Zionist Paramilitary

The Palmach (an acronym for "Plugot Mahatz" or "Strike Companies") was founded in May 1941 by the Haganah High Command as an elite Zionist paramilitary unit in Mandatory Palestine. Its creation had two strategic goals: The threat of a potential Axis occupation of Palestine if Nazi forces triumphed over the British in North Africa. The possibility of a British withdrawal, leaving Zionist colonies vulnerable to Arab attacks. Commanded by Yitzhak Sadeh, the Palmach initially num

The Irgun , officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel , often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL , was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was part of the older Zionist paramilitary organization Haganah before it split in 1937. The Irgun policy was based on what was then called Revisionist Zionism, founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky. It was responsible for perpetrating two of the most notorious m

King David Hotel bombing, 1946 Haganah, or " The Defense," was the main Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the region. It was formally disbanded in 1948, when it became the core force integrated into the "Israel Defense Forces" shortly after the "Israeli Declaration of Independence." In the pre-state period (1920s–1940s), Zionist p

Lehi (also known as the Stern Gang) broke away from the Irgun militant group in 1940, determined to continue its armed struggle against British rule in Palestine—even during World War II, when most Jewish factions suspended operations against the British to focus on the fight against Nazi Germany. In its early phase, Lehi controversially sought alliances with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, viewing the British Empire as a more immediate threat to Jewish national aspirations.