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From
http://www.jewishmag.com/9mag/irgun/irgun.htm
}}}>Begin
Irgun & the State of Israel
by Bernie Hecht
The History of the birth of the state of Israel is complex and
involved. Many have sacrificed much to bring the Jewish State into
existence. One such body was the Irgun also know as the Etzel group.
The Irgun was a military group that refused to bow to political
pressures in securing a state for the Jewish people. Much of the
modern Israeli politics today stem from the Irgun and the
organization from which they broke, the Hagganah.
To give a brief history of this valiant fighting group, it must be
known that the Jewish Yeshuv, the agricultural settlements, were
suffering from Arab maunders who would cause mayhem with the attempts
of the Jewish settlers in setting up their settlements. The British,
who at first encouraged the immigration of Jews to Israel, now openly
banned Jewish immigration. They became ineffective in providing
security for the settlers. For this reason, the Hagganah, a Jewish
underground armed organization was set up in. As Arab outrages
increased, the members of the Hagannah split over the question how to
react to Arab terrorism. A group of men, headed by Avraham
Tehomi, split from the main group and set up their own organization to be more active
in persueing the Arab terrorists.
After continued increased tensions and rioting, the new group split. Half of the
members returned to the Hagganah, which was controlled by the Jewish Agency, and the
other half formed what was called Irgun Zvi Leumi, (Nat
ional Military Organization) and aligned themselves with the ideals of Zev Jabotinsky.
They rejected the "restraint" policy of the Jewish Agency which preferred to use
political powers to forward the goal of reclaiming th
e land. The Irgun began carrying out armed reprisals against the Arabs, which although
provided relief for the settlers, caused political embarrassment for the Jewish
Agency. While the Jewish Agency tried to provide a ima
ge of the Jew as a moral person being terrorized by the Arabs, thus winning support
from the non-Jewish world, albeit at the expense of the Jewish settlers, the Irgun
moved into the vacuum and gave it's full support to th
e settlers.
In 1939, the British published another one of it's 'white paper' effectively
curtailing immigration and causing other hardships on the Jewish settlement. The Irgun
now turned it's attention to the occupying British forces
. The Irgun began sabotaging the British government property and attacking their
forces. The British replied with mass arrests but the perpetrators were concealed by
their brethren who sided with them.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Irgun split again, some forces deciding to
fight with the British against the Nazi Axis powers. This group declared a truce and
joined the British army and the Jewish Brigade. The se
cond group, led by Avraham Stern, later known as the Stern Gang.
In December of 1943, Menacham Begin took lead of the Irgun. With knowledge now of the
Nazi holocaust and fate of European Jewry, the Irgun reversed its truce against the
British and the policy of not allowing Jewish immig
ration. The Irgun attacked British police stations, offices, and headquarters. They
seized weapons and replenished their arsenal. The British began making mass arrests.
Many Irgun fighters were driven into hiding. Menache
m Begin was forced into hiding. He took upon himself the disguise of a religious man
and spent much time in a Synagogue in Tel Aviv under an assumed name. From his long
time underground he developed an appreciation of the
religious Jews, which lasted the rest of his life. It is noteworthy to mention that
he was the first Israeli Prime Minister to don a traditional skullcap and to publicly
thank G-d for his successes.
The Jewish Agency and their group, the Hagannah moved against the Irgun. The Hagannah
kidnapped several of the Irgun's members and handed them over to the British. The
Irgun's activities were not reduced but not stopped.
After World War II, the Hagannah realized that the British were not relenting their
ban on immigration, nor were they helpful in combating Arab terrorism. The three
groups, the Irgun, the Hagannah, and the Stern Group (kn
own also as Lechi ) combined to fight the British.
The Irgun in a sensational attack blew up the wing of the King David hotel in
Jerusalem, in May 1946, which housed the British Palestine Command. Warnings went
unheeded and many lives were lost. The British were furious a
nd carried out mass arrests. The Hagganah, ceased it's actions when it's leaders were
arrested in August 1946, but the Irgun continued fighting. The British increased their
troops to one hundred thousand men. The ferocity
of the British reprisals increased including public floggings, deportations, arrests
and hangings.
The Irgun staged a heroic prison break, freeing 41 prisoners in a daring break at the
Arce fortress. When the British hung three Irgun members, the Irgun captured three
British soldiers and hung them in retaliation. The r
eputation of the Irgun was growing.
The State of Israel was being established. The Irgun offered to join forces with the
Hagganah to form the Israeli army. The Irgun had a boat, the Altalena, of supplies and
men coming into Jaffa port. The boat was laden wi
th munitions needed by the Jewish defenders. The Hagganah wanted to
take all supplies. Negotiation between the Irgun and the Hagganah
ensued. No agreement was forged. The Hagganah opened fire on the
Altalena, sinking the boat, killing and wounding Jewish lives and
destroying supplies. The commander of the Hagganah was Yitzhak Rabin.
The new state was established. The Jewish Agency and it's followers
took up the leadership of the state. Today their political party is
known as "Labor." The opposition party, led by those valiant soldiers
in the Irgun became what is known today as the "Likud." These two
groups till today are still fighting it out between themselves, just
as they did in the time of the birth of the state of Israel.
End<{{{
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