Page 368 - עלי זית וחרב - כרך כ

Dr. Nir Mann

Moshe Sneh: The Hagana Commander “Consumed in
the Flame of the Resistance”

The Jewish Resistance Movement is engraved In Zionist history as the capstone
of the Yishuv's struggle for independence up to the War of Independence. The
Resistance Movement was established in October 1945 after the Second World
War, out of a protest against the decrees of McDonald's White Paper of May 1939
limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine and almost completely limited the Jews'
rights to purchase land in the country. The Yishuv's adamant demand was to open
the country's gates for the Holocaust survivors who were held in displaced persons
camps in Europe. The Resistance Movement advocated active resistance to British
policy in Palestine and brought in the IZL and Lehi under Hagana command. Dr.
Moshe Sneh, head of the Hagana high command in the years 1941–1946
established and led the Resistance Movement in the ten months of its existence,
and when compelled to halt its operations resigned his position.

The article examines a few aspects characterizing Dr. Sneh's leadership in the
years of the Yishuv resistance:

• His strategic outlook of combining a widespread popular resistance
alongside pinpoint attacks against British targets such as trains, police
stations, military airfields, and bridges.

• His adamant stance against the violation of the national authority alongside
his personal proximity to the heads of the dissident organizations (IZL and
Lehi).

• His support for the escalation of the armed struggle against the British even
after the severe blow inflicted on the Yishuv by British forces in Operation
Agatha on 29 June 1946 and the Zionist leadership's decision to withhold
its fire.

XIII