1937, March 2 Arabs killed on Bat Yam beach. [12]
1937, November 14 10 Arabs killed by Irgun units launching attacks around Jerusalem, ("Black Sunday") [13][14]
1938, April 12 2 Arabs and 2 British policemen were killed by a bomb in a train in Haifa. [14]
1938, April 17 1 Arab was killed by a bomb detonated in a cafe in Haifa [14]
1938, May 17 1 Arab policeman was killed in an attack on a bus in the Jerusalem-Hebron road. [14]
1938, May 24 3 Arabs were shot and killed in Haifa. [14]
1938, June 23 2 Arabs were killed near Tel Aviv. [14]
1938, June 26 7 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jaffa. [14]
1938, June 27 1 Arab was killed in the yard of a hospital in Haifa. [14]
1938, June (late) Unspecified number of Arabs killed by a bomb that was thrown into a crowded Arab market place in Jerusalem. [15]
1938, July 5 7 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks in Tel Aviv. [14]
1938, July 5 3 Arabs were killed by a bomb detonated in a bus in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 5 1 Arab was killed in another attack in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 6 18 Arabs and 5 Jews were killed by two simultaneous bombs in the Arab melon market in Haifa. More than 60 people were wounded. [14][16][17]
1938, July 8 4 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 16 10 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 25 43 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][18]
1938, August 26 24 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jaffa. [14]
1939, February 27 33 Arabs were killed in multiple attacks, incl. 24 by bomb in Arab market in Suk Quarter of Haifa and 4 by bomb in Arab vegetable market in Jerusalem. [19]
1939, May 29 5 Arabs were killed by a mine detonated at the Rex cinema in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, May 29 5 Arabs were shot and killed during a raid on the village of Biyar 'Adas. [14]
1939, June 2 5 Arabs were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. [14][20]
1939, June 12 1 British bomb expert trying to defuse the bombs killed, during a post office in Jerusalem was bombing [14]
1939, June 16 6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, June 19 20 Arabs were killed by explosives mounted on a donkey at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][21]
1939, June 29 13 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks around Jaffa during a one-hour period. [14][22]
1939, June 30 1 Arab was killed at a marketplace in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, June 30 2 Arabs were shot and killed in Lifta. [14]
1939, July 3 1 Arab was killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][23]
1939, July 4 2 Arabs were killed in two attacks in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, July 20 1 Arab was killed at a train station in Jaffa. [14]
1939, July 20 6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Tel Aviv. [14]
1939, July 20 3 Arabs were killed in Rehovot. [14]
1939, August 27 2 British officers were killed by a mine in Jerusalem. [14]
1944, September 27 Unknown number of casualties, around 150 Irgun members attacked four British police stations [24]
1944, September 29 1 Senior British police officer of the Criminal Intelligence Department assassinated in Jerusalem. [24]
1945, November 1 5 locomotives destroyed in Lydda station. Two staff, one soldier and one policeman killed. [25]
1945, December 27 3 British policemen and 4 Sotho soldiers killed during the bombing of British CID headquarters in Jerusalem; 1 British soldier killed during attack of British army camp in north Tel Aviv [26][27]
1946, February 22 Destroyed 14 aeroplanes at 5 RAF stations. [28]
1946, July 22 91 people were killed at King David Hotel bombing mostly civilians, staff of the hotel or Secretariat,
41 Arabs, 15-28 British citizens, 17 Palestinian Jews, 2 Armenians, 1 Russian, 1 Greek and 1 Egyptian. [29][30][31]
1946, October 30 2 British guards killed during Gunfire and explosion at Jerusalem Railway Station. [32]
1946, October 31 Bombing of the British Embassy in Rome. Nearly half the building was destroyed and 3 people were injured. [33]
1947, January 12 4 killed in bombing of British headquarters. [34]
1947, March 1 17 British officers killed, during raid and explosion. [35]
1947, March 12 1 British soldier killed during the attack on Schneller Camp. [35]
1947, July 19 4 locations within Haifa are attacked, killing a British constable and injuring 12. [36]
1947, July 29 2 kidnapped British sergeants hanged. [37]
1947, September 26 4 British policemen killed in Irgun bank robbery. [34]
1947, September 29 13 killed, 53 wounded in attack on British police station. [34]
1947, December 11 13 killed in attack on Tireh, near Haifa [38]
1947, December 12 20 killed, 5 wounded by barrel bomb at Damascus Gate. [39]
1947, December 13 6 killed, 25 wounded by bombs outside Alhambra Cinema. [40]
1947, December 13 5 killed, 47 wounded by two bombs at Damascus Gate. [40]
1947, December 13 7 killed, 10 seriously injured in attack on al-'Abbasiyya. [40]
1947, December 16(ca) 10 killed by bomb at Noga Cinema in Jaffa. [41]
1947, December 29 14 Arabs killed by bomb in Jerusalem. [34][42]
1947, December 30 6 Arabs killed and, 42 injured by grenades at Haifa refinery, precipitating the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre, which lead to the Balad al-Shaykh massacre. [43]
1948, January 1 2 Arabs killed and 9 injured by shooting attack on cafe in Jaffa. [44]
1948, January 5 14 Arabs killed and 19 injured by truck bomb outside the 3-storey 'Serrani', Jaffa's built Ottoman Town Hall [45]
1948, January 7 20 Arabs killed by bomb at Jaffa Gate. [46][47]
1948, February 10 7 Arabs killed near Ras el Ain after selling cows in Tel Aviv [48]
1948, February 18 12 Arabs killed and 43 wounded at a marketplace in Ramla [49]
1948, March 1 20 Britons killed and 30 wounded in the Bevingrad Officers Club bombing [50]
1948, April 9-April 11 107-120 Arabs killed and massacred (the estimate generally accepted by scholars, instead the first announced number of 254) during and after the battle at the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, by 132 Irgun and 60 Lehi fighters. [51][52][53][54][55]
1948, April 6 7 British soldiers, including Commanding Officer, killed during an arms raid on Pardes Hanna Army camp.
On May 14, 1948 the establishment of the State of Israel was proclaimed. The declaration of independence was followed by the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), and the process of absorbing all military organizations into the IDF started. On June 1, an agreement had been signed Between Menachem Begin and Yisrael Galili for the absorption of the Irgun into the IDF. One of the clauses stated that the Irgun had to stop smuggling arms. Meanwhile in France, Irgun representatives purchased a ship, renamed Altalena (a pseudonym of Ze'ev Jabotinsky), and weapons. The ship sailed on June 11 and arrived at the Israeli coast on June 20 in violation of the four-week ceasefire agreement in the ongoing war with the neighbouring Arab states and the United Nations Security Council Resolution 50.
When the ship arrived the Israeli government, headed by Ben-Gurion, was adamant in its demand that the Irgun surrender and hand over all of the weapons. Ben-Gurion said: "We must decide whether to hand over power to Begin or to order him to cease his activities. If he does not do so, we will open fire! Otherwise, we must decide to disperse our own army."
There were two confrontations between the newly formed IDF and the Irgun: when Altalena reached Kfar Vitkin in the late afternoon of Sunday, June 20 many Irgun militants, including Begin, waited on the shore. A clash with the Alexandroni Brigade, commanded by Dan Even (Epstein), occurred. Fighting ensued and there were a number of casualties on both sides. The clash ended in a ceasefire and the transfer of the weapons on shore to the local IDF commander, and with the ship, now reinforced with local Irgun members, including Begin, sailing to Tel Aviv, where the Irgun had more supporters. Many Irgun members, who joined the IDF earlier that month, left their bases and concentrated on the Tel Aviv beach. A confrontation between them and the IDF units started. In response, Ben-Gurion ordered Yigael Yadin (acting Chief of Staff) to concentrate large forces on the Tel Aviv beach and to take the ship by force. Heavy guns were transferred to the area and at four in the afternoon, Ben-Gurion ordered the shelling of the Altalena. One of the shells hit the ship, which began to burn. Sixteen Irgun fighters were killed in the confrontation with the army; six were killed in the Kfar Vitkin area and ten on Tel Aviv beach. Three IDF soldiers were killed: two at Kfar Vitkin and one in Tel Aviv.
After the shelling of the Altalena, more than 200 Irgun fighters were arrested. Most of them were freed several weeks later. The Irgun militants were then fully integrated with the IDF and not kept in separate units.
The initial agreement for the integration of the Irgun into the IDF did not include Jerusalem, which was under siege. The Irgun operated an armed group known as the Jerusalem Battalion, numbering around 400 fighters. Following the assassination of UN Envoy for Peace Folke Bernadotte by the LEHI in September 1948, this separate unit collapsed and integrated into the IDF.
Hatzohar was founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky and others in Paris in April 1925.[1][2][3] It followed the establishment of Jabotinsky's revisionist youth movement Betar in 1923. The initial nucleus of the movement consisted of a group of Russian Zionists who had supported Jabotinsky in establishing the Jewish Legion during World War I.
There were 22 founding members in the photo of the First World Conference in Paris 1925. The 13 known members were (in alphabetical order): Berchin-Benedictoff, Isidore Franckel, Meir Grossman, Dr. A Ginsbourg, Vladimir Jabotinski, Aron Propes, Dr. Jacques Segal, Albert Stara, Ze’ev (Vladimir) Tiomkin, Zinovi Tiomkin, Israel Trivus, and I Yevine.
The name of 'revisionist' stems from the demands by these Zionists for a revision of the Zionist Organization's policies and its leadership under Chaim Weizmann, as well as the elected Jewish leadership in Palestine.[2] They saw these policies as appeasement of British Government decisions in Mandatory Palestine.
The party began publishing Hazit HaAm in 1931, but it was shut down by the British authorities after a few months. They went on to establish HaYarden, and in 1938 the daily HaMashkif.[4] The party had briefly also been associated with Doar HaYom.
Polish members of the organisation were, among other things, instrumental in creating Żydowski Związek Wojskowy, one of two Jewish organisations that organised the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
At the time of Israel's independence in 1948, Hatzohar was the largest right-wing organization in the country, and had three seats in the Provisional State Council (held by Herzl Rosenblum, Zvi Segal and Ben-Zion Sternberg). However, the founding of Herut by Menachem Begin in the same year dealt it a fatal blow. Although some purists alleged that Begin was out to steal Jabotinsky's mantle and refused to defect from the party, under the leadership of Aryeh Altman, Hatzohar won less than 1% of the vote in Israel's first elections and failed to cross the Knesset's electoral threshold. In contrast, Herut won 14 seats with 11.5% of the vote; Altman later joined Herut and was elected to the Knesset on its list in 1951, whilst Begin would carry Revisionist ideology of Likud to electoral victory in 1977.
The party was disbanded prior to the 1951 elections when it merged into Herut.
Herut was founded by Menachem Begin on 15 June 1948 as a successor to the Revisionist Irgun, a militant paramilitary group in Mandate Palestine. The new party was a challenge to Hatzohar party established by Ze'ev Jabotinsky. Herut also established a newspaper by the same name, with many of its founding journalists defecting from Hatzohar's HaMashkif. Herut's political expectations were high as the first election approached. It took credit for driving the British out and as a young movement, reflecting the esprit of the nation, it thought its image was more attractive than the old establishment. By winning 25 seats, they expected to come in second, and become leader of the opposition, with potential for future gain of government power. This analysis was shared by other parties.
The party and its leader Menachem Begin had met fierce resistance from the Labor Zionist establishment in Israel and abroad. They were sharply criticised by Jewish intellectuals on the occasion of Begin's visit to New York City in an open letter to the New York Times on 4 December 1948. The letter condemned Herut as well akin to Nazi and Fascist parties as a Terrorist party and was signed by over two dozen prominent Jewish intellectuals including Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Zellig Harris and Sidney Hook.
Among the most disturbing political phenomena of our times is the emergence in the newly created state of Israel of the "Freedom Party" (Tnuat Haherut), a political party closely akin in its organization, methods, political philosophy and social appeal to the Nazi and Fascist parties. It was formed out of the membership and following of the former Irgun Zvai Leumi, a terrorist, right-wing, chauvinist organization in Palestine. (...) It is inconceivable that those who oppose fascism throughout the world, if correctly informed as to Mr. Begin's political record and perspectives, could add their names and support to the movement he represents. (...) Today they speak of freedom, democracy and anti-imperialism, whereas until recently they openly preached the doctrine of the Fascist state. It is in its actions that the terrorist party betrays its real character; from its past actions we can judge what it may be expected to do in the future.[5]
The hostility between Begin and Israel's first Prime Minister and Mapai leader, David Ben-Gurion which had begun over the Altalena Affair was evident in the Knesset. Ben-Gurion coined the phrase "without Herut and Maki" (Maki was the Communist Party of Israel), a reference to his position that he would include any party in his coalition, except those two. Actually, Herut was approached at least three times (1952, 1955 and 1961) by Mapai for government negotiations, but Begin turned down the offers each time, suspecting that they were designed to divide his party.[6] The ostracism also expressed itself in the Prime Minister's refusal to refer to Begin by name from the Knesset Podium, using instead the phrase "the person who sits next to MK Badar", and boycotting his Knesset speeches.[4][7]
Ben-Gurion's policy of ostracizing Revisionism was performed systematically, as seen in the legal exclusion of fallen Irgun and Lehi fighters from public commemoration and from benefits to their families.[8] Herut members were excluded from the highest bureaucratic and military positions.[7]
