Irgun

The Irgun (; full title: , lit. "The National Military Organization in the Land of Israel"), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the older and larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah (Hebrew: "Defense", הגנה). When the group broke from the Haganah it became known as the Haganah Bet (Hebrew: literally "Defense 'B' " or "Second Defense", ), or alternatively as haHaganah haLeumit or Hama'amad . Irgun members were absorbed into the Israel Defense Forces at the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. The Irgun is also referred to as Etzel , an acronym of the Hebrew initials, or by the abbreviation IZL.