The Haganah
Establishing the Organization
The Haganah was established in June, 1920 as the successor to “Hashomer”. The Haganah was the chief underground military organization of the Hebrew Yishuv in the Land of Israel in the days of the British Mandate. At first, the Haganah was meant to defend Jewish settlements against Arab attacks. It evolved into a military force of the nascent state. It fought the British government and it brought illegal immigrants to the country. In the early 1930s, the Haganah was under the command of the Jewish National Council as the defender of the entire Yishuv.
The Organization’s Policies
In the period of the riots, the days when the Arabs were attacking the Jewish settlements, the Haganah espoused restraint, meaning defending the settlements against attacks and avoiding attacking any Arab settlement.
Meanwhile, the Arabs carried out many vicious attacks against the British because of their opposition to the British Mandate, leading the British Mandate’s government to agree to cooperate with the Haganah. Jews served in Jewish guard units (“Hanotarim”) and volunteered for the “Jewish Settlement Police”, which was subordinate to the British police and helped to secure Jewish settlements and sensitive locations, such as railroad stations.
“Outside the fences” is the name given to the offensive, rather than defensive operations conducted by the Haganah in which they attacked the rioting Arabs in their bases, beyond the fences of Jewish settlements. These acts were illegal and not coordinated with the British. They were carried out by small, highly-trained forces, “FOSH”, field companies under the command of Yitzhak Sadeh, HISH, field forces and PUM, special companies. The main thrust of the Haganah’s efforts was participating in establishing “Stockade and Watchtower” settlements and in “Aliyah B”, the illegal immigration to the Land of Israel.
Ya’akov Dori (1899-1973)
Dori was chief of staff of the Haganah from 1939-1945.During World War II, he took part in preparing the plan, “Masada on the Carmel”, which called for concentrating the Hebrew Yishuv in the Carmel Mountains, where they would fortify themselves in case of a German attack on the Land of Israel.
In the years 1946-1847, he was the head of a Haganah delegation that was sent to the United States to deal with acquiring weapons to prepare for war. In June, 1947, he was appointed, for the second time, commander in chief of the Haganah after Ben Gurion removed Yitzhak Sadeh from the position. When the IDF was established, he served as the first chief of staff until he retired in 1949. He served as the president of the Technion from 1951-1965 and the assistant mayor of Haifa.
Yitzhak Sadeh (1890-1952)
Yitzhak Sadeh (Landoberg) was an IDF general, commander, leader, educator, and a Jewish writer known as “the old man”. Sadeh was the leader of the “Gdud Havodah”, (the Labor Brigade), a member of the kibbutz underground, a commander of the Haganah, a founder of the Palmach and its first commander. He was one of those who laid the foundation for the IDF and for the State of Israel.
“The Russian rifle, carried by the Russians, the British rifle, carried by the British, friends, who will carry the Hebrew rifle?”
Yitzhak Sadeh, following a mass enlistment of Palmach soldiers to the British army to fight the Nazis.
Special Night Squads
The Special Night Squads company was founded by the British captain, Orde Charles Wingate, who was an enthusiastic supporter of Zionism., earning him the title, “the friend”. Wingate got permission from the British command to establish special squads under his command in order to fight Arab gangs. The squads were formed mainly from Haganah fighters and acted in the Jezreel Valley and the Lower Galilee, fighting According to a combat doctrine which he developed. After two years of action, Winston was transferred out of Israel and the squads fell apart shortly thereafter, in July, 1939. Wingate’s combat doctrine was used by the Haganah for many years.
Eliyahu Golomb (1893-1945)
Eliyahu Golomb was “the uncrowned commander” of the Haganah.Its headquarters was located in his house for many years. He was one of the founders of Ahdut HaAvoda (Labor Unity) and the Histadrut. He was a member of the Jewish National Council and he represented his party at the Zionist Congress. He was one of the organizers of the illegal immigration during the British Mandate.
He was one of the people who initiated a program to commemorate members of the Haganah in Europe during the Holocaust. His home, “Beit Eliyahu”, on Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv houses the Haganah Museum, the Haganah archives and the office of the President of Members of the Haganah.
Night of the Trains
This was an operation in which British Mandate railways lines were sabotaged on November 1, 1945. This was one of the first acts carried out by members of the Meri even before it was officially founded and symbolized its establishment. On the night of the operation, Palmach forces sabotaged railway lines all over the Land of Israel, and they blew up three coast guard boats in the Jaffa and Haifa ports. Lehi and Etzel forces attacked the train station in Lod. The operation lifted the morale of the Yishuv following the harsh limitations on aliyah and settlement which were imposed by the British. It especially brought satisfaction to the leaders of the Yishuv and to the members of the Palmach and Haganah, who saw that they could successfully operate a large number of forces in different locations at the same time.
Israel Galili (1911- 1986)
In 1924, Israel Galili was one of the founders of “Hanoar Haoved” (Working Youth) and was even the first secretary of the movement. In 1930, he was one of the founders of Kibbutz Na’an, of which he was a member until his death.
In 1927, he joined the Haganah and set out on a military career. In 1935, he became a member of the leadership committee of the Haganah and was later placed in charge of Acquisitions and Armaments. During the Second World War, he was involved in preparations to counter an anticipated German invasion.
He and Moshe Sneh served as representatives of the Haganah in the leadership of the Hebrew Meri organization, the umbrella organization of the Jewish underground movements in the Land of Israel, while it was active. In 1947, at the start of the War of Independence, he was appointed head of the National Headquarters of the Haganah (Rama). He served in this position from 1947-1948. Before the establishment of the State of Israel, he was involved in organizing and establishing the air service, which became the air force, and in establishing services that later became the tank corps, the navy and the artillery corps. He was head of the Gezer Regional Council, a member of the Knesset and close to Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir.