Etzel (Irgun Tzvai-Leumi)

ארגון‎ Irgun • Etzel
Irgun emblem. The map shows both Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan, which the Irgun claimed in its entirety for a future Jewish state. The acronym "Etzel" is written above the map, and "raq kach" ("only thus") is written below.
Active	1931–1948
Country	Yishuv, Mandatory Palestine Israel
Type	Paramilitary (pre-independence) Unified armed forces (post-independence)
Disbanded	11 June 1948
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Avraham Tehomi, Menachem Begin

The Irgun (Hebrew: ארגון‎; full title: הארגון הצבאי הלאומי בארץ ישראל‎ Hā-ʾIrgun Ha-Tzvaʾī Ha-Leūmī b-Ērētz Yiśrāʾel, 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: הגנה‎, Defence). When the group broke from the Haganah it became known as the Haganah Bet (Hebrew: literally "Defense 'B' " or "Second Defense", הגנה ב‎), or alternatively as haHaganah haLeumit (ההגנה הלאומית) or Hama'amad (המעמד‎). 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 (אצ"ל‎), an acronym of the Hebrew initials, or by the abbreviation IZL.