Irgun
The Irgun (
The Irgun policy was based on what was then called
The organization committed acts of terrorism against Palestinian Arabs, as well as against the British authorities, who were regarded as illegal occupiers.
Following the
History
Members of the Irgun came mostly from Betar and from the Revisionist Party both in Palestine and abroad. The Revisionist Movement made up a popular backing for the underground organization. Ze'ev Jabotinsky, founder of Revisionist Zionism, commanded the organization until he died in 1940. He formulated the general realm of operation, regarding Restraint and the end thereof, and was the inspiration for the organization overall. An additional major source of ideological inspiration was the poetry of Uri Zvi Greenberg. The symbol of the organization, with the motto רק כך (only thus), underneath a hand holding a rifle in the foreground of a map showing both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan (at the time, both were administered under the terms of the British Mandate for Palestine), implied that force was the only way to "liberate the homeland."[16]
The number of members of the Irgun varied from a few hundred to a few thousand. Most of its members were people who joined the organization's command,[clarification needed] under which they carried out various operations and filled positions, largely in opposition to British law. Most of them were "ordinary" people, who held regular jobs, and only a few dozen worked full-time in the Irgun.
The Irgun disagreed with the policy of the
Structure of organization
Irgun Commanders |
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As members of an underground armed organization, Irgun personnel did not normally call Irgun by its name but rather used other names. In the first years of its existence it was known primarily as Ha-Haganah Leumit (The National Defense), and also by names such as Haganah Bet ("Second Defense"), Irgun Bet ("Second Irgun"), the Parallel Organization and the Rightwing Organization. Later on[
The Irgun gradually evolved from its humble origins into a serious and well-organized paramilitary organization. The movement developed a hierarchy of ranks and a sophisticated command-structure, and came to demand serious military training and strict discipline from its members. It developed clandestine networks of hidden arms-caches and weapons-production workshops, safe-houses, and training camps, along with a secret printing facility for propaganda posters.
The ranks of the Irgun were (in ascending order):
- Khayal = (Private)
- Segen Rosh Kvutza, Segen ("Deputy Group Leader", "Deputy") = Assistant Squad Leader (Lance Corporal)
- Rosh Kvutza ("Group Leader") = Squad Leader (Corporal)
- Samal ("Sergeant") = Section Leader (Sergeant)
- Samal Rishon ("Sergeant First Class") = Brigade Leader (Platoon Sergeant)
- Rav Samal ("Chief Sergeant") = Battalion Leader (Master Sergeant)
- Gundar Sheni, Gundar ("Commander Second Class", "Commander") = District Commander (2nd Lieutenant)
- Gundar Rishon ("Commander First Class") = Senior Branch Commander, Headquarters Staff (Lieutenant).
The Irgun was led by a High Command, which set policy and gave orders. Directly underneath it was a General Staff, which oversaw the activities of the Irgun. The General Staff was divided into a military and a support staff. The military staff was divided into operational units that oversaw operations and support units in charge of planning, instruction, weapons caches and manufacture, and first aid. The military and support staff never met jointly; they communicated through the High Command. Beneath the General Staff were six district commands: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa-Galilee, Southern, Sharon, and Shomron, each led by a district commander.[23] A local Irgun district unit was called a "Branch". A "brigade" in the Irgun was made up of three sections. A section was made up of two groups, at the head of each was a "Group Head", and a deputy. Eventually, various units were established, which answered to a "Center" or "Staff".
The head of the Irgun High Command was the overall commander of the organization, but the designation of his rank varied. During the revolt against the British, Irgun commander
Under the command of Menachem Begin, the Irgun was divided into different corps:
- Hayil Kravi (Combat Corps) – responsible for combat operations
- Delek ("Gasoline") – the intelligence section; responsible for gathering and translating intelligence, and maintaining contact with local and foreign journalists
- HAT (Planning Division) – responsible for planning activities
- HATAM (Revolutionary Publicity Corps) – responsible for printing and disseminating propaganda
The Irgun's commanders planned for it to have a regular combat force, a reserve, and shock units, but in practice there were not enough personnel for a reserve or for a shock force.[23]
The Irgun emphasized that its fighters be highly disciplined. Strict drill exercises were carried out at ceremonies at different times, and strict attention was given to discipline, formal ceremonies and military relationships between the various ranks. The Irgun put out professional publications on combat doctrine, weaponry, leadership, drill exercises, etc. Among these publications were three books written by David Raziel, who had studied military history, techniques, and strategy:[24]
- The Pistol (written in collaboration with Avraham Stern)
- The Theory of Training
- Parade Ground and Field Drill
A British analysis noted that the Irgun's discipline was "as strict as any army in the world."[25]
The Irgun operated a sophisticated recruitment and military-training regime. Those wishing to join had to find and make contact with a member, meaning only those who personally knew a member or were persistent could find their way in. Once contact had been established, a meeting was set up with the three-member selection committee at a safe-house, where the recruit was interviewed in a darkened room, with the committee either positioned behind a screen, or with a flashlight shone into the recruit's eyes. The interviewers asked basic biographical questions, and then asked a series of questions designed to weed out romantics and adventurers and those who had not seriously contemplated the potential sacrifices. Those selected attended a four-month series of indoctrination seminars in groups of five to ten, where they were taught the Irgun's ideology and the code of conduct it expected of its members. These seminars also had another purpose - to weed out the impatient and those of flawed purpose who had gotten past the selection interview. Then, members were introduced to other members, were taught the locations of safe-houses, and given military training. Irgun recruits trained with firearms, hand grenades, and were taught how to conduct combined attacks on targets. Arms handling and tactics courses were given in clandestine training camps, while practice shooting took place in the desert or by the sea. Eventually, separate training camps were established for heavy-weapons training. The most rigorous course was the explosives course for bomb-makers, which lasted a year.[23] The British authorities believed that some Irgun members enlisted in the Jewish section of the Palestine Police Force for a year as part of their training, during which they also passed intelligence.[25] In addition to the Irgun's sophisticated training program, many Irgun members were veterans of the Haganah (including the Palmach), the British Armed Forces, and Jewish partisan groups that had waged guerrilla warfare in Nazi-occupied Europe, thus bringing significant military training and combat experience into the organization.[25] The Irgun also operated a course for its intelligence operatives, in which recruits were taught espionage, cryptography, and analysis techniques.[25]
Of the Irgun's members, almost all were part-time members. They were expected to maintain their civilian lives and jobs, dividing their time between their civilian lives and underground activities. There were never more than 40 full-time members, who were given a small expense stipend on which to live on.[23] Upon joining, every member received an underground name. The Irgun's members were divided into cells, and worked with the members of their own cells. The identities of Irgun members in other cells were withheld. This ensured that an Irgun member taken prisoner could betray no more than a few comrades.
In addition to the Irgun's members in Palestine, underground Irgun cells composed of local Jews were established in Europe following World War II. An Irgun cell was also established in Shanghai, home to many European-Jewish refugees. The Irgun also set up a Swiss bank account. Eli Tavin, the former head of Irgun intelligence, was appointed commander of the Irgun abroad.[23]
In November 1947, the
Until World War II the group armed itself with weapons purchased in Europe, primarily Italy and Poland, and smuggled to Palestine. The Irgun also established workshops that manufactured spare parts and attachments for the weapons. Also manufactured were land mines and simple hand grenades. Another way in which the Irgun armed itself was theft of weapons from the British Police and military.
Prior to World War II
Founding
The Irgun's first steps were in the aftermath of the
The leader of the new underground movement was
In the autumn of that year the Jerusalem group merged with other armed groups affiliated with
After the Tel Aviv expansion another branch was established in
Under Tehomi's command
In 1933 there were some signs of unrest, seen by the incitement of the local Arab leadership to act against the authorities. The strong British response put down the disturbances quickly. During that time the Irgun operated in a similar manner to the Haganah and was a guarding organization. The two organizations cooperated in ways such as coordination of posts and even intelligence sharing.
Within the Irgun, Tehomi was the first to serve as "Head of the Headquarters" or "Chief Commander". Alongside Tehomi served the senior commanders, or "Headquarters" of the movement. As the organization grew, it was divided into district commands.
In August 1933 a "Supervisory Committee" for the Irgun was established, which included representatives from most of the Zionist political parties. The members of this committee were
In protest against, and with the aim of ending
In November 1936 the
- The Irgun has been placed ... before a decision to make, whether to submit to the authority of the government and the Jewish Agency or to prepare for a double sacrifice and endangerment. Some of our friends do not have appropriate willingness for this difficult position, and have submitted to the Jewish Agency and has left the battle ... all of the attempts ... to unite with the leftist organization have failed, because the Left entered into negotiations not on the basis of unification of forces, but the submission of one such force to the other....[28]
The first split
In April 1937 the Irgun split after the referendum. Approximately 1,500–2,000 people, about half of the Irgun's membership, including the senior command staff, regional committee members, along with most of the Irgun's weapons, returned to the Haganah, which at that time was under the Jewish Agency's leadership. The Supervisory Committee's control over the Irgun ended, and Jabotinsky assumed command. In their opinion, the removal of the Haganah from the Jewish Agency's leadership to the national institutions necessitated their return. Furthermore, they no longer saw significant ideological differences between the movements. Those who remained in the Irgun were primarily young activists, mostly laypeople, who sided with the independent existence of the Irgun. In fact, most of those who remained were originally Betar people.
On April 27, 1937, the Irgun founded a new headquarters, staffed by Moshe Rosenberg at the head, Avraham (Yair) Stern as secretary, David Raziel as head of the Jerusalem branch, Hanoch Kalai as commander of Haifa and Aharon Haichman as commander of Tel Aviv. On 20 Tammuz, (June 29) the day of Theodor Herzl's death, a ceremony was held in honor of the reorganization of the underground movement. For security purposes this ceremony was held at a construction site in Tel Aviv.
Ze'ev Jabotinsky placed Col.
Illegal immigration
According to Jabotinsky's "Evacuation Plan", which called for millions of
The Irgun joined forces with
The difficult conditions on the ships demanded a high level of discipline. The people on board the ships were often split into units, led by commanders. In addition to having a daily roll call and the distribution of food and water (usually very little of either), organized talks were held to provide information regarding the actual arrival in Palestine. One of the largest ships was the Sakaria, with 2,300 passengers, which equalled about 0.5% of the Jewish population in Palestine. The first vessel arrived on April 13, 1937, and the last on February 13, 1940. All told, about 18,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine with the help of the Revisionist organizations and private initiatives by other Revisionists. Most were not caught by the British.
End of restraint
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While continuing to defend settlements, Irgun members began attacks on Arab villages around April 1936, thus ending the policy of restraint. These attacks were intended to instill fear in the Arab side, in order to cause the Arabs to wish for peace and quiet. In March 1938, David Raziel wrote in the underground newspaper "By the Sword" a constitutive article for the Irgun overall, in which he coined the term "Active Defense":
- The actions of the Haganah alone will never be a true victory. If the goal of the war is to break the will of the enemy – and this cannot be attained without destroying his spirit – clearly we cannot be satisfied with solely defensive operations.... Such a method of defense, that allows the enemy to attack at will, to reorganize and attack again ... and does not intend to remove the enemy's ability to attack a second time – is called passive defense, and ends in downfall and destruction ... whoever does not wish to be beaten has no choice but to attack. The fighting side, that does not intend to oppress but to save its liberty and honor, he too has only one way available – the way of attack. Defensiveness by way of offensiveness, in order to deprive the enemy the option of attacking, is called active defense.
By the end of World War II, more than 250 Arabs had been killed. Examples include:
- After an Arab shooting at Carmel school in Tel Aviv, which resulted in the death of a Jewish child, Irgun members attacked an Arab neighborhood near Kerem Hatemanimin Tel Aviv, killing one Arab man and injuring another.
- On August 17, the Irgun responded to shootings by Arabs from the Jaffa–Jerusalem train towards Jews that were waiting by the train block on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv. The same day, when a Jewish child was injured by the shooting, Irgun members attacked a train on the same route, killing one Arab and injuring five.
During 1936, Irgun members carried out approximately ten attacks.
Throughout 1937 the Irgun continued this line of operation.
- On March 6, a Jew at Sabbath prayers at the Western Wall was shot by a local Arab. A few hours later, the Irgun shot at an Arab in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Rechavia.
- On June 29, a band of Arabs attacked an Egged bus on the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road, killing one Jew. The following day, two Jews were also killed near Karkur. A few hours later, the Irgun carried out a number of operations.
- An Arab bus making its way from Lifta was attacked in Jerusalem.
- In two other locations in Jerusalem, Arabs were shot as well.
- In Tel Aviv, a hand grenade was thrown at an Arab coffee shop on Carmel St., injuring many of the patrons.
- Irgun members also injured an Arab on Reines St. in Tel Aviv.
- On September 5, the Irgun responded to the murder of a rabbi on his way home from prayer in the Old City of Jerusalem by throwing explosives at an Arab bus that had left Lifta, injuring two female passengers and a British police officer.
A more complete list can be found
At that time, however, these acts were not yet a part of a formulated policy of the Irgun.[29] Not all of the aforementioned operations received a commander's approval, and Jabotinsky was not in favor of such actions at the time. Jabotinsky still hoped to establish a Jewish force out in the open that would not have to operate underground. However, the failure, in its eyes, of the Peel Commission and the renewal of violence on the part of the Arabs caused the Irgun to rethink its official policy.
Increase in operations
14 November 1937 was a watershed in Irgun activity. From that date, the Irgun increased its reprisals. Following an increase in the number of attacks aimed at Jews, including the killing of five kibbutz members near Kiryat Anavim (today kibbutz Ma'ale HaHamisha), the Irgun undertook a series of attacks in various places in Jerusalem, killing five Arabs. Operations were also undertaken in Haifa (shooting at the Arab-populated Wadi Nisnas neighborhood) and in Herzliya. The date is known as the day the policy of restraint (Havlagah) ended, or as Black Sunday when operations resulted in the murder of 10 Arabs. This is when the organization fully changed its policy, with the approval of Jabotinsky and Headquarters to the policy of "active defense" in respect of Irgun actions.[30]
The British responded with the arrest of Betar and Hatzohar members as suspected members of the Irgun.
Despite the arrests, Irgun members continued fighting. Jabotinsky lent his moral support to these activities. In a letter to Moshe Rosenberg on 18 March 1938 he wrote:
- Tell them: from afar I collect and save, as precious treasures, news items about your lives. I know of the obstacles that have not impeded your spirit; and I know of your actions as well. I am overjoyed that I have been blessed with such students.
Although the Irgun continued activities such as these, following Rosenberg's orders, they were greatly curtailed. Furthermore, in fear of the British threat of the death sentence for anyone found carrying a weapon, all operations were suspended for eight months. However, opposition to this policy gradually increased. In April, 1938, responding to the killing of six Jews, Betar members from the Rosh Pina Brigade went on a reprisal mission, without the consent of their commander, as described by historian Avi Shlaim:
- On 21 April 1938, after several weeks of planning, he and two of his colleagues from the Irgun (Etzel) ambushed an Arab bus at a bend on a mountain road near Safad. They had a hand grenade, a gun and a pistol. Their plan was to destroy the engine so that the bus would fall off the side of the road and all the passengers would be killed. When the bus approached, they fired at it (not in the air, as Mailer has it) but the grenade lobbed by Ben Yosef did not detonate. The bus with its screaming and terrified passengers drove on.[31]
Although the incident ended without casualties, the three were caught, and one of them –
did not reduce his sentence. In Shlomo Ben-Yosef's writings in Hebrew were later found:- I am going to die and I am not sorry at all. Why? Because I am going to die for our country. Shlomo Ben-Yosef.
On 29 June 1938 he was executed, and was the first of the Olei Hagardom. The Irgun revered him after his death and many regarded him as an example. In light of this, and due to the anger of the Irgun leadership over the decision to adopt a policy of restraint until that point, Jabotinsky relieved Rosenberg of his post and replaced him with David Raziel, who proved to be the most prominent Irgun commander until Menachem Begin. Jabotinsky simultaneously instructed the Irgun to end its policy of restraint, leading to armed offensive operations until the end of the Arab Revolt in 1939. In this time, the Irgun mounted about 40 operations against Arabs and Arab villages, for instance:
- After a Jewish father and son were killed in the Old City of Jerusalem, on June 6, 1938, Irgun members threw explosives from the roof of a nearby house, killing two Arabs and injuring four.
- The Irgun planted markets, primarily in places identified by the Irgun as activity centers of armed Arab gangs.
- Explosives detonated in the Arab soukin Jerusalem on July 15, killed ten local Arabs.
- In similar circumstances, 70 Arabs were killed by a land mine planted in the Arab souk in Haifa.
This action led the British Parliament to discuss the disturbances in Palestine. On 23 February 1939 the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Malcolm MacDonald revealed the British intention to cancel the mandate and establish a state that would preserve Arab rights. This caused a wave of riots and attacks by Arabs against Jews. The Irgun responded four days later with a series of attacks on Arab buses and other sites. The British used military force against the Arab rioters and in the latter stages of the revolt by the Arab community in Palestine, it deteriorated into a series of internal gang wars.
During the same period
At the same time, the Irgun also established itself in Europe. The Irgun built underground cells that participated in organizing migration to Palestine. The cells were made up almost entirely of Betar members, and their primary activity was military training in preparation for emigration to Palestine. Ties formed with the Polish authorities brought about courses in which Irgun commanders were trained by Polish officers in advanced military issues such as
Towards the end of 1938 there was progress towards aligning the ideologies of the Irgun and the Haganah. Many abandoned the belief that the land would be divided and a Jewish state would soon exist. The Haganah founded פו"מ, a special operations unit, (pronounced poom), which carried out reprisal attacks following Arab violence. These operations continued into 1939. Furthermore, the opposition within the Yishuv to illegal immigration significantly decreased, and the Haganah began to bring Jews to Palestine using rented ships, as the Irgun had in the past.
First operations against the British
The publishing of the MacDonald White Paper of 1939 brought with it new edicts that were intended to lead to a more equitable settlement between Jews and Arabs. However, it was considered by some Jews to have an adverse effect on the continued development of the Jewish community in Palestine. Chief among these was the prohibition on selling land to Jews, and the smaller quotas for Jewish immigration. The entire Yishuv was furious at the contents of the White Paper. There were demonstrations against the "Treacherous Paper", as it was considered that it would preclude the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Under the temporary command of
The British increased their efforts against the Irgun. As a result, on August 31 the British police arrested members meeting in the Irgun headquarters. On the next day, September 1, 1939, World War II broke out.
During World War II
Following the outbreak of war, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and the
During the
There were instances of Betar members enlisted in the British military smuggling British weapons to the Irgun.[citation needed]
From 1939 onwards, an Irgun delegation in the United States worked for the creation of a Jewish army made up of Jewish refugees and Jews from Palestine, to fight alongside the
Second split
Throughout this entire period, the British continued enforcing the White Paper's provisions, which included a ban on the sale of land, restrictions on Jewish immigration and increased vigilance against illegal immigration. Part of the reason why the British banned land sales (to anyone) was the confused state of the post Ottoman land registry; it was difficult to determine who actually owned the land that was for sale.
Within the ranks of the Irgun this created much disappointment and unrest, at the center of which was disagreement with the leadership of the
In his place, Stern was elected to the leadership. In the past, Stern had founded secret Irgun cells in Poland without Jabotinsky's knowledge, in opposition to his wishes. Furthermore, Stern was in favor of removing the Irgun from the authority of the New Zionist Organization, whose leadership urged Raziel to return to the command of the Irgun. He finally consented. Jabotinsky wrote to Raziel and to Stern, and these letters were distributed to the branches of the Irgun:
- ... I call upon you: Let nothing disturb our unity. Listen to the commissioner (Raziel), whom I trust, and promise me that you and Betar, the greatest of my life's achievements, will stand strong and united and allow me to continue with the hope for victory in the war to realize our old Maccabean dream....
Stern was sent a telegram with an order to obey Raziel, who was reappointed. However, these events did not prevent the splitting of the organization. Suspicion and distrust were rampant among the members. Out of the Irgun a new organization was created on July 17, 1940,
The primary difference between the Irgun and the newly formed organization was its intention to fight the British in Palestine, regardless of their war against Germany. Later, additional operational and ideological differences developed that contradicted some of the Irgun's guiding principles. For example, the Lehi, unlike the Irgun, supported a
Change of policy
The Irgun's Anthem[40] |
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Tagar - To die or to conquer the hill - |
The split damaged the Irgun both organizationally and from a morale point of view. As their spiritual leader, Jabotinsky's death also added to this feeling. Together, these factors brought about a mass abandonment by members. The British took advantage of this weakness to gather intelligence and arrest Irgun activists. The new Irgun leadership, which included Meridor, Yerachmiel Ha'Levi,
In both the Irgun and the Haganah more voices were being heard opposing any cooperation with the British. Nevertheless, an Irgun operation carried out in the service of Britain was aimed at sabotaging pro-Nazi forces in
In late 1943 a joint Haganah – Irgun initiative was developed, to form a single fighting body, unaligned with any political party, by the name of עם לוחם (Fighting Nation).[41][42] The new body's first plan was to kidnap the British High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir Harold MacMichael and take him to Cyprus. However, the Haganah leaked the planned operation and it was thwarted before it got off the ground. Nevertheless, at this stage the Irgun ceased its cooperation with the British. As Eliyahu Lankin tells in his book:
- Immediately following the failure of Fighting Nation practical discussions began in the Irgun Headquarters regarding a declaration of war.
Revolt
In 1943 the
On February 1, 1944, the Irgun put up posters all around the country, proclaiming a revolt against the British mandatory government. The posters began by saying that all of the Zionist movements stood by the Allied Forces and over 25,000 Jews had enlisted in the British military. The hope to establish a Jewish army had died. European Jewry was trapped and was being destroyed, yet Britain, for its part, did not allow any rescue missions. This part of the document ends with the following words:
- The White Paper is still in effect. It is enforced, despite the betrayal of the Arabs and the loyalty of the Jews; despite the mass enlisting to the British Army; despite the ceasefireand the quiet in The Land of Israel; despite the massacre of masses of the Jewish people in Europe....
- The facts are simple and horrible as one. Over the last four years of the war we have lost millions of the best of our people; millions more are in danger of eradication. And The Land of Israel is closed off and quarantined because the British rule it, realizing the White Paper, and strives for the destruction of our people's last hope.
The Irgun then declared that, for its part, the ceasefire was over and they were now at war with the British. It demanded the transfer of rule to a Jewish government, to implement ten policies. Among these were the mass evacuation of Jews from Europe, the signing of treaties with any state that recognized the Jewish state's sovereignty, including Britain, granting social justice to the state's residents, and full equality to the Arab population. The proclamation ended with:
- The God of Israel, God of Hosts, will be at our side. There is no retreat. Liberty or death.... The fighting youth will not recoil in the face of sacrifices and suffering, blood and torment. They will not surrender, so long as our days of old are not renewed, so long as our nation is not ensured a homeland, liberty, honor, bread, justice and law.
The Irgun began this campaign rather weakly. At the time of the start of the revolt, it was only about 1,000 strong, including some 200 fighters. It possessed about 4 submachine guns, 40 rifles, 60 pistols, 150 hand grenades, and 2,000 kilograms of explosive material, and its funds were about £800.[25]
Struggle against the British
The Irgun began a militant operation against the symbols of government, in an attempt to harm the regime's operation as well as its reputation. The first attack was on February 12, 1944, at the government immigration offices, a symbol of the immigration laws. The attacks went smoothly and ended with no casualties—as they took place on a Saturday night, when the buildings were empty—in the three largest cities: Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa. On February 27 the income tax offices were bombed. Parts of the same cities were blown up, also on a Saturday night; prior warnings were put up near the buildings. On March 23 the national headquarters building of the British police in the
At the same time the
One symbolic act by the Irgun happened before
Begin wrote in his memoirs, The Revolt:
- History and experience taught us that if we are able to destroy the prestige of the British in Palestine, the regime will break. Since we found the enslaving government's weak point, we did not let go of it.[47]
Underground exiles
In October 1944 the British began expelling hundreds of arrested Irgun and Lehi members to detention camps in
Hunting Season
On November 6, 1944, Lord Moyne, British Deputy Resident Minister of State in Cairo was assassinated by Lehi members Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Bet-Zuri. This act raised concerns within the Yishuv from the British regime's reaction to the underground's violent acts against them. Therefore, the Jewish Agency decided on starting a Hunting Season,[48][49] known as the saison, (from the French "la saison de chasse").
The Irgun's recuperation was noticeable when it began to renew its cooperation with the Lehi in May 1945, when it sabotaged oil pipelines, telephone lines and railroad bridges. All in all, over 1,000 members of the Irgun and Lehi were arrested and interned in British camps during the Saison. Eventually the Hunting Season died out, and there was even talk of cooperation with the Haganah leading to the formation of the Jewish Resistance Movement.
Jewish Resistance Movement
Towards the end of July 1945 the
Tension between the underground movements and the British increased with the increase in operations. On April 23, 1946, an operation undertaken by the Irgun to gain weapons from the Tegart fort at Ramat Gan resulted in a firefight with the police in which an Arab constable and two Irgun fighters were killed, including one who jumped on an explosive device to save his comrades. A third fighter, Dov Gruner, was wounded and captured. He stood trial and was sentenced to be death by hanging, refusing to sign a pardon request.[50]
In 1946, British relations with the Yishuv worsened, building up to Operation Agatha of June 29. The authorities ignored the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry's recommendation to allow 100,000 Jews into Palestine at once. As a result of the discovery of documents tying the Jewish Agency to the Jewish Resistance Movement, the Irgun was asked to speed up the plans for the King David Hotel bombing of July 22.[51] The hotel was where the documents were located, the base for the British Secretariat, the military command and a branch of the Criminal Investigation Division of the police. The Irgun later claimed to have sent a warning that was ignored.[52] Palestinian and U.S. sources confirm that the Irgun issued numerous warnings for civilians to evacuate the hotel prior to the bombing.[53] 91 people were killed in the attack where a 350 kg bomb was placed in the basement of the hotel and caused a large section of it to collapse. Only 13 were British soldiers.
Further struggle against the British
The King David Hotel bombing and the arrest of Jewish Agency and other Yishuv leaders as part of Operation Agatha caused the Haganah to cease their armed activity against the British. Yishuv and Jewish Agency leaders were released from prison. From then until the end of the British mandate, resistance activities were led by the Irgun and Lehi. In early September 1946 the Irgun renewed its attacks against civil structures, railroads, communication lines and bridges. One operation was the attack on the train station in Jerusalem, in which Meir Feinstein was arrested and later committed suicide awaiting execution. According to the Irgun these sort of armed attacks were legitimate, since the trains primarily served the British, for redeployment of their forces. The Irgun also publicized leaflets, in three languages, not to use specific trains in danger of being attacked. For a while, the British stopped train traffic at night. The Irgun also carried out repeated attacks against military and police traffic using disguised, electronically detonated roadside mines which could be detonated by an operator hiding nearby as a vehicle passed, carried out arms raids against military bases and police stations (often disguised as British soldiers), launched bombing, shooting, and mortar attacks against military and police installations and checkpoints, and robbed banks to gain funds as a result of losing access to Haganah funding following the collapse of the Jewish Resistance Movement.[25]
On October 31, 1946, in response to the British barring entry of Jews from Palestine, the Irgun blew up the British Embassy in Rome, a center of British efforts to monitor and stop Jewish immigration. The Irgun also carried out a few other operations in Europe: a British troop train was derailed and an attempt against another troop train failed. An attack on a British officers club in Vienna took place in 1947, and an attack on another British officer's club in Vienna and a sergeant's club in Germany took place in 1948.[23]
In December 1946 a sentence of 18 years and 18 beatings was handed down to a young Irgun member for robbing a bank. The Irgun made good on a threat they made[54] and after the detainee was whipped, Irgun members kidnapped British officers and beat them in public. The operation, known as the "Night of the Beatings" brought an end to British punitive beatings. The British, taking these acts seriously, moved many British families in Palestine into the confines of military bases, and some moved home.
On February 14, 1947,
The Irgun stepped up its activity and from February 19 until March 3 it attacked 18 British military camps, convoy routes, vehicles, and other facilities. The most notable of these attacks was the bombing of a British officer's club located in Goldsmith House in Jerusalem, which was in a heavily guarded security zone. Covered by machine-gun fire, an Irgun assault team in a truck penetrated the security zone and lobbed explosives into the building.[55] Thirteen people, including two officers, were killed.[25] As a result, martial law was imposed over much of the country, enforced by approximately 20,000 British soldiers. Despite this, attacks continued throughout the martial law period. The most notable one was an Irgun attack against the Royal Army Pay Corps base at the Schneller Orphanage, in which a British soldier was killed.[25]
Throughout its struggle against the British, the Irgun sought to publicize its cause around the world. By humiliating the British, it attempted to focus global attention on Palestine, hoping that any British overreaction would be widely reported, and thus result in more political pressure against the British. Begin described this strategy as turning Palestine into a "glass house". The Irgun also re-established many representative offices internationally, and by 1948 operated in 23 states. In these countries, the Irgun sometimes acted against the local British representatives or led public relations campaigns against Britain. According to Bruce Hoffman: "In an era long before the advent of 24/7 global news coverage and instantaneous satellite-transmitted broadcasts, the Irgun deliberately attempted to appeal to a worldwide audience far beyond the immediate confines of its local struggle, and beyond even the ruling regime's own homeland."[23][25]
Executed Members of the Irgun |
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Acre Prison break
On April 16, 1947, Irgun members Dov Gruner, Yehiel Dresner, Eliezer Kashani, and Mordechai Alkahi were hanged in
The Sergeants affair
After the death sentences of the three were confirmed, the Irgun tried to save them by kidnapping hostages — British sergeants Clifford Martin and Mervyn Paice — in the streets of Netanya. British forces closed off and combed the area in search of the two, but did not find them. On July 29, 1947, in the afternoon, Meir Nakar, Avshalom Haviv, and Yaakov Weiss were executed. Approximately thirteen hours later the hostages were hanged in retaliation by the Irgun and their bodies, booby-trapped with an explosive, afterwards strung up from trees in woodlands south of Netanya. This action caused an outcry in Britain and was condemned both there and by Jewish leaders in Palestine.[57]
This episode has been given as a major influence on the British decision to terminate the Mandate and leave Palestine. The
Two weeks later, the House of Commons convened for a special debate on events in Palestine, and concluded that their soldiers should be withdrawn as soon as possible.
1948 Palestine War
UNSCOP's conclusion was a unanimous decision to end the British mandate, and a majority decision to divide
In the autumn of 1947, the Irgun had approximately 4,000 members. The goal of the organization at that point was the conquest of the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea for the future Jewish state and preventing Arab forces from driving out the Jewish community. The Irgun became almost an overt organization, establishing military bases in Ramat Gan and Petah Tikva. It began recruiting openly, thus significantly increasing in size. During the war the Irgun fought alongside the Lehi and the Haganah in the front against the Arab attacks. At first the Haganah maintained a defensive policy, as it had until then, but after the Convoy of 35 incident it completely abandoned its policy of restraint: "Distinguishing between individuals is no longer possible, for now – it is a war, and even the innocent shall not be absolved."[58]
The Irgun also began carrying out reprisal missions, as it had under David Raziel's command. At the same time though, it published announcements calling on the Arabs to lay down their weapons and maintain a ceasefire:
- The National Military Organization has warned you, if the murderous attacks on Jewish civilians shall continue, its soldiers will penetrate your centers of activity and plague you. You have not heeded the warning. You continued to harm our brothers and murder them in wild cruelty. Therefore soldiers of the National Military Organization will go on the attack, as we have warned you.
- ... However even in these frenzied times, when Arab and Jewish blood is spilled at the British enslaver, we hereby call upon you ... to stop the attacks and create peace between us. We do not want a war with you. We are certain that neither do you want a war with us...[59]
However, the mutual attacks continued. The Irgun attacked the Arab villages of
On 6 April 1948, the Irgun raided the British Army camp at
The Deir Yassin massacre was carried out in a village west of Jerusalem that had signed a non-belligerency pact with its Jewish neighbors and the Haganah, and repeatedly had barred entry to foreign irregulars.[66][67] On 9 April approximately 120 Irgun and Lehi members began an operation to capture the village. During the operation, the villagers fiercely resisted the attack, and a battle broke out. In the end, the Irgun and Lehi forces advanced gradually through house-to-house fighting. The village was only taken after the Irgun began systematically dynamiting houses, and after a Palmach unit intervened and employed mortar fire to silence the villagers' sniper positions.[23][68] The operation resulted in five Jewish fighters dead and 40 injured. Some 100 to 120 villagers were also killed.[69]
There are allegations that Irgun and Lehi forces committed war crimes during and after the capture of the village. These allegations include reports that fleeing individuals and families were fired at, and prisoners of war were killed after their capture. A Haganah report writes:
- The conquest of the village was carried out with great cruelty. Whole families – women, old people, children – were killed. ... Some of the prisoners moved to places of detention, including women and children, were murdered viciously by their captors.[70]
Some say that this incident was an event that accelerated the Arab exodus from Palestine.[71]
The Irgun cooperated with the Haganah in the conquest of Haifa. At the regional commander's request, on April 21 the Irgun took over an Arab post above Hadar Ha'Carmel as well as the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Nisnas, adjacent to the Lower City.
The Irgun acted independently in the conquest of Jaffa (part of the proposed Arab State according to the
In his report concerning the fall of Jaffa the local Arab military commander, Michel Issa, wrote: "Continuous shelling with mortars of the city by Jews for four days, beginning 25 April, [...] caused inhabitants of city, unaccustomed to such bombardment, to panic and flee."[73] According to Morris the shelling was done by the Irgun. Their objective was "to prevent constant military traffic in the city, to break the spirit of the enemy troops [and] to cause chaos among the civilian population in order to create a mass flight."[74] High Commissioner Cunningham wrote a few days later "It should be made clear that IZL attack with mortars was indiscriminate and designed to create panic among the civilian inhabitants."[74] The British demanded the evacuation of the newly conquered city, and militarily intervened, ending the Irgun offensive. Heavy British shelling against Irgun positions in Jaffa failed to dislodge them, and when British armor pushed into the city, the Irgun resisted; a bazooka team managed to knock out one tank, buildings were blown up and collapsed onto the streets as the armor advanced, and Irgun men crawled up and tossed live dynamite sticks onto the tanks. The British withdrew, and opened negotiations with the Jewish authorities.[23] An agreement was worked out, under which Operation Hametz would be stopped and the Haganah would not attack Jaffa until the end of the Mandate. The Irgun would evacuate Manshiya, with Haganah fighters replacing them. British troops would patrol its southern end and occupy the police fort. The Irgun had previously agreed with the Haganah that British pressure would not lead to withdrawal from Jaffa and that custody of captured areas would be turned over to the Haganah. The city ultimately fell on May 13 after Haganah forces entered the city and took control of the rest of the city, from the south – part of the Hametz Operation which included the conquest of a number of villages in the area. The battles in Jaffa were a great victory for the Irgun. This operation was the largest in the history of the organization, which took place in a highly built up area that had many militants in shooting positions. During the battles explosives were used in order to break into homes and continue forging a way through them. Furthermore, this was the first occasion in which the Irgun had directly fought British forces, reinforced with armor and heavy weaponry. The city began these battles with an Arab population estimated at 70,000, which shrank to some 4,100 Arab residents by the end of major hostilities. Since the Irgun captured the neighborhood of Manshiya on its own, causing the flight of many of Jaffa's residents, the Irgun took credit for the conquest of Jaffa. It had lost 42 dead and about 400 wounded during the battle.[23]
Integration with the IDF and the Altalena Affair
On May 14, 1948
When the ship arrived the Israeli government, headed by Ben-Gurion, was adamant in its demand that the Irgun surrender and hand over all of the weapons. Ben-Gurion said: "We must decide whether to hand over power to Begin or to order him to cease his activities. If he does not do so, we will open fire! Otherwise, we must decide to disperse our own army."
There were two confrontations between the newly formed IDF and the Irgun: when Altalena reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 20 many Irgun militants, including Begin, waited on the shore. A clash with the Alexandroni Brigade, commanded by Dan Even (Epstein), occurred. Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties on both sides. The clash ended in a ceasefire and the transfer of the weapons on shore to the local IDF commander, and with the ship, now reinforced with local Irgun members, including Begin, sailing to Tel Aviv, where the Irgun had more supporters. Many Irgun members, who joined the IDF earlier that month, left their bases and concentrated on the Tel Aviv beach. A confrontation between them and the IDF units started. In response, Ben-Gurion ordered Yigael Yadin (acting Chief of Staff) to concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the Altalena. One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn. Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation with the army; six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on
After the shelling of the Altalena, more than 200 Irgun fighters were arrested. Most of them were freed several weeks later. The Irgun militants were then fully integrated with the IDF and not kept in separate units.
The initial agreement for the integration of the Irgun into the IDF did not include Jerusalem, where a small remnant of the Irgun called the Jerusalem Battalion, numbering around 400 fighters, and Lehi, continued to operate independently of the government. Following the assassination of UN Envoy for Peace Folke Bernadotte by Lehi in September 1948, the Israeli government determined to immediately dismantle the underground organizations. An ultimatum was issued to the Irgun to liquidate as an independent organization and integrate into the IDF or be destroyed, and Israeli troops surrounded the Irgun camp in the Katamon Quarter of Jerusalem. The Irgun accepted the ultimatum on September 22, 1948, and shortly afterward the remaining Irgun fighters in Jerusalem began enlisting in the IDF and turning over their arms.[76][77] At Begin's orders, the Irgun in the diaspora formally disbanded on January 12, 1949, with the Irgun's former Paris headquarters becoming the European bureau of the Herut movement.
Propaganda
In order to increase the popularity of the Irgun organization and ideology, Irgun employed propaganda. This propaganda was mainly aimed at the British, and included the idea of
When the Labour party came into power in Britain in July 1945, Irgun published an announcement entitled, "We shall give the Labour Government a Chance to Keep Its Word." In this publication, Irgun stated, "Before it came to power, this Party undertook to return the Land of Israel to the people of Israel as a free state... Men and parties in opposition or in their struggle with their rivals, have, for twenty-five years, made us many promises and undertaken clear obligations; but, on coming to power, they have gone back on their words."[78] Another publication, which followed a British counter-offensive against Jewish organizations in Palestine, Irgun released a document titled, "Mobilize the Nation!" Irgun used this publication to paint the British regime as hostile to the Jewish people, even comparing the British to the Nazis. In response to what was seen as British aggression, Irgun called for a Hebrew Provisional Government, and a Hebrew Liberation Army.[78]
Criticism
Description as a terrorist organization
References to the Irgun as a
Irgun attacks prompted a formal declaration from the World Zionist Congress in 1946, which strongly condemned "the shedding of innocent blood as a means of political warfare."[90]
The Israeli government, in September 1948, acting in response to the assassination of Count
In 1948,
Soon after World War II, Winston Churchill said "we should never have stopped immigration before the war", but that the Irgun were "the vilest gangsters" and that he would "never forgive the Irgun terrorists."[85]
In 2006, Simon McDonald, the British ambassador in Tel Aviv, and John Jenkins, the Consul-General in Jerusalem, wrote in response to a pro-Irgun commemoration of the King David Hotel bombing: "We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated." They also called for the removal of plaques at the site which presented as a fact that the deaths were due to the British ignoring warning calls. The plaques, in their original version, read:
Warning phone calls had been made urging the hotel's occupants to leave immediately. For reasons known only to the British the hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded, and to the Irgun's regret and dismay 91 persons were killed.
McDonald and Jenkins said that no such warning calls were made, adding that even if they had, "this does not absolve those who planted the bomb from responsibility for the deaths."[82]
Bruce Hoffman states: "Unlike many terrorist groups today, the Irgun's strategy was not deliberately to target or wantonly harm civilians." Max Abrahms writes that the Irgun "pioneered the practice of issuing pre-attack warnings to spare civilians", which was later emulated by the African National Congress (ANC) and other groups and proved "effective but not foolproof". In addition, Begin ordered attacks to take place at night and even during Shabbat to reduce the likelihood of civilian casualties. U.S. military intelligence found that "the Irgun Zvai Leumi is waging a general war against the government and at all times took special care not to cause damage or injury to persons". Although the King David Hotel bombing is widely considered a prima facie case of Irgun terrorism, Abrahms comments: "But this hotel wasn't a normal hotel. It served as the headquarters for the British Armed Forces in Palestine. By all accounts, the intent wasn't to harm civilians."[53]
Accusations of fascism
- Irgun is in fact rapidly becoming the 'SS' of the new state. There is also a strong 'Gestapo' – but no-one knows who is in it.
'The shopkeepers are afraid not so much of shells as of raids by Irgun Zvai Leumi and the Stern Gang. These young toughs, who are beyond whatever law there is have cleaned out most private houses of the richer classes & started to prey upon the shopkeepers.'
— Clare Hollingworth reporting on West Jerusalem June 2, 1948[94]
Other
A
- 'Irgun ... seems to be concentrating on the DP police force. This is an old technique in Eastern Europe and in all police states. By controlling the police, a small, unscrupulous group of determined people can impose its will on a peaceful and inarticulate majority; it is done by threats, intimidation, by violence and if need be bloodshed ... they have embarked upon a course of violence within the camps.'[95]
Alan Dershowitz wrote in his book The Case for Israel that unlike the Haganah, the policy of the Irgun had been to encourage the flight of local Arabs.[96]
See also
- Konrad Adenauer (Assassination attempt)
- Jewish religious terrorism
- List of Irgun attacks
- List of notable Irgun members
- Nationalist terrorism
- Zionist political violence
References
- ISBN 978-0-7146-3325-1
- ^ ISBN 978-3-638-94450-2.No 33 of 5708-1948 – 23 September 1948
- ISBN 978-0-906187-11-1.
- ISBN 978-0415687317.
- ISBN 145226550X.
- ^ Howard Sachar: A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, pp. 265–266
- ^ "Irgun Zvai Leumi | Jewish right-wing underground movement". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2016-01-02.
- ^ Pope Brewer, Sam. Irgun Bomb Kills 11 Arabs, 2 Britons. New York Times. December 30, 1947.
- ^ Irgun's Hand Seen in Alps Rail Blast. New York Times. August 16, 1947.
- ^ W. Khalidi, 1971, 'From Haven to Conquest', p. 598
- ^ Terry, Janice (2008). Encyclopedia of world history Vol 5 pg 20. Infobase Publishing.
- ^ "Jewish Terrorism and Jewish Resistance". The Jewish Plan for Palestine—Memoranda and Statements presented by The Jewish Agency for Palestine to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem. 1947. pp. 20–26.
- ^ "Major Political Developments". The Jewish Plan for Palestine—Memoranda and Statements presented by The Jewish Agency for Palestine to the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine. The Jewish Agency for Palestine, Jerusalem. 1947. p. 32.
- ISBN 9780691120942.
- ISBN 0-297-78423-4.
One of the main developments in the initial period of the State was the growth of the Herut party.... It developed from the older Revisionist groups, the 'terrorist' groups of the Irgun Zvai Leumi and members of the Revisionist party ... in 1965 Herut founded, together with the great part of the Liberals, a parliamentary bloc ... in 1973, with the addition of other small groups, it became transformed into Likud
- ISBN 9780313313578.
- ^ "Robert Bitker". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ "Moshe Rosenberg". etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
- ^ "Hanoch Kalai". www.etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
- ^ "Benyamin Zeroni". www.etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-04-25.
- ^ "שירי בית"ר אצ"ל ולח"י". Archived from the original on 2003-04-23.
- ^ "דף הבית". בית"ר ההנהגה העולמית. Archived from the original on 2018-11-27. Retrieved 2019-01-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Bell, Bowyer J.: Terror out of Zion (1976)
- ^ Schindler, Colin:Triumph of Military Zionism: Nationalism and the Origins of the Israeli Right, p. 190
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoffman, Bruce: Anonymous Soldiers (2015)
- ^ Menachem Begin: The Revolt, ch. 18, The Conquest of Jaffa
- ^ Segal, Hagai: How My Grandmother Prevented A Civil War (2014)
- ^ Yosef Kister, The Etzel, (Hebrew) pp. 38
- ^ "Tagar u'Magen (Jabotinsky and the Etzel)" (in Hebrew), Jabtotinsky Publishing, pp. 28
- ^ "The Birth of an Underground Organization", Yehuda Lapidot, pp. 62 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Avi Shlaim (January 6, 2005). "Bombers not Martyrs". London Review of Books.
- ^ Perspectives on the Holocaust pp 71-91 The Irgun and the Destruction of European Jewry Yitshaq Ben-Ami page 75-76
- ISBN 1930143540.
- ISBN 9781560008705.
- ISBN 0791411664.
- ^ "Mine Explosion In Jerusalem." OUR CORRESPONDENT, The Times [London, England] 28 Aug. 1939: 12. The Times Digital Archive.
- ^ "Irgun Zeva'i Le'umi—"The National Military Organization" (Etzel, I.Z.L.)". Jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ISBN 0-8022-2486-5. Note: Chariton and Lazar were never co-authors of Wdowiński's memoir. Wdowiński is considered the "single author." For an assessment of the various claims and counterclaims about the ŻZW, particularly the extent of Polish participation in the battle, see ariusz Libionka and Lawrence Weinbaum, Bohaterowie, Hochsztaplerzy, Opisywacze, Wokol Żydowskiego Związku Wojskowego(Warsaw: Stowarzyszenie Centrum Badań nad Zaglada Żydów) [Heroes, Hucksters, and Storytellers: On the Jewish Military Union (ŻZW)], 2011. --~~~~gspaulsson 16Aug2014
- ^ "The Split Within The Irgun". Etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "World Zionist youth movement - Shir". Betar. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "דף הבית". www.palmach.org.il. Archived from the original on 2012-08-30. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
- ^ "Reflections on the assassination of Sheikh Yassin". Fromoccupiedpalestine.org.
- ^ "Menachem Begin Biography". www.ibiblio.org.
- ^ "Menachem Begin – Biography". Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "Chapter Eight: The Struggle for the Establishment of the State of Israel". Jewishagency.org. Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "שער שני המרד". www.daat.ac.il.
- ISBN 9780440175988.
- ^ "The 'Hunting Season'". Etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "Besiege / Yehuda Lapidut – The Hunting Season". Daat.ac.il. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ "The Gallows". Etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ Jabotinsky Institute Archives (k-4 1/11/5)
- ^ Menachem Begin, The Revolt. 1951, p. 221
- ^ ISBN 9780192539441.
- ^ "FLOGGING SENTENCE". The Canberra Times. 25 December 1946. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
He was convicted following a bank hold-up In September. Irgun Zvai Leumi broadcast a threat that if the sentence were confirmed, British Army officers would be flogged in retaliation.
- ^ "The Raid On The Jerusalem Officers Club". Etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2013-09-25. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ISBN 0-9508367-0-2. p. 310. States 41 Jews escaped and that nine terrorists and one Arab convict were killed, 13 arrested of whom 8 wounded.
- ^ "Eye for an Eye for an Eye, Time Magazine. Aug. 11, 1947". Time. 1947-08-11. Archived from the original on July 12, 2007. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ Netanel Lorch. The Edge of the Sword: Israel's War of Independence, 1947-1949, Massada Publishing, 1958. pp. 85 (in Hebrew)
- ^ "Petition of Our Arab Neighbors: Announcement in Arabic to the Arab Rioters" (in Hebrew). Daat.ac.il. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ISBN 0-521-33028-9. Attributes attack to 'LHI', doesn't number dead and gives date as 4 January. p. 46
- ^ Larry Collins, Dominique Lapierre, O Jerusalem. History Book Club/ Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. 1972. pp. 135, 138: "two fifty-gallon oil drums packed tight with old nails, bits of scrap iron, hinges, rusty metal filings. At their center was a core of TNT..." 17 people were killed.
- OCLC 266413.
It killed fourteen Arabs and wounded forty others.
- ^ There were 16 killed, 41 injured according to The Scotsman, 8 January 1948, p. 56.
- ^ Collins and Lapierre name one of the survivors as Uri Cohen.
- Yaakov Meridorcommanded the operation. The attackers were disguised as Palestinian Police. A quantity of guns stolen.
- ^ B. Morris, 2004, The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited, p. 237
- ^ Jon Kimche, 'Seven Fallen Pillars – The Middle East, 1915–1950'. Secker and Warburg, London. 1950. p. 217: "Dir Yassin was one of the few Arab villages whose inhabitants had refused permission for foreign Arab volunteers to use it as a base...."
- ^ Milstein, Uri (1998). History of Israel's War of Independence: Out of Crisis Came Decision. Volume 4, University Press of America.
- ^ B. Morris, 2004, The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited, p. 238
- ^ quoted by B. Morris, 2004, The Birth of the Palestinian refugee problem revisited, p. 237
- ^ "Menachem Begin". BBC News. April 21, 1998. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ "The Conquest Of Jaffa". Etzel.org.il. Archived from the original on 2021-11-11. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ W. Khalidi, 1998, "Selected Documents on the 1948 Palestine War", J. Palestine Studies 27(3), p. 60–105
- ^ a b Morris, 2004, 'The Birth ... Revisited', p. 213
- ^ "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
- ^ Irgunists in Jerusalem Surrender Their Arms to Govt; Dissidents to Join Army Today 22 September 1948, www.jta.org, accessed 29 September 2019
- ^ ISBN 0-8420-2188-4.
- ISBN 978-0-88728-155-6
- ^ "Irgun Bomb Kills 11 Arabs, 2 Britons". The New York Times. December 30, 1947. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
A bomb thrown by the Jewish terrorist organization Irgun Zvai Leumi from a speeding taxi today killed eleven Arabs and two British policemen and wounded at least thirty-two Arabs by the Jerusalem Damascus Gate, the same place where a similar bombing took place sixteen days ago.
- ^ "Irgun's Hand Seen in Alps Rail Blast. Polish Jew Confesses He Was Lookout for Others Who Bombed British Train". The New York Times. August 16, 1947. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
United States authorities believed tonight they had circumstantial evidence linking the bombing of a British military train high in the Austrian Alps Tuesday night to the Zionist terrorist organization Irgun Zvai Leumi, according to preliminary investigation reports from Bad Gastein.
- ^ a b Parker, Ned; Farrell, Stephen (July 20, 2006). "British anger at terror celebration". The Times. London. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ Boyes, Roger (June 14, 2006). "Menachem Begin 'backed plot to kill German Chancellor'". The Times. London. Retrieved May 5, 2010.
- ^ a b "Profile:Rahm Emanuel". BBC News. November 7, 2008. Retrieved January 5, 2010.
- ^ a b Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jew Quotings. p. 270.
- ^ a b Tom Segev, Haim Watzman. The Seventh Million. p. 33.
- ^ a b Adam Shatz. Prophets Outcast. pp. 65–67.
- ISBN 978-1-84415-771-6.
- ISBN 978-1-56000-174-4) p.141– citing Wilson, Ronald D. Cordon and Search: With the 6th Airborne Division in Palestine. Gale and Polden. Aldershot. 1949. p. 13.
- ^ "Zionists Condemn Palestine Terror". The New York Times. December 24, 1946. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
The World Zionist Congress in its final session here strongly condemned by a vote early today terrorist activities in Palestine and "the shedding of innocent blood as a means of political warfare.
- ^ "Wrestling With Zion: Re-thinking Jewish Tradition and the Ongoing Crisis in the Middle East". www.acjna.org. Spring 2004. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ "Letter to New York Times". Marxists.org. 1948-12-02. Retrieved 2013-08-12.
- ^ David E. Rowe, Robert J. Schulmann. Einstein on Politics. p. 350.
- ^ See also Pauline Rose 'The Siege of Jerusalem', Patmos Publishers, London. Introduction dated June, 1949. "The dark places in Israel are being swept clean. The prison house where my friends and I had been tortured – where women had been shot without trial – is no longer a prison house".[note plural]
- ^ Stephen Green, 'Taking sides – America's secret relations with a militant Israel 1948/1967'. Faber and Faber, London. 1984. p. 49. Quoting weekly intelligence report 87 from the Office of the Director of Intelligence (Germany), dated 10 January 1948. Copy in publications file, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, Record Group 319, National Archives.
- ^ Alan Dershowitz. "12: Did Israel Create the Arab Refugee Problem?". The Case for Israel. p. 81.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-380-39396-4
- Menachem Begin, The Revolt: Memoirs of the Leader of the Irgun, Dell Books, (New York, NY, 1978)
In fiction
- Herge. Original version, 1971.
- The Hope, by Herman Wouk, 1993.
- Eli Wiesel, 1961.
External links
- Prof. Yehuda Lapidot, Irgun website Archived 2017-12-28 at the Wayback Machine, history of Irgun
- FBI file on Irgun
- Encyclopædia Britannica Entry on Irgun
- Letter of prominent Jews to New York Times, December 4, 1948, warning of dangers of Irgun
- British Security Service files on Jewish terrorist activities, Freedom of information legislationin March 2006.
- The Iron Wall: Zionist Revisionism from Jabotinsky to Shamir, by Lenni Brenner
- 1952 Assassination attempt against German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer by Irgun under Menachem Begin
- Arie Perliger and Leonard Weinberg, Jewish Self Defense and Terrorist Groups Prior to the Establishment of the State of Israel: Roots and Traditions. Totalitarian Movements & Political Religions, Vol. 4, No. 3 (2003) pp. 91–118. Online version at the Wayback Machine (archived February 2, 2008)