Havlagah

Ha'Havlagah ( _he. ההבלגה, "The Restraint") was a strategic policy used by the Haganah members with regard to actions taken against Arab groups who were attacking the Jewish settlement during the British Mandate of Palestine. Its core principles were fortification and abstention from taking revenge on Arabs by attacking innocent civilians. The political leadership and many leftwing Zionist groups supported the Havlagah policy.

upport

Many of the Zionist leadership saw Havlagah as a moral policy and a source of pride for the Jews.

Jewish National Council of Palestine

Vaad Leumi, the Jewish National Council, posted an announcement with his opinion about Havlagah:

Workers Party of the Land of Israel

Berl Katznelson, one of Mapai's (the pre-Israeli Labor Party) leaders, said Havlagah is a form of self defense meaning "righteousness of weapon" and not hurting innocent life:

David Ben-Gurion, another leader of Mapai, supported the Havlagah for more practical reasons. He noted that the restraint will bring good relations with Britain and a positive sentiment to the Zionist ideology in the world, which will help the efforts for Jewish settlement:

Chief Rabbinate of Israel

Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, said:

Rejection

Irgun members, acting against the Arab aggression and violating the Jewish settlement's decision, referred to themselves as "Havlagah breakers". Their vision was attacking for self defense. Also, Irgun's policy led revenge actions against innocent Arabs, as a response to the Arab terrorism.

Ze'ev Jabotinsky

Ze'ev Jabotinsky, leader of the Revisionist movement said:

cquote2|... I have mentioned the word "Havlagah". A rare word. Never heard before in modern, everyday life Hebrew language in the Land of Israel. It seems this word is now the most common and hated word in the Land of Israel... The Jews should not distort the facts and complain. In the Land of Israel there are young people from the left and the right who are not afraid to clash with British soldiers, who are forcing them to act like cowards. They do not fear about their own lives, they fear for the destruction of the Balfour Declaration and the violation of the alliance between England and the Jewish nation...

Any indigenous people are fighting the settlers as long as they believe there is a chance to get rid of the foreign settlement danger. This is how the Arabs in the Land of Israel are acting and will act in the future, as long as they have the spark in their hearts that they could stop the transformation of Palestine into the Land of Israel... Therefore our settlement can grow under a force who is not dependent in the local population, behind an "iron wall" that the local population could not break.|Ze'ev Jabotinsky

Irgun

David Raziel, commander of Irgun, said that violent reaction will bring an end to the Arab terrorism, because the hostile Arabs "understand power only":

cquote2|The Arab terrorism and its loyal friend; the Jewish restraint, created a situation in which a Jew must avoid several jobs because death was waiting on the roads, while the Arab could go anywhere he wants and do everything he wishes, even in a pure Jewish environment. That is how the Jews' financial lives suffered while the Arabs continued with their normal lives and normal jobs. Defensive actions only will never bring the victory. If the purpose of war is breaking the enemy's spirit, it is impossible without breaking his power, so it is obvious that defensive actions only are not enough...

All these calculations lead to one conclusion: one who does not want to be defeated has no option but attack... he should storm his enemy and break his power and desire. Before the enemy will do his attack, he must neutralize the enemy's ability to attack...|David Raziel

Part of a proclamation 5 months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War:

"Stop the passive self-defense! We shall arrive to the killers' nest and eliminate them! We do not have a quarrel with the Arab people. We seek peace with the near nation. But the hands of the murderers we will cut off with no mercy. And the murderers are not only the inflamed Arab rioters, they are also – or mostly – the Nazo-British enslaver's emissaries."

Impact

Ariel Sharon, shortly after his election as Israeli Prime Minister in the 2001 elections, held an unexpected way of action as for the Palestinian terrorism, declaring that "Restraint is Power". In the first two weeks for Sharon's leadership, 20 Israeli civilians killed by terrorist attacks and Sharon gained high criticism from fellow Likud members, such as Benjamin Netanyahu. [ [http://www.netanyahu.org/netstopresno.html Netanyahu: Stop restraint, not Sharon] Jerusalem Post, 5 July 2001 (reprinted on Benjamin Netanyahu's website)] In this period the terrorist attacks against Israel (such as the Dolphinarium massacre) escalated. In Sharon's February 2002 national speech he said:

Shortly after March 2002, when 130 Israeli civilians were killed by terrorist attacks, Israel commenced Operation Defensive Shield.

ee also

*Labor Zionism

References