Studies in the History of Zionism

The Military Struggle for a Jewish State

Educational Goals

1. Introduce the activity of the three underground organizations prior to the end of World War II.

2. Review the beginnings of the rebellion against the British in 1944.

3. Discuss the formation of the United Jewish Resistance Movement and the British response.

4. Analyze developments of the armed struggle of Etzel and Lehi in the years 1946-1947.

Introduction -- Presentation of the Subject

During the British Mandate period, three Jewish military underground organizations were founded in Palestine. These organizations were born as a result of the hostility between Arabs and Jews and in response to Britain's pro-Arab policies. In this unit, we examine the military struggle of these organizations, a struggle that was part and parcel of the campaign to end the British administration in Palestine and replace it with an independent Jewish state.

1. The Underground Movement Prior to World War II

A. The Haganah

The Haganah (literally, "defense") was founded officially in June of 1920 to defend the Jewish community (the Yishuv) of Palestine from Arab rioters. From 1929, the Haganah came under the authority of the Zionist movement and its military operations merged with the Zionist movement's political efforts.

• * Initially, prior to the 1936-1939 Arab riots, the Haganah focused mainly on static defense of Jewish settlements throughout the country against Arab rioters.
• * With the outbreak of rioting in 1936, the Haganah adopted a policy of havlagah - restraint. At the same time, the riots brought about a transformation of the Haganah's basic deployment, with the force becoming more mobile and acting as a deterrent presence in the settlements. By the end of the 1936-1939 riots, the Arabs had become the main enemy, and the Haganah confronted them with British cooperation.
• * From the publication of the British White Paper in May of 1939, however, it became increasingly clear that the British Mandatory Government was turning from an ally in the struggle against the Arabs to the leading political opponent of Zionism.
• The armed struggle against the British, which seemed fated to break out in the years 1939-1940, was postponed until after World War II owing to the mutual interest of Jewry, Zionism, and the British in defeating Nazi Germany. During World War II, the Haganah spearheaded volunteering campaigns for service in the British Army. In 1941, Palmach units participated in the British invasion of Syria, and Haganah paratroopers operated on intelligence missions and combat in Nazi occupied Europe.

B. The Irgun Tzva'i Le'umi -- Etzel

Etzel was founded in Jerusalem in the year 1931 by commanders who left the Haganah following the Arab riots of 1929 in protest against the Haganah's policy of restraint vis-a-vis the Arabs.

• From 1937, Etzel acted officially as a separate body affiliated to the Revisionist movement and its leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky. The British employed severe measures against the organization, and their reaction peaked in June 1938, when they executed Shlomo Ben-Yosef by hanging. Ben-Yosef had been caught after shooting at an Arab bus.
• After publication of the White Paper, Etzel turned its weapons against the British and conducted sabotage operations against various British targets.
• With the outbreak of World War II, the Etzel ceased operations against the British and agreed to military cooperation against Nazi Germany. Many Etzel members volunteered for the British Army. David Raziel, commander of the Etzel, headed an Etzel unit which engaged in sabotage and espionage in Iraq, and Raziel himself was killed in one of his unit's operations.

At the end of 1943, Etzel command passed to Menachem Begin, who arrived in Israel in 1942 from a hard labor camp in Siberia as a "Polish soldier", (and who, years later, as Prime Minister of Israel, signed the peace agreement with Egypt). With Begin's appointment as commander of Etzel, a new period in the history of that organization began.

C. Lohamei Herut Yisrael -- Lehi

In the summer of 1940, a split developed in the ranks of Etzel. A group headed by Avraham Stern, known by his underground name, Ya'ir, together with a number of other ranking Etzel commanders left the Irgun and founded the organization they called Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel). The organization is also known by its Hebrew initials "Lehi."

The background of the split was a difference of opinion concerning policy towards Britain at the start of World War II. The members of Lehi refused to serve alongside the British, who had not retracted their White Paper. Lehi members considered Britain Zionism's main enemy, and therefore believed that they ought to use terror against the British administration, which was a foreign, imperialistic government which treated the Land of Israel as a colony to be exploited economically and politically.

• In an attempt to expel the British from Palestine, Lehi attempted in 1940 to make contact with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany with the objective of finding an ally that would allow the establishment of a Jewish state within its historic borders of the land of Israel.
• To acquire funds for its activities, Lehi members robbed banks. Lehi ran its own radio station, where it broadcast verbal attacks on the British and their immigration policies and expressed strong opposition to volunteering for the British army.

The British reaction to Lehi was extremely harsh: imprisonment, torture, and execution. "Ya'ir," the Lehi commander, was captured in February of 1942 by the British Police and murdered in cold blood in his hideout. Lehi members remained undeterred by British reactions and continued to struggle against them by every means available.

* The climax of Lehi terror was the murder of Lord Moyne, the British Minister responsible for the Middle East, in November 1944. Between 1941 and 1942, Lord Moyne headed the British Colonial Office, and the Lehi viewed him as the person most responsible for closing the gates of Palestine to Jewish refugees. Two members of Lehi carried out the assassination in Egypt. Both were captured and executed by hanging.

2. Rebellion Against the British Commences -- 1944.

* In February 1944, Menahem Begin, commander of Etzel, proclaimed the beginning of a rebellion against the British. Etzel had concluded that if, by that time, the British government had not changed its White Paper policy, it was most unlikely to change it in the future.

By declaring rebellion, Etzel hoped to weaken the position of the British Empire and cause a wave of sympathy among the Jews of the Yishuv. Etzel further hoped to enlist the support of Jews all over the world and arouse British public opinion that would exert pressure for termination of the British presence in Palestine. During the first eight months of the rebellion, Etzel carried out some twenty operations against the British, including setting bombs in British government offices and four attacks against the offices of the British intelligence arm and police stations.

* Lehi viewed the Etzel's declaration of rebellion as a great victory and a vindication of its policy of continuing the struggle against the British even during the war.

The rebellion brought these two organizations closer together, but the national institutions of the Yishuv, as well as the Haganah leadership and most of the Jewish residents of the Yishuv, did not support the rebellion. Their reservations were based on the fact that the war had not yet ended, and their unwillingness to cease cooperation with the British. Similarly, most Jews feared that rebellion might ultimately harm the chances of establishing an independent Jewish entity in Eretz Yisrael.

* The British reaction to the attacks of Etzel and Lehi was extremely aggressive. In searches conducted throughout the country, 120 Etzel and Lehi members were arrested. In October 1944, they were placed on airplanes and exiled to Eritrea in East Africa.

* The British also exerted heavy pressure on the Jewish institutions to turn Etzel members into the authorities, confronting these bodies with an agonizing dilemma - the fear that turning Jewish fighters over to the British would spark a civil war. Meetings were held between Haganah and Etzel leaders, where it was made clear to Etzel commander, Menahem Begin, that the Jewish institutions would not agree to a continuation of terror, which was sabotaging their political initiatives. Begin, however, refused to end his organization's terrorist activities.

* Nevertheless, following the assassination of Lord Moyne, the leaders of the Yishuv decided to cooperate with the British by turning Etzel members over to them. Members of the Haganah submitted lists containing names and addresses of Etzel members and even participated in their capture. The period when Etzel members were pursued by the Haganah is known as the Sezon (from the English "season," referring to the hunting season). The Sezon was one of the most tragic and ugly episodes in the history of the Yishuv under the British Mandate.

3. Post-War Underground Organizations -- The United Jewish Resistance Movement

The years 1945-1947 were extremely stormy ones for relations between the British authorities and the Yishuv. In the summer of 1945, it became clear that the new British government had no intention of changing its White Paper policy, in spite of the Holocaust visited upon the Jews of Europe. Disappointment in British policy led to renewed contacts between the Haganah and the separatist organizations. It was not an easy matter; in April 1945, the Sezon ended, but the atmosphere remained charged with tension.

The Haganah debated whether to embark on active cooperation with Etzel and Lehi. Those who opposed cooperation with the separatists claimed that the Haganah would be co-opted into terrorist tactics dictated by Etzel and Lehi.

Those who favored cooperation - including Ben Gurion - claimed that only a large-scale cooperative effort would win the sympathy of world opinion.

Thus in October 1945, the United Jewish Resistance Movement was established, with the Haganah aiming at complete unification of the three underground organizations. Lehi agreed to the Haganah’s proposal, but Etzel refused. The outcome was that the three organizations agreed to establish a joint committee, named Committee X, to enforce discipline upon themselves. Only Committee X would have the authority to approve military operations.

The Jewish Resistance Movement was active for ten months - from October 1945 to July 1946.

* Its first operation was the release of 208 illegal immigrants from detention at the Atlit camp by some 200 members of the Palmach. British forces did not manage to catch the escapees.

* A month later, the Jewish Resistance blew up railroad lines throughout the country, an operation was carried out almost entirely by the Palmach: train traffic all over the country ground to a halt.

* The Jewish Resistance Movement carried out many attacks against British police installations, and particularly police stations from which forces set out to catch illegal immigrants. Bringing illegal immigrants to Palestine was a particularly major focus of its operations.

* The culmination of the movement's military activities took place on 17 July 1946 -- the date since designated as "Leil haGesharim," Night of the Bridges. The objective of this operation was to destroy all bridges connecting Palestine with neighboring territories and the attack was carried out against 11 bridges. 10 were actually destroyed, and 14 fighters were killed. The success of this operation testified to the Palmach's capacity for impressive planning and its superb operational capabilities: Palmach fighters had to make their way to the bridges undetected, dispose of sentries, set explosive charges, and withdraw without being caught.

British reaction to the Night of the Bridges was swift. On 29 June 1946, twelve days after the operation, 17,000 British soldiers and policemen carried out an operation whose objective was to destroy the Haganah's strike force -- the Palmach -- and arrest all Jewish Agency leaders with connections to the Haganah. The operation began on Shabbat at dawn and lasted the entire day, with a British curfew imposed on all Jewish settlements. Ships and planes also took part in the operation; Army and Police forces conducted weapons' searches in 27 settlements throughout the country. 2,700 people were arrested, including leading members of the Yishuv. Ben Gurion, who was in France at the time, was spared imprisonment. This Shabbat became known in the Yishuv as "Shabbat haShehorah" -- Black Saturday.

* Chaim Weizmann*, then Chairman of the Zionist movement, condemned the British for Black Saturday, but concluded that military operations against the British must cease, maintaining that they risked leading to a real war between the sides which could ultimately destroy the Yishuv. Weizmann also threatened to resign his position should his request to terminate armed operations not be honored.

* Committee X approached Etzel to defer its plan to blow up Jerusalem's King David Hotel, the headquarters of both the British Civil Administration and the British Army - an action which had been planned prior to Weizmann's appeal. Etzel rejected Committee X's appeal to stand down the operation, and on 22 July 1946 the King David Hotel was blown up by explosives smuggled inside in milk cans; although Etzel had warned the management of the hotel to evacuate everyone in the building, the British authorities ordered their people to remain. 91 people were killed.

* Another direct outcome of the explosion was the dismantling of the Jewish Resistance Movement - although this operation was not the only reason for termination of the partnership of the three organizations: mutual suspicion and strong differences of opinion had accompanied the activities of the three underground organizations from the moment the Jewish Resistance Movement was established.

In the final analysis, however, the Jewish Resistance Movement constituted a tremendous military achievement for the Yishuv, testifying to its operational capability against a real army many times larger than itself. More important, the Jewish Resistance Movement contributed to the military infrastructure and the Jewish community for its eventual conflict with the Arabs in 1948.

4. Etzel and Lehi's Armed Struggle against the British 1946-1947

After the explosion of the King David Hotel, the Etzel and the Lehi, who now considered themselves free to act alone, without the supervision of the Resistance Movement, called a halt to military operations for a month and a half.

>From September 1946 until October 1947, the two organizations carried out a long series of operations, seriously challenging the equanimity of the British army in Palestine. Among these activities were:

* In Haifa, an Etzel force blew up the pipeline that transported oil from the refineries to the port.

* They also blew up train stations and railroad tracks and set ambushes for British soldiers and policemen. Mines and barrels of explosives claimed many lives among the British security forces.

* In December 1946, Etzel flogged British sergeants and officers in response to floggings administered by the British to Jewish prisoners.

The British authorities responded aggressively to armed activities of the two underground organizations. In 1947, the British "reinstituted" the death penalty (see also: Shlomo Ben-Yosef,1938, the first Jew hanged by the British; after him were Eliahu Bet Hatzuri and Eliahu Hakim, the two assassins who killed Lord Moyne in 1946). 9 Etzel and Lehi members were executed by hanging in Acre Prison.

Despite of their opposition to the activities of these organizations, Yishuv institutions appealed to the British authorities for clemency but were rejected.

* The Dov Gruner episode gained particular notoriety. Gruner was wounded and captured by the British in an Etzel attack upon a British police station in April 1946. Although gravely injured, Gruner was sentenced to death. For a full year efforts were undertaken to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment -- with no success. Gruner himself refused to sign his ppeals, and in April 1947, he was hanged in Acre prison.

Although most of the Yishuv did not identify with the activities of Etzel and Lehi, the community felt the executions to be brutal and inhuman.

* Etzel's most daring operation was the organization of an escape from Acre prison, where dozens of prisoners were incarcerated -- members of Etzel and Lehi -- many sentenced to terms of imprisonment, other - to death. In a brilliantly planned operation, a group of Etzel members broke into the prison at the beginning of May 1947 and freed 41 Etzel and Lehi members held there. The British newspapers dubbed it the greatest prison break in history. In the battle that ensued, 5 Etzel members, including the operation's commander, were killed. 5 more Etzel fighters were taken prisoner by the British, of whom 3 were sentenced to death.

The Etzel kidnapped 2 British sergeants and threatened to hang them if this sentence were carried out. The British did not believe the Etzel would actually hang two innocent British soldiers, and on the 29th of July, 1947, the 3 Etzel members were hanged in Acre prison. They were the last martyrs of the Jewish underground. The next day, Etzel executed both captured British sergeants.

5. Conclusion

The military struggle was part of the campaign waged by the Yishuv to bring an end to the British Mandate and establish an independent Jewish state. Hostile military activities during the years 1945-1947 had an indisputable impact on the British decision to transfer the Palestine question to the United Nations.

Together with the illegal immigration, settlement, and the military struggle, an intensive political campaign was waged. The Zionist movement's political struggle to realize the objective for which it was founded -- the establishment of a Jewish state -- is another chapter.

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