Guard Corps (Haganah)
pre-Israel Jewish paramilitary organization
Heil Mishmar (abbreviated HIM; Hebrew: חיל המשמר) was the guard corps of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization in Mandatory Palestine.
History
HIM was founded in 1939, following the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine. It included mostly older and less healthy soldiers (usually between 35 and 50), while those who were able to participate in field combat were drafted into the Field Corps and later also Palmach. At the end of World War II, the Guard Corps consisted of more than 30,000 members country-wide. It was responsible for guarding Jewish villages from attacks, especially from opposing Arab militias.
Members of the Guard Corps participated in Operation Betzer in Tel Aviv in August 1948. This imposed a curfew and mandatory reporting of men aged 17-50 and women aged 16-35 for potential service. A sweep was also conducted for draft evaders and deserters. Some 1,044 men and 1,720 were arrested.
The public source identifies “Guard Corps (Haganah)” as pre-Israel Jewish paramilitary organization. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Guard, Corps and Haganah.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5613970. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1939, 1936 and 1948.
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This entry incorporates text from “Guard Corps (Haganah)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.