During the conquest of Palestine following the Balfour Declaration, the Jewish Legion, mostly volunteers, assisted the British. The subsequent Palestine riots (1920) led to the formation of Haganah (The Defense). Haganah was preceded by Hashomer (The Watchmen) which was a Jewish defense organization of the Second Aliyah.
There were protests, riots, and paramilitary opposition to the British conquest of Palestine by its Palestinian Arab inhabitants. At the time Jews accounted for only 11% of Palestine. The Palestinian Arab riots (1920) included attacks on Jewish communities, and so Jewish leadership, believing that the British would not defend them, formed Haganah (The Defense), a Jewish paramilitary organization charged with defending Jewish communities. Up until the 1929 Palestine riots, Haganah was segmented and poorly armed. After 1929 Haganah grew drastically and became an underground army, with extremely high membership in Jewish settlements. Haganah, influenced by its predecessor Hashomer, had a policy of "havlagah" (restraint). This restraint meant the preclusion of revenge-taking or counter-attacks. A sect of Haganah known as Irgun Tsva'i-Leumi (National Military Organization better known as simply Irgun) split off from Haganah and became its own separate entity.
In 1939 the British imposed the White Paper, a limiting quota for Jewish immigration to Palestine. This angered the Zionists and the Haganah. Haganah protested the immigration quotas and facilitated Jewish immigration illegally. During WWII the Haganah created Palmach, an elite commando military group, which received highly specialized training. The Jewish Resistance Movement was later formed (1945) the goal of which was to force the British out of Palestine and create a Jewish state. After the realization of Israeli statehood and independence, the Haganah was succeeded by the Israeli Defense Forces.
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