Page 374 - עלי זית וחרב - כרך כ

Mr. Eliyahu Hacohen

On the Absence of a Hagana Anthem

It is a big wonder how the Hagana did not adopt any official anthem during the
twenty-eight years of its existence (1920–1948). This puzzlement is intensified by
the prominence of the anthems of the offspring organization of the Hagana
members – Irgun Bet (later the IZL), Lehi which split away from the IZL, and
especially the anthem of the Palmach, the Hagana's mobilized arm. Moreover,
since the dawn of the Zionist movement in the Diaspora and in Palestine, in the
ghettos, in the youth movements, in the displaced persons camps, in the Cyprus
internment camps, in the ranks of the Jewish Fighting Brigade and in the campaign
for independence, countless patriotic and commemorative songs were composed
and sung by all. The mystery of the absence of an anthem for the Hagana, the army
of the state-in-the-making, which became the Israel Defence Forces upon
independence, is intensified when it turns out that over the years not one anthem,
but two, were written for the Hagana, but none of them rose to the status of an
official anthem. The article portrays the rich world of songwriting and lyricism of
the Yishuv – in the settlements, the illegal immigration, and the units of the
Hagana and the Palmach; but the riddle of the absence of a Hagana anthem remains
unanswered.

VII