HAGANAH

Underground military defense organization for Jewish community in Palestine, 1920–1948.

The Haganah ("defense") was founded in June 1920 by the Labor Zionist Party Ahdut ha-Avodah in response to Arab riots in April. Its military and organizational complexity increased as the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs intensified during the Mandate era. By the time full scale Arab–Jewish warfare erupted in Palestine following the November 1947 United Nations partition resolution, the Haganah was well positioned to serve as the Yishuv's main armed force and to become the core element of the Israel Defense Force (IDF).

In December 1920 the Haganah was placed under the direct control of the newly created Histadrut, headed by David Ben-Gurion. After the 1929 riots, the Haganah expanded into a Yishuv-wide defense force, and a six-member civilian National Command council was established, led by Eliyahu Golomb. The 1936–1939 Arab Revolt was a watershed event in the development of the Haganah. In the process of responding to the rebellion it developed new doctrines and structures and became an army capable of taking offensive military actions. The Haganah mobilized Jewish youth for military training, established officers' courses, and set up arms depots and underground small arms factories. Elite units were formed under the command of Yitzhak Sadeh, who would also become a major figure in the Palmah and the IDF.

The military doctrine of the Haganah during the 1920s and 1930s was based on self-restraint (havlagah). As the Arab Revolt intensified, those most opposed to havlagah split off and in 1937 formed the Irgun Zvaʾi Leʾumi, which committed retaliatory acts of terrorism against Arab civilians. In 1940 some Irgun members, led by Abraham Stern, rejected the Irgun's wartime truce with Britain and founded the "Stern Gang," also known as LEHI.

In 1938 the British created a Jewish military unit for counterinsurgency missions against the Arabs, the Special Night Squads. They were trained and commanded by Orde Wingate and drew volunteers from the Haganah, even though the Haganah was technically illegal according to the Mandatory government. Wingate's commando tactics greatly influenced the Haganah and later the IDF. Yigal Allon (Palmah commander) and Moshe Dayan were Wingate protégés.

In 1939 control over the Haganah was transferred to the MAPAI-dominated Jewish Agency, which was headed by Ben-Gurion. A professional Military General Staff was established and Yaʿakov Dori became the Haganah's first chief of staff. The Haganah ran illegal immigration operations (Aliyah Bet) during and after World War II to circumvent the 1939 White Paper restrictions. At the same time, Britain supported the creation of an elite strike force, the Palmah (Plugot Mahatz, or "shock companies") in May 1941, and Haganah members enlisted in the British Army's Jewish Brigade. When Britain refused to lift the White Paper restrictions after the war, the Haganah and Palmah joined with the Irgun and LEHI to form the Hebrew Resistance Movement (1945–1946). The undergrounds coordinated military operations against British targets in Palestine. The harsh British crackdown on the Yishuv in June 1946 convinced Ben-Gurion to end the Haganah's participation.

By 1947 the Haganah had evolved into a cohesive military organization with British Army professionalism and combat experience. The original Palmah battalions had expanded to three full brigades, and the Haganah grew to twelve brigades. On the eve of the first Arab–Israel war, the Haganah had a nascent air force, medical and signal corps, and intelligence units, with membership totaling 60,000. The bulk of Jewish fighters during the Arab–Israel War of 1948 came from Haganah ranks.

On 28 May 1948 Order Number 4 of the Provisional Government declared the establishment of a single national army with a unified national command, to be called the Israel Defense Force (Zva Haganah le-Yisrael, or ZAHAL). All independent military organizations were to be dismantled and absorbed into the IDF. The Haganah's personnel and command structure became the main elements of the new Israeli army and Dori became the IDF's first chief of staff. Many Haganah veterans would later become generals in the IDF, including Dayan, Yigael Yadin, Mordechai Gur, and Ariel Sharon.

See also irgun zvaʾi leʾumi (izl); lohamei herut yisrael; white papers on palestine; yishuv.

Bibliography

Ben-Eliezer, Uri. The Making of Israeli Militarism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.

Herzog, Chaim. The Arab–Israeli Wars: War and Peace in the Middle East from the War of Independence through Lebanon, revised and updated. New York: Vintage Books, 1982.

Jewish Agency for Israel. "Israel and Zionism: The Haganah." Available from <http://www.jafi.org.il/education/>.

Peri, Yoram. Between Battles and Ballots: Israel Military in Politics. New York and Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1983.

Van Creveld, Martin. The Sword and the Olive: A Critical History of the Israeli Defense Force. New York: Public Affairs, 1998.

pierre m. atlas

Haganah (defence), clandestine, paramilitary organization formed in Palestine in 1920 by Jews to protect themselves against Arab attacks. The more militarist Haganah B was formed from it in 1931, but in 1937 this split, half returning to Haganah, the other half forming the more extreme Irgun. The Arab revolt of 1936–9 changed the Haganah from a collection of local defence bands into an army structure which its political master, the Jewish Agency executive, used to organize illegal immigration and control extremists. The British, who governed the mandated territory of Palestine, nearly destroyed the Haganah in 1940, but in 1941 it began to form special independent units (Palmach) from its members. These were used in British military operations such as the Syrian campaign, but the British never legalized the organization. Its wartime hoarding of arms, and the formation of an intelligence branch, paid dividends during post-war confrontations with British and Arab forces, and with Jewish extremists.

Haganah (‘Defence’) A Jewish defence force in Palestine which was first established in 1920 as a secret organization to defend Jewish settlements from Arab attacks. It became gradually accepted by the British authorities as a supplementary police force, coming under the control of the Histadrut, the General Federation of Jewish Labour. During the period of Arab-Jewish unrest 1936–9 it acquired a general staff and developed close links with the Jewish Agency. During World War II it contributed units to the British 8th Army, but was also involved in organizing illegal Jewish immigration from Europe. It condemned the terrorist activities of the Stern Gang and Irgun, and in 1947, when the British prepared to leave Palestine, it took on the defence of Jewish Palestine against Arab troops. Some 60,000 strong, it formed the nucleus of the army of the new state of Israel.

Haganah A Jewish defence force in Palestine. It was established in 1920 first as an independent, armed organization and then under the control of the Histadrut to defend Jewish settlements. During the 1936–39 Arab rebellion it was considerably expanded. It gained a general staff and was put under control of the Jewish Agency, acquiring new duties of organizing illegal Jewish immigration and preparing for the fight against Britain, who held the mandate over Palestine. In 1941 the Palmah (assault platoons) were formed. In 1948 Haganah provided the nucleus of the Israeli Defence Force, formed to protect the newly created state of Israel.

Haganah (Heb. ‘defence’) Jewish militia formed (1920) to protect Jewish interests in Palestine. Allied with the extreme Irgun group in 1945, it tried to change British policy on Jewish immigration, receiving financial and military aid from US Zionists. In 1948 it became Israel's official army. See also Zionism

Haganah an underground defence force comprising a group of Jewish settlers in Palestine and playing a leading part in the creation of the State of Israel in 1948.