The Irgun — Jew Oughta Know Home The Blog Teaching About Donate Home The Blog Teaching About Donate Irgun (National Military Organization)Right wing counterpart to the haganah, 1931-1948 The Irgun is one of the most legendary and controversial organizations in Israeli history. Early in the 1930s, Vladimir Jabotinsky formed his own military group, the Irgun, under the Revisionist Zionist tree branch. It reflected Revisionist ideas: that Jews had a right to immigrate to Palestine, and that the Arabs would never accept a Jewish homeland and therefore only an “iron wall” of military force would ensure the protection of the Jewish community. The Haganah and the Irgun didn’t get along very well. Although the Irgun at first held to the Haganah’s policy of restraint, by the end of the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939 the Irgun switched tactics to an '“active defense” that involved striking back at the Arabs. When Menachem Begin took over the organization in the early 1940s, he launched an offensive against the British colonial occupation of Palestine. The Irgun carried out its most infamous attack against the King David Hotel in 1946, killing over 91 people. The Irgun’s campaign of terrorism played a huge role in convincing the British to leave Palestine and to turn its future over to the United Nations in 1947. The Irgun was disbanded soon after the creation of Israel in 1948 and folded into the new Israel Defense Forces. Appears inEpisode 43, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 51, 52, 53, 56, 57, 58Mentioned in Episodes 40, 44, 49, 54, 55Connected ToVladimir JabotinskyDavid Ben GurionMenachem BeginHaganahLehiPalmach Links to more infoWikipediaEtzel.orgJewish Virtual Library Go Deep! Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 By Bruce Hoffman Buy on Amazon The Revolt: Story of the Irgun By Menachem Begin Buy on Amazon Terror Out of Zion: The Fight for Israeli Independence By J. Bowyer Bell Buy on Amazon Subscribe to the mailing list Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. First Name Last Name Email Address Sign Up We respect your privacy. Thank you! Back to Top Powered by Squarespace Israel at War, Explained Israel is at war with Hamas after the terrorist group brutally massacred 1,400 people on October 7. This war has the potential to reshape Israeli and Palestinian societies, spiral into a regional conflict, and fundamentally change Middle Eastern geopolitics. Make sense of it all by listening to Jew Oughta Know’s latest episodes explaining what is going on. Sign up We respect your privacy. Thank you!