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The Jewish Settlement Police (JSP) were a division of the Notrim
Notrim

The Notrim were a Jewish Police Force set up by the British in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1936. The force was divided into Jewish Supernumerary Police and highly mobile Jewish Settlement Police....
 established in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1936. They were developed by the Haganah
Haganah

Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces....
 into an élite force. Members, known as Nodedot, were trained by their commander, Yitzhak Sadeh
Yitzhak Sadeh

Yitzhak Sadeh , was the commander of the Palmach, one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel and a cousin of British philosopher Isaiah Berlin....
, in the art of unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
 and specialized in mobility and surprise attacks. According to Katz, "the Arabs feared them greatly".At the end of 1940 the JSP had about 15,000 members.






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The Jewish Settlement Police (JSP) were a division of the Notrim
Notrim

The Notrim were a Jewish Police Force set up by the British in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1936. The force was divided into Jewish Supernumerary Police and highly mobile Jewish Settlement Police....
 established in the British Mandate of Palestine in 1936. They were developed by the Haganah
Haganah

Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces....
 into an élite force. Members, known as Nodedot, were trained by their commander, Yitzhak Sadeh
Yitzhak Sadeh

Yitzhak Sadeh , was the commander of the Palmach, one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the establishment of the State of Israel and a cousin of British philosopher Isaiah Berlin....
, in the art of unconventional warfare
Unconventional warfare

Unconventional warfare is the opposite of conventional warfare. Where conventional warfare is used to reduce an opponent's military capability, unconventional warfare is an attempt to achieve military victory through acquiescence, capitulation, or clandestine support for one side of an existing conflict....
 and specialized in mobility and surprise attacks. According to Katz, "the Arabs feared them greatly".At the end of 1940 the JSP had about 15,000 members. A field army based on the force was estimated to be 16,000 men and women strong in 1946. According to a statement made by the Palestine Government in June 1947 and referenced by the United Nations Palestine Commission, the force itself was 1,929 men strong at the time. In early 1948 the force was about 2,000 strong.

The Settlement Police cooperated with the British to form a joint British-Jewish unit known as the Special Night Squads
Special Night Squads

The Special Night Squads were a joint British-Jewish force consisting of British soldiers and Jewish Settlement Police, established by Orde Wingate in Palestine in 1936, during the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine....
. These were commanded by a "fervent Christian Zionist" British officer called Charles Orde Wingate, who was posted to Palestine in 1936. The Special Night Squads fought Arab guerrillas who attacked the Iraqi Petroleum Company pipeline.

The Haganah used the force as a "Training Centre" and put as many of its members through the JSP as possible: 13,455 between its formation and the end of 1945. The British authorities provided special uniforms, guns, light trucks and some machine guns and allowed the force to control sections of land around Jewish villages and Kibbutzim. The JSP also provided paramilitary training to Haganah units. The force thus expanded the assets of the Haganah and helped to provide a legal basis for much of their activities.

One notable member of the force was Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon

is a former Israeli Prime Minister of Israel and military leader. Sharon served as Prime Minister from March 2001 until April 2006, though he was unable to carry out his duties after suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006, when he fell into a coma and entered a persistent vegetative state....
 who joined the JSP in 1945 and became an instructor. Another notable member was Yigal Allon
Yigal Allon

Yigal Allon was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the Israel Defense Forces. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda and the Labor Party ), acting Prime Minister of Israel, as well as being a member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets....
. Both later served as Ministers in the Israeli government, Sharon also as Prime Minister.

Footnotes


External links

  • , Menachem "Mendele" Friedman's experiences with Wingate and the Settlement Police.
  • Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry estimated that a field army, based on the Jewish Settlement Police and trained in more mobile operations was 16 000 men strong., published on the Jewish Virtual Library.