Rekhesh (Hebrew: רֶכֶשׁ, lit. Acquisitions) was the arms and munitions procurement branch of the Haganah Jewish defense force in Mandatory Palestine, in the middle 1940s, at a time when the British were not allowing the Jews to have arms. [1]
Rekhesh stole arms from British and Allied military bases, bought weapons on the black market and imported them from legitimate suppliers.[2]
The organization was expert at modifying, dismantling, and packing weapons so that they could be smuggled into Palestine without detection by the British authorities.[2]
Shaul Avigur was head of the organization and Ehud Avriel one of its main operatives.[3]
Notes edit
- ^ Deacon, 1978, p. 39.
- ^ a b Adelman, 2008, p. 156.
- ^ Early Operations of Israeli Intelligence, Jewish Agency for Israel Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed 24 May 2009.
References edit
- Adelman, Jonathan R. (2008). The Rise of Israel: A History of a Revolutionary State. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-77510-6
- Deacon, Richard (1978). The Israeli Secret Service. Taplinger Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8008-4266-6.