Grandma's army

  THE ORIGINS OF “GRANDMA’S ARMY” - III Arab riots in Palestine in 1920 and 1921 strengthened the view that it was impossible to depend upon the British mandate. The Palestinian Jews felt the necessity to create an independent defense force completely free of foreign authority. In June 1920, the Haganah , as an underground military organisation, was founded. During the first nine years of its existence, the Haganah was a loose organization of local defense groups, in the large towns and several of the settlements. The Arab riots in 1929  brought about a complete change in the Haganah’s status: It became a large organization, encompassing nearly all the youth and adults in the settlements, as well as several thousand members from each of the cities. It initiated a comprehensive training program for its members, and ran officers’ training courses. Established central arms depots into which a continuous stream of light arms flowed ...

Although my grandchildren served in different sectors of the army, there was one significant feature of their training which was common to them all. It has been designated with the title “tohar haneshek” Literally translated, it means “Purity of Arms” and is a unique Israeli term. The term was coined by Berl Katznelson, who was one of the intellectual founders of Labor Zionism. It was unanimously   adopted by all leaders of the yishuv (Mandatory Palestine),   irrespective of their political and social orientation. They proclaimed: “we have to learn about weapons, and to carry them, but we do not want those weapons to be stained   with innocent blood.” This has become a guiding motto ever since. The application of “Purity of Arms " appeared for the first time in 1939 upon the growing Arab terror attacks on the Jewish “yishuv” (mandated Palestine).   The main Zionist paramilitary organization at the time was simply called   the “Haganah” (the Defence)...