The Haganah, the Jewish self-defense force originally…

The Haganah, the Jewish self-defense force originally proposed by Israel Shochat eight years earlier, is officially formed on June 15, 1920, during a meeting of the Ahdut Ha'avodah party; Eliyahu Golomb is its first commander.

Dedicated to havlaga, or self-defense, the Haganah is designed to take the place of the Ha-Shomer Ha-Tzair movement.

With the onset of the British Mandate the Zionist leaders had thought there would not be a need for a self-defense organization, but the Arab attacks earlier this year have proved them wrong.