Ta'as
Ta'as, an abbreviation of the Hebrew for "Military Industry" (Hebrew: Ta'asiya Tzvait), was the clandestine arms industry of the Jewish settlement in Mandatory Palestine. In the 1930s, it was headed by Yisrael Amir.[1] Ta'as was based on a number of small workshops and factories, the first one being hidden in a tannery ("The Aleph Institute") on the north beach of Tel Aviv.[2][3] "Aleph" had a professional staff of lathe operators, metalworkers, plane operators, milling machine operators and others.[3]
Eliahu Sacharov, one of the heads of the organisation,[4] was responsible for testing the first weapons produced by Ta'as at the Solel Boneh quarry at Migdal Tzedek.[5]
Haim Slavin, an engineer from Russia who worked with Pinhas Rutenberg on building a power station at Naharayim, was the general manager from 1937 to 1952.[6] Under Slavin's leadership Ta'as was reorganised and thereafter reached new heights of production such that it became the primary supplier of weapons to the Haganah.[6] Slavin also developed new plants for Ta'as.[7]
During the
The Haganah decided to develop mortars locally in 1934, beginning with a copy of the British
Notes
References
- Adelman, Jonathan R. (2008). The Rise of Israel: A History of a Revolutionary State. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77510-6
- Allon, Yigal (1970). Shield of David: the story of Israel's Armed Forces. Random House.
- Mardor, Munya (1966). Haganah. New American Library.
- Milstein, Uri and Sacks, Alan (1997). History of the War of Independence: The First Month. University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-0721-6
- ISBN 0-7195-6222-8
- ISBN 978-965-229-298-8