew or slapping a Jew is like spitting on the Lord of the world. "We want to create Jews who are physically strong, brave and fearless, who fight back. We came to change a two-thousand-year-old image of exile, an image that must be buried, because it buried us. We train to protect Jewish lives and Jewish rights. We learn to fight, because it is better to know how to fight and not need it, than to need it and not know how to fight." In August 2014, Lahava leaders acted against the wedding of a Muslim and a Jewish woman who had converted to Islam. The groom petitioned the court against holding a demonstration in front of the wedding hall, and a compromise was reached according to which the demonstration would be held two hundred meters away from the venue. The protest against the wedding received extensive exposure in the media, and a sharp discussion between the organization's opponents and its supporters. In October 2020, the organization issued a call to the national service authorities not to send girls to volunteer in hospitals, due to the large number of Arabs in the various medical professions in hospitals. Lahava organizes demonstrations against mixed weddings, distributes stickers and leaflets warning young men not to approach Jewish girls, operates a call center to report Jewish women associating with Arabs, and activates activist teams to thwart such contacts. On April 22, 2021, following cases of violence by Arabs against Jews in Jerusalem that were published on social networks, Lahava people organized a march of hundreds of people in Jerusalem "to restore Jewish honor". The demonstrators marched in the city from Safra Square to the Nablus Gate, with some chanting slogans such as: "Death to the Arabs" and "May your village burn." The Department of State on 19 April 2024 designated Ben Zion Gopstein, the founder and leader of Lehava, an organization whose members have engaged in destabilizing violence affecting the West Bank. Under Gopstein’s leadership, Lehava and its members have been involved in acts or threats of violence against Palestinians, often targeting sensitive or volatile areas. Concurrently, the Department of the Treasury designated two entities, Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich, for their roles in establishing fundraising campaigns on behalf of two U.S. designated-extremists who engaged in violent activities, Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai, respectively. State designated Gopstein pursuant to section 1 (a)(ii)(A) of Executive Order (E.O.) 14115 for being a leader or official of an entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or participating in an act of violence or threat of violence targeting civilians, affecting the West Bank, relating to his tenure, as well as for being a leader or official of an entity that has engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, actions—including directing, enacting, implementing, enforcing, or failing to enforce policies—that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the West Bank, relating to his tenure. Treasury’s designations were taken pursuant to E.O. 14115, which authorizes sanctions on persons undermining peace, security, and stability in the West Bank. Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai were designated by the Department of State on February 1, 2024. On 11 July 2024, Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesperson, stated : The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank and the prospects for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Today, we are imposing sanctions on three Israeli individuals and five entities connected to acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank. The United States remains deeply concerned about extremist violence and instability in the West Bank, which undermines Israel’s own security. We strongly encourage the Government of Israel to take immediate steps to hold these individuals and entities accountable. In the absence of such steps, we will continue to impose our own accountability measures. One of the targets of the sanctions action is Lehava, an organization led by U.S.-designated Ben Zion Gopstein that has been involved in acts of violent extremism. Lehava’s members engaged in repeated acts of violence against Palestinians, often targeting sensitive or volatile areas. Additionally, the US imposed sanctions on four outposts that are owned or controlled by U.S.-designated individuals who have weaponized them as bases for violent actions to displace Palestinians. Outposts like these have been used to disrupt grazing lands, limit access to wells, and launch violent attacks against neighboring Palestinians. The financial sanctions actions were taken pursuant to Executive Order 14115, “Imposing Certain Sanctions on Persons Undermining Peace, Security, and Stability in the West Bank. The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) concurrently issued an alert related to the financing of Israeli extremist settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. This alert supplements the one issued February 1, 2024 and provides additional red flags to assist U.S. financial institutions in identifying and reporting suspicious activity that finances West Bank violence. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498560948/The-Hilltop-Youth-A-Stage-of-Resistance-and-Counter-culture-Practice".The Hilltop Youth A Stage of Resistance and Counter culture Practice Shimi Friedman
No'ar HaGva'ot [Hilltop Youth]
Hill Youth [No'ar HaGva'ot], Hilltop Youth, the youth of the hills or hillbilly boys, is based on Kahanism, which advocates for the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from both Israel and the occupied territories. Hilltop Youth is a violent extremist group that has rampaged through Palestinian communities in the West Bank. It has carried out killings, mass arson, and other so-called “price tag” attacks to exact revenge and intimidate Palestinian civilians. Hilltop Youth has repeatedly clashed with the Israeli military when it tries to counter Hilltop Youth’s destructive activities. Residing on outposts often neighbouring areas populated heavily by Palestinians (not to be confused with Israeli settlements) the Hilltop Youth are known for their extreme religious nationalism. Mostly made up of young people between the ages of 16 and 25, the group are followers of Kahanism; an ideology based on the teachings of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane. Meir Ettinger (born 4 October 1991), the grandson of Meir Kahane, attracted many followers and in addition to public speaking, he published a blog at the pro-Hilltop Youth website "The Jewish Voice". Although relatively small, with only several hundred members, the Hilltop Youth are known for having incited violent acts of hatred against Palestinians and Palestinian homes, mosques and churches. They are also known for having a difficult relationship with left-wing Israelis, the Israeli army and even with Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service. “The more nationalistic you are, the more militia-like you become. All of a sudden, every idiot at the top of the hill takes a flag, sticks it down and that’s the new border of the country,” former speaker of the Knesset, Avraham Burg, said 13 November 2018. “They’re [the Hilltop Youth] insignificant in numbers, they are insignificant ideologically … they are even insignificant as a crime gang. They are very significant in [how they are] dictating to the government a de facto policy – which is wrong.” Hill Youth started in 1998 to head to a call by then-Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon. The announcement was intended to thwart the peace talks, and especially to sabotage the agreement signed at the time between Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian Authority. Sharon referred in the announcement he made at the Likud center on November 16, 1998: "Run and grab the hills. Grab a hill and another hill. Grab the top of the hills. Everyone who is there needs to move, needs to run, We need to capture as many hills as possible, expand the territory. Everything we capture will be in their hands." Members linked to the group have engaged in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, as well as against Israeli soldiers. These extremist Religious Zionist settler youth operate in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. They are known for establishing outposts without an Israeli legal basis and conducting settler violence against Palestinians. extent. Some of the young people are members of the second generation in the old settlements who are following in the footsteps of their parents, i.e. settling additional territories in Judea and Samaria. Others are religious young people, what about the big cities . Some of the boys belong to formal, semi-formal or alternative study frameworks, within the religious state education stream. Sometimes these frameworks are of a rehabilitative nature only and sometimes also implement an agricultural-settlement content. Many hillbilly boys are close to the new Hassidism . Their settlement in remote places stems from their desire to live naturally while growing and eating organic food , herding sheep , etc. They see themselves as pioneers and the successors of the Jews from the Biblical period who lived in the Kingdom of Israel. The Hill Youth consists of several subcurrents. After the disengagement from Gush Katif, most of the youth in the hills united around the "Youth for the Land of Israel" movement. The group later split into several currents: the Nachala movement led by Daniela Weiss and Rabbi Moshe Levinger , and the "Nucleus of the Hebrew Cities" movement led by Meir Bertler. Over the years, the activity of both movements in the construction of the hills ceased, and the Nahala movement turned its activities mainly into public protest organizations. At the same time, the Hill Boys joined other movements, such as the Ari Yishag movement led by Rabbi Avraham Segron and the Derech Haim movement led by Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg . In organized group violence and “price tag” attacks—a term created by violent settler extremists indicating that acts against their interests would carry a price—Hilltop Youth has conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinians, engaging in killings, arson, assaults, and intimidation intended to drive Palestinian communities out of the West Bank. In the April 2024 attack on the Palestinian town of al-Mughayyir, for example, Hilltop Youth set fire to homes, buildings, and vehicles, beat villagers, looted property, including livestock, and left one Palestinian dead. In June 2023, hundreds of members of Hilltop Youth attacked the Palestinian town of Turmus Aiya and burned homes, cars, and fields, leaving another Palestinian dead and others injured. Hilltop Youth has also vandalized churches and mosques, spray-painted hateful graffiti messages on Palestinian-owned property, and uprooted olive trees in its effort to intimidate and spread fear. Israel has declared that perpetrators of “price tag” attacks constitute an illegal organization and Hilltop Youth has been sanctioned in various jurisdictions around the world. The "hill boys" are often characterized by growing wide and long hair and beards, and large knitted caps. They often live within a commune and under the leadership of authoritative figures such as Avri Ran and Meir Ettinger . Many of them see themselves as continuing the path of the pioneers and are engaged in herding sheep or working the land . According to estimates from 2021, there are about 400 hill boys, spread out on about 80 farms and hills throughout Judea and Samaria. The world of hills and farms in Judea and Samaria has existed for decades. It is difficult to put a finger on the exact point where settlers began to leave the fences and occupy the open spaces, but despite the changes in style and eras, the guiding principles and ideals remained the same. hill. A settlement point, an outpost or a farm is actually a description of an ideological group of people, usually consisting of a nucleus based on a group of families and a number of young volunteers, who decided to establish and build their home outside the fences of the old settlements. The reality in Judea and Samaria, especially in recent years, proves that there is no "vacuum". The open areas are being occupied by the Arabs, with the support of the Palestinian Authority and the budgeting of the European Union. They plant orchards, pave roads, and build houses at large distances from each other in order to occupy the open space in Judea and Samaria and establish a de facto Palestinian state in the area. This behavior is no secret, for years there has been the "Salam Fayyad" program of the previous Palestinian Prime Minister, whose stated goal is exactly that, to seize the territory in order to establish a Palestinian state. They are confronted by teenagers and families imbued with ideals and missions. People who grew up loving the country and are unable to sit at home while our land is being plundered by foreigners, enemies - stand up and take action. Going out into the open spaces and occupying more and more territory, returning it to Jewish hands. The first in the forefront of this campaign are the dedicated shepherds. A shepherd gets up very early in the morning, even before the sun shines in the sky, and goes out to pasture around the new settlement point. The sheep are the best way to mark territory and occupy territory, and this also gives the shepherd control over the space, a deep recognition of the territory and a constant presence. Shepherds have no freedom. at all. Every day they go out in the morning and return only at the end of the day, all days of the week, on Saturdays and holidays, in winter, summer and in all weather conditions. The war on the territory is in small but very significant steps. Another step, another meter, another dunam - finally the territory has returned to Jewish hands, and the land is being redeemed. The European Union Council decided 19 April 2024 to list four persons and two entities under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime. The listed individuals and entities are responsible for serious human rights abuses against Palestinians, including torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and for the violation of right to property and to private and family life of Palestinians in the West Bank. The listed entities are Lehava, a radical right-wing Jewish supremacist group, and Hilltop Youth, a radical youth group consisting of members known for violent acts against Palestinians and their villages in the West Bank. Two leading figures of Hilltop Youth, Meir Ettinger and Elisha Yered, are also listed. Both were involved in deadly attacks against Palestinians in 2015 and 2023. Today’s designations also include Neria Ben Pazi, who has been accused of repeatedly attacking Palestinians in Wadi Seeq and in Deir Jarir since 2021, and Yinon Levi, who has taken part in multiple violent acts against neighbouring villages from his residence in the Mitarim farm illegal outpost. On 7 December 2020, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2020/1999 establishing a Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, which applies to acts such as genocide, crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations or abuses (e.g. torture, slavery, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests or detentions). The EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime underscores the Union’s determination to enhance its role in addressing serious human rights violations and abuses worldwide. Achieving the effective enjoyment of human rights by everyone is a strategic goal of the Union. Respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights is a fundamental value of the Union and of its common foreign and security policy. On 28 August 2024, Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesperson, stated : "Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel’s security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region. It is critical that the Government of Israel hold accountable any individuals and entities responsible for violence against civilians in the West Bank. As part of the United States’ efforts to address the extreme levels of instability and violence against civilians in the West Bank we are taking additional actions today against those who engage in or provide material support for violent activities there." The Department of State imposed sanctions on Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli nongovernmental organization that provides material support to U.S.-designated outpost Meitarim Farm, and U.S.-designated individuals Yinon Levi, Neriya Ben Pazi and Zvi Bar Yosef. After all 250 Palestinian residents of Khirbet Zanuta were forced to leave in late January 2024, Hashomer Yosh volunteers fenced off the village to prevent the residents from returning. The volunteers also provided support by grazing the herds and purporting to “guard” the outposts of U.S.-designated individuals. The Department also sanctioned Yitzhak Levi Filant (Filant), the civilian security coordinator of the Yitzhar settlement in the West Bank. Although Filant’s role is akin to a security or law enforcement officer, he had engaged in malign activities outside the scope of his authority. In February 2024, he led a group of armed settlers to set up roadblocks and conduct patrols to pursue and attack Palestinians in their lands and forcefully expel them from their lands. On 01 October 2024 the Department of State imposed sanctions on two Israeli individuals. The actions of these individuals contribute to creating an environment where violence and instability thrive. Their actions, collectively and individually, undermine peace, security, and stability in the West Bank. The Department designated the individuals pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14115: EITAN YARDENI (YARDENI) is a violent Israeli settler. In late 2023, YARDENI joined a group that invaded the Palestinian town of Khallet Al Dabaa, abducting a Palestinian man, ransacking houses, and stealing personal possessions. In April of 2020, YARDENI, armed with a handgun, joined a group of settlers that attacked two Palestinians herding sheep near Harruba in the South Hebron Hills. YARDENI is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(i)(B)(1) of E.O. 14115 for being responsible for or complicit in, or for having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in planning, ordering, otherwise directing, or participating in an act of violence or threat of violence targeting civilians, affecting the West Bank. AVICHAI SUISSA (SUISSA) is the CEO and a director of U.S.-designated HASHOMER YOSH. SUISSA was designated pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(B) of E.O. 14115 for being, or having been, a leader or official of HASHOMER YOSH, an entity previously designated pursuant to E.O. 14115. On 01 October 2024 the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Hilltop Youth, a violent extremist group that has repeatedly attacked Palestinians and destroyed Palestinian homes and property in the West Bank, pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14115. Through these violent activities, Hilltop Youth is actively destabilizing the West Bank and harming the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis alike. Hilltop Youth has devastated Palestinian communities and carried out killings, mass arson, and other so-called “price tag” attacks to exact revenge and intimidate Palestinian civilians, and has repeatedly clashed with the Israeli military as it counters their activities. “The worsening violence and instability in the West Bank are detrimental to the long-term interests of Israelis and Palestinians, and the actions of violent organizations like Hilltop Youth only exacerbate the crisis,” said Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley T. Smith. “The United States will continue to hold accountable the individuals, groups, and organizations that facilitate these hateful and destabilizing acts.” As noted in FinCEN’s February 1, 2024 Alert and July 11, 2024 Supplemental Alert, the United States has consistently opposed violence in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli violent extremist settlers against Palestinians and attacks by Palestinian violent extremists against Israelis. The United States will continue to seek accountability and justice for all acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, regardless of the perpetrator or the victim. Treasury remains concerned by reports of escalating violence in the West Bank and encourages continued reporting by financial institutions of suspicious activity potentially related to the financing of these violent acts. Concurrently, the Department of State is designating two individuals pursuant to E.O. 14115. Eitan Yardeni is being designated for his connection to violence or threats of violence targeting civilians in the West Bank. Avichai Suissa leads Hashomer Yosh, a West Bank-based entity designated by the United States in July 2024 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of individuals and entities blocked pursuant to E.O. 14115. Britain has already imposed sanctions on the "Hill Youth" organization, along with the Lahava organization, "for assault and violence against Palestinians in Judea and Samaria." The restrictions include, among other things, the freezing of assets and a ban on conducting economic relations with British citizens or on British soil. Also, their entry into the UK was banned. In March, the United States imposed sanctions on the outposts "Zvi's Farm" in Binyamin and "Moshe's Farm" in the Jordan Valley, and on the settlers Naria Ben Fazi, Moshe Sharvit and Zvi Bar Yosef. https://web.archive.org/web/20040603190330/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Centenary%20of%20Zionism/Lexicon%20of%20Zionism#A 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.
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