21 Facts About Haganah

Until the end of the Second World War, Haganah's activities were moderate, in accordance with the policy of havlaga, which caused the splitting of the more radical Irgun and Lehi.

Haganah sought cooperation with the British in the event of an Axis invasion of Palestine through North Africa, prompting the creation of the Palmach task force in 1941.

Shortly after Israel's independence declaration and the beginning of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Haganah was merged with other groups and reorganized into the official army of the state.

The first head of the Haganah was a 28-year-old named Yosef Hecht, a veteran of the Jewish Legion.

Haganah "units" were very localized and poorly armed: they consisted mainly of Jewish farmers who took turns guarding their farms or their kibbutzim.

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Many Haganah fighters objected to the official policy of havlagah that Jewish political leaders had imposed on the militia.

At that time, the Haganah fielded 10,000 mobilized men along with 40,000 reservists.

Envoys from Haganah headed by Yehuda Arazi received dozens of shipments with military supplies, including 2750 Mauser rifles, 225 RKM machine guns, 10,000 hand grenades, two million bullets for rifles and machine guns, and a large number of pistols with ammunition.

In reaction to the White Paper, the Haganah built up the Palmach as the Haganah's elite strike force and organized illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine.

In 1940 the Haganah sabotaged the Patria, an ocean liner being used by the British to deport 1,800 Jews to Mauritius, with a bomb intended to cripple the ship.

On May 14,1941, the Haganah created the Palmach, an elite commando section, in preparation against the possibility of a British withdrawal and Axis invasion of Palestine.

In 1944, after the assassination of Lord Moyne, by members of the Lehi, the Haganah worked with the British to kidnap, interrogate, and in some cases, deport Irgun members.

Haganah was less active in the Jewish Rebellion than the other two groups, but the Palmach did carry out anti-British operations, including a raid on the Atlit detainee camp that released 208 illegal immigrants, the Night of the Trains, the Night of the Bridges, and attacks on Palestine Police bases.

The Haganah withdrew on 1 July 1946, but "remained permanently unco-operative" with the British authorities.

In July 1947, eager to maintain order with the visit of UNSCOP to Palestine and under heavy pressure from the British authorities to resume collaboration, the Jewish Agency reluctantly came into brief conflict with the Irgun and Lehi, and ordered the Haganah to put a stop to the operations of the other two groups for the time being.

The Haganah joined the search for two British sergeants abducted by the Irgun as hostages against the death sentences of three Irgun members in what became known as the Sergeants' affair.

Ben-Gurion appointed Israel Galili to the position of head of the High Command counsel of Haganah and divided Haganah into 6 infantry brigades, numbered 1 to 6, allotting a precise theatre of operation to each one.

Brigades of the Haganah which merged into the IDF once this was created on 26 May 1948:.

The Haganah played the leading role in the Yishuv's war with the Palestinian Arabs.

The re-organisation led to several conflicts between Ben-Gurion and the Haganah leadership, including what was known as The Generals' Revolt and the dismantling of the Palmach.

Famous members of the Haganah included Yitzhak Rabin, Ariel Sharon, Rehavam Ze'evi, Dov Hoz, Moshe Dayan, Yigal Allon and Dr Ruth Westheimer.