irgun

Irgun, also known as Etzel, was a Jewish paramilitary organization that operated during the British Mandate of Palestine from 1931 to 1948. It emerged as the militant wing of Revisionist Zionism, breaking away from the Haganah to pursue a more assertive campaign against British rule and Arab opposition, with the aim of establishing a Jewish state on both sides of the Jordan River. The group opposed the 1939 White Paper restricting Jewish immigration and land purchases, and it endorsed the use of force to achieve political ends.

Irgun conducted armed campaigns against British authorities, Arab groups, and occasionally Jewish institutions it deemed insufficiently militant. Its leadership began with Avraham Tehomi and, from the mid-1940s, passed to Menachem Begin, who became its commander after the early 1940s. Notable operations included the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946, which killed 91 people, and the Deir Yassin village attack in 1948, widely described as a massacre and controversial for its civilian toll. The organization also played a role in the Jewish community’s wartime efforts during the 1947–1948 civil conflict leading up to the establishment of Israel.

Following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Irgun’s separate armed campaign declined as its members joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces. The Altalena affair in 1948, a confrontation over arms shipments to Irgun, underscored tensions with the nascent Israeli state and hastened absorption of its fighters into state and political structures. By the early 1950s Irgun had dissolved as an independent organization. Its legacy remains debated: some credit Irgun with contributing to statehood and security, while others criticize its violent methods and civilian casualties.