Revolt by Menachem Begin

Author:Menachem Begin [Begin, Menachem]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dell Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

fight and we shall certainly continue. And not only is it your duty from the viewpoint of national discipline, but your own principles permit you to join the Haga-nah, in which your units will be assured, in the transition period, of a certain degree of autonomy."

Nathan Friedman told me later that he might have accepted this proposalr But the Irgun Command had had a preliminary discussion. We were prepared to fight with the Haganah; we were not prepared to dissolve under the cloak of 'unity.' I explained to Sneh and Galili the difference in political and organisational status between the Haganah and the Irgun. The Haganah boasted that they were under the orders of the Jewish Agency. We regarded this connection as a considerable, and possibly a decisive, drawback in the struggle for liberation. There are natural laws which determine the desire of every body to continue to exist and to perpetuate its mode of existence. A legal, recognised, "respectable" body strives to remain legal, recognised and "respectable." An illegal, militant and persecuted body strives to achieve the aim for which it is, indeed, militant and persecuted. Between the natural strivings of these bodies there is an objective conflict. The will of individuals may soften it or heighten it, but cannot dissolve it. This clash of purposes must inevitably end in one of two ways: either the legal body forces the illegal body to stop the struggle which threatens to undermine its legal status, or the militant organisation shakes loose the bonds of its dependence on the legal body. There is no third way.

Even Richard Crossman understood these considerations. In his book Palestine Mission he writes of the testimony by Mr. Ben Gurion before the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry:

"In answer to Manningham-Buller's question whether he agreed with Dr. Weizmann's condemnation of vk> lence, he said that he associated himself with it; but then went on to state that collaboration by the Jewish Agency in suppressing the terrorists had to be given up because it was futile. ... He seems to want to have it both ways, to remain within the letter of the law as

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