LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Haganah: Palestinian Arabs
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In December 1920 the Haganah was placed under the direct control of the newly created Histadrut, headed by David Ben-Gurion. After the 1929 riots, the Haganah expanded into a Yishuv-wide defense force, and a six-member civilian National Command council was established, led by Eliyahu Golomb. The 1936 - 1939 Arab Revolt was a watershed event in the development of the Haganah. In the process of responding to the rebellion it developed new doctrines and structures and became an army capable of taking offensive military actions. The Haganah mobilized Jewish youth for military training, established officers' courses, and set up arms depots and underground small arms factories. Elite units were formed under the command of Yitzhak Sadeh, who would ... become a major figure in the Palmah and the IDF.
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Founded in 1920, the Haganah's purpose was not direct military involvement, but rather the creation of military infrastructure. In particular, this included training troops, smuggling weapons from abroad and collecting intelligence (a small intelligence branch operated since 1931 which gave birth in time to Israel's intelligence-gathering apparatus). Led by Yisrael Galili, the Haganah was mainly a civilian organization, fully subjugated to civilian leadership. Although only a minor power in the first years of its existence (the 1920s were a generally quiet time, in spite of the Arab pogroms of 1920, 1921 and 1929), the Haganah began to occupy an important position as unrest developed among the Arab population in 1936.
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In the Arab revolt of 1936-1939, the Haganah, under the guidance of Charles Orde Wingate, organized Special Night Squads (S.N.S.) trained in commando tactics, surprise attack and mobility. These incorporated the field forces (Plugot Sadeh) of Yitzhak Sadeh. The primary mission of these groups was to guard the Iraq to Haifa oil pipeline (TAP), but these squads ... learned to bring the offensive to the enemy rather than remaining behind the protective fencing of settlements under attack. The Haganah was officially illegal, and yet at the same time the British cooperated with it during the Arab riots and later during World War II. Beginning in 1939, the Haganah helped to greet and guard illegal immigrant ships organized by the Mossad Le'Aliya Bet. After the British had squelched the Arab revolt with massive use of force, they clamped down on the Haganah.
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By 1947 the Haganah had evolved into a cohesive military organization with British Army professionalism and combat experience. The original Palmah battalions had expanded to three full brigades, and the Haganah grew to twelve brigades. On the eve of the first Arab - Israel war, the Haganah had a nascent air force, medical and signal corps, and intelligence units, with membership totaling 60,000. The bulk of Jewish fighters during the Arab - Israel War of 1948 came from Haganah ranks.
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Haganah - (Hebrew - pronounced "hah gah [N]ah' ) Literally "defense." (see ... Haganah - comprehensive history). Underground organization officially founded June 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, to protect the Jewish Yishuv (settlement) from Arab riots and violence. The Haganah became the unofficial army of the Jewish Agency. The nucleus of its leadership was taken from the Zionist socialist movements and the Kibbutzim, and was a model of a citizens' army. The core of its membership were Kibbutz members who worked the land to pay their way, and Kibbutzim became the training grounds and secret arms stores of the underground army. For a time in the 1930s, the Haganah was legalized by the British mandate authorities in order to help put down the Arab uprising in Palestine and later to help in fighting World War II.
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From December 1947 through March 1948, the Haganah engaged only in self-defense activities and retaliated only against those Arabs responsible for acts of terror and violence. A U.S. arms embargo made it difficult for the Jews to purchase military equipment while British weapons continued to flow into the Arab states. By March 1948, the Jewish community in Palestine suffered enormous casualties and the loss of a number of strategic areas. The Arab campaign along the roads was slowly strangling Jewish towns and outlying rural settlements. The community ... anxiously expected a large-scale Arab invasion in May, when the British were set to withdraw. Beginning in April 1948, therefore, the Haganah shifted to offensive actions.
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