The Haganah

The Haganah was the underground military organization of the yishuv (Jewish settlement) in Erez Israel from 1920 to 1948. The idea of establishing a defense organization that would protect the yishuv throughout Erez Israel was born during the Ottoman period when the head of Ha-Shomer (association of watchmen in Erez Israel), Israel Shohat, sent a memorandum to the Executive of the Zionist Organization at the end of 1912, suggesting the establishment of a countrywide organization for self-defense around Ha-Shomer. This organization crystallized into the Haganah.

Haganah Guards on Duty on Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem 1947

In the 1920s, the Haganah consisted of a few hundred volunteers mobilized for guard duty on the border line between the yishuv and the Arab population during critical periods. After the riots of 1929, the need to maintain, expand, and strengthen the Haganah was recognized by all parts of the yishuv. A national command handled the acquisition of arms, especially from abroad, and the Haganah also began to develop workshops to produce hand grenades. The years 1936-39 -- the years of Arab rebellion, in which the yishuv in both the cities and the countryside was under a perpetual siege and was attacked by Arab guerilla bands -- were the years in which the Haganah matured and developed from a militia into a military body, fortifying and successfully defending the Jewish quarters and settlements.

During World War II, many of the founders and members of the Haganah joined Jewish units in the British army and did much to foster Jewish leadership in them and preserve their Zionist character. The members of the Haganah also developed networks for the clandestine acquisition of arms within the British army, and they cared for Jewish survivors and refugees in the countries of Europe in which they were stationed at the close of the war. At the same time, the general staff continued its activities in Palestine and developed the defense forces of the Haganah itself. In 1941, a mobilized formation of the Haganah -- the Palmah (short for Peluggot Mahaz-"crack units") -- was established. It was a regular underground army whose units were located in kibbutzim in all parts of the country.

A short time after the end of World War II, when it became clear that the British government would not abandon its anti-Zionist policy of the 1939 White Paper, the Jewish Agency charged the Haganah with leading the "Jewish resistance movement" against this policy. The implementation of the resistance plan was entrusted to Moshe Sneh, then head of the national command, and Yizhak Sadeh, acting chief of staff.

"'Illegal' Immigrants on a Haganah Ship

At the center of the resistance activities was the "illegal" mass immigration from Europe and North Africa, with the armed struggle limited to attempts to score direct hits against the operational devices installed to interfere with "illegal" immigration (radar devices, boats that deported immigrants to Cyprus, etc.). By the eve of the War of Independence there were 45,000 members in the Haganah, about 10,000 of whom were in the Field Force and more than 3,000 in the Palmah.

In the first four months of the war, the Haganah engaged mainly in defending the positions of the yishuv. At the beginning of April 1948, however, the Haganah took to the offensive. In Operation Nahshon, the road to besieged Jerusalem was broken through. A series of conquests then began, starting with the capture of Tiberias (April 18) and followed by the battle for Haifa, which ended with Haganah forces holding the entire city. Safed was captured on May 12, and the next day Arab Jaffa surrendered to the Haganah command. With the evacuation of British forces from Jerusalem, Haganah forces also controlled the new city.

On May 15, 1948, Haganah forces faced the armies of the surrounding Arab states that had invaded Palestine. Heavy battles were waged in the Latrun area on the highway to Jerusalem. When the Haganah proved unable to occupy the Latrun area it paved a temporary road to the city, south of Latrun (the "Burma Road"), and thus insured communication with Jerusalem. In the south, the advance of the Egyptian army was halted by the Palmah, the Givati Brigade, and members of the settlements in the area, including Yad Mordekhai and Negbah.

In the midst of these battles, the provisional government of Israel decided to turn the Haganah into the army of the state. The transition was basically a formality, but it symbolized the end of an era. The name of the Haganah was incorporated into the official name of the army of the new state: Zeva Haganah le-Israel (Israel Defense Forces).