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Nevertheless, the Zionist movement and the Yishuv — the Jewish population of the Land of
Israel— persevered. The socialism-oriented factions became the leaders of both the movement
and the Yishuv during the 1930s. The centralized organization of resources meant that avail-
able funds were utilized relatively effi ciently.
Despite many vicissitudes, the Yishuv Jews numbered 600,000 by 1945. They created a web
of institutions collectively known as the state-in-the-making. These institutions allowed for
an independent, highly organized economy; democratic decision making; a wide variety of
political parties; agricultural marketing cooperatives; a self-defense force that included primi-
tive arms-manufacturing workshops; collective (kibbutz) and cooperative (moshav) farming
settlements; a strong trade union federation; health funds; employment-providing enterprises;
and all the other things necessary for establishing a state structure quickly when the oppor-
tunity came. Energetic, charismatic leaders ran the decision-making apparatus, whose fl ex-
ibility allowed them to navigate a series of highly risky and complex choices. At the same
time, the Yishuv succeeded in resurrecting the Hebrew language, which had for centuries been
restricted to religious services and study.
During World War II, the Yishuv put the highest priority on defeating Nazi Germany while
also trying — despite very limited resources — to save Jews by secretly rescuing them and by
battling British restrictions on immigration. As the war was ending, the Irgun, one of the Jew-
ish militias, joined the smaller Lehi group in waging a guerrilla war to force out the British;
the Lehi had earlier split from the Irgun over this issue. The British authorities arrested many
A crowd of Jewish immigrants, survivors of the Holocaust, arrive in Haifa harbor on the
Exodus 1947,
March
1947. The British seized the ship and interned the passengers in Cyprus. (Getty Images / Image Bank.)
