The Jewish Resistance Movement (, ''Tnu'at HaMeri Ha'Ivri'', literally ''Hebrew Rebellion Movement''), also called the United Resistance Movement (URM), was an alliance of the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

paramilitary organizations

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

Irgun 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 an offshoot of th ...

and Lehi in the British Mandate of Palestine. It was established in October 1945 by the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

and operated for some ten months, until August 1946.Jewish Agency for Israel
History of the Jewish Agency for Israel
Retrieved on 27 April 2012 The alliance coordinated acts of sabotage to undermine the British authority in Mandatory Palestine. The

Zionist Movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...

had high hopes for the Labour administration elected in Britain after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The latter, however, continued to apply the policies laid down in the

White Paper of 1939 The White Paper of 1939Occasionally also known as the MacDonald White Paper (e.g. Caplan, 2015, p.117) after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary, who presided over its creation. was a policy paper issued by the British governmen ...

which included restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine. Negotiations began for the formation of the movement in August 1945 at the behest of

leaders

Moshe Sneh Moshe Sneh (; 6 January 1909 – 1 March 1972) was a Haganah commander and an Israeli politician. One of the founders of Mapam, he later joined the Israeli Communist Party (Maki). Biography Mosze Klaynboym (later Sneh) attended high scho ...

and Israel Galili. At the end of October of the same year, an agreement was signed forming the "Jewish Resistance Movement". The leadership of the new movement included four representatives: Two from the Haganah (Sneh and Galili), a representative of the

(

Menachem Begin Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Isra ...

) and a representative of Lehi ( Nathan Yellin Mor). In order to coordinate the activities of the groups, a civilian committee known as "Committee X" was made up of six members, representatives of the various political stream, (including

Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...

). The operations board, who approved operations plans, was made up of

Yitzhak Sadeh Yitzhak Sadeh (; born Izaak Landoberg, August 10, 1890 – August 20, 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel. Biography Sadeh was bo ...

(of the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

Eitan Livni Yeruham "Eitan" Livni (; 1 April 1919 – 27 December 1991) was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician, father of Israeli politician Tzipi Livni. Life and career Livni was born in Grodno, Poland (now in Belarus) ...

(of the Irgun) and Yaakov Eliav (1917–1985) (of the Lehi). During the movement's existence, eleven major operations were carried out, eight of them by the Palmach and Haganah, and three by the Irgun and Lehi, as well as many smaller operations. Notable among these were: * The release of 200 members of

Aliyah Bet ''Aliyah Bet'' (, "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, many of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany or other Nazi-controlled countries, and la ...

from the detention camp in

Atlit Atlit or Athlit may refer to: Places * Atlit, an historical fortified town in Israel, also known as Château Pèlerin * Atlit (modern town), a nearby town in Israel Media *Athlit (album), ''Athlit'' (album), an ambient music album by Oöphoi *Atli ...

* The bombing of railroads and train stations on the Night of the Trains (Nov. 1945) * The bombing of dozens of bridges around the country in the

Night of the Bridges The Night of the Bridges (formally Operation Markolet) was a Haganah venture on the night of 16 to 17 June 1946 in the British Mandate of Palestine, as part of the Jewish insurgency in Palestine (1944–47). Its aim was to destroy eleven brid ...

(June 1946) * Attacks on

British police Law enforcement in the United Kingdom is organised separately in each of the legal systems of the United Kingdom: England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Most law enforcement duties are carried out by police, police constables of ...

stations * Bombing of the King David Hotel in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, where 91 people were killed, including 28 British citizens, 41 Palestinian Arabs, 17 Palestinian Jews, two Armenians, a Russian, an Egyptian, and a Greek. In August 1946, in the wake of the King David Hotel bombing,

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

, president of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

appealed to the movement to cease all further military activity until a decision on the issue had been reached by the

. The Jewish Agency backed Weizmann's recommendation to cease activities, a decision reluctantly accepted by the

, but not by the

and the Lehi. The JRM was dismantled and each of the founding groups continued operating according to their own policy.Horne, Edward (1982). ''A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920–1948)''. The Anchor Press. . Pages 272, 299. States that Haganah withdrew on 1 July 1946. But remained permanently uncooperative.

References

{{Zionism Militant Zionist groups National liberation movements Resistance movements Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine