Haganah

The Haganah (Hebrew: "The Defense", ?????) was a Jewish paramilitary organization in Palestine during the British mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948. The Haganah are known to be the foundation of the modern Israel Defense Forces (??"?)—Israel's army.

World War II participation

Despite the 1939 White Paper which deeply angered the Zionist leadership in Palestine, David Ben-Gurion, then chairman of the Jewish Agency, set the policy for the Zionist relationship with the British: We shall fight the war against Hitler as if there were no White Paper, and we shall fight the White Paper as if there were no war. The Irgun, however took a more extreme stance starting in 1944 and began bombing British installations.

Related Topics:
1939 White Paper - David Ben-Gurion - Jewish Agency

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In the first years of World War II, the British authorities asked Haganah for cooperation again, due to the fear for an Axis breakthrough in North Africa. After Rommel was defeated at El Alamein in 1942, the British stepped back from their all-out support for Haganah. In 1943, after a long series of requests and negotiations, the British Army announced the creation of the Jewish Brigade Group. While Palestinian Jews had been permitted to enlist in the British army since 1940, this was the first time an exclusively Jewish military unit served in the war under Jewish flag. The Jewish Brigade Group consisted of 5,000 soldiers and was deployed in Italy in September 1944. The brigade was disbanded in 1946.

Related Topics:
World War II - Axis - Rommel - El Alamein - 1942 - 1943 - Jewish Brigade Group - 1940 - Italy - September - 1944 - 1946

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All in all, more than 30,000 Palestinian Jews served in the British army during the war.

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On May 19, 1941 the Haganah created the Palmach (an acronym for Plugot Mahatz—strike companies), a military-like section which focused on giving out training to youngsters. It was never big, by 1947 it amounted to only five battalions (about 2,000 men), but its members had received not only physical and basic military training, but also acquired some leadership skills that allowed them to take up command positions as part of Israel's army.

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