Editing Palmach (section)

== Background ==
[[File:German squad.jpg|thumb|right|"The German squad" of the Palmach on a training march.]]
The Palmach was established by the [[Haganah]] High Command in May 1941. Its aim was to defend the Palestinian Jewish community against two potential threats. Firstly the occupation of Palestine by the [[Axis powers|Axis]] in the event of their victory over the British in [[North African campaign|North Africa]]. Secondly, if the British army were to retreat from Palestine, Jewish settlements might come under attack from the Arab population. [[Yitzhak Sadeh]] was named as Palmach commander.<ref>Yigal Allon, ''Shield of David'', {{ISBN|978-0-297-00133-1}}, 1970. p. 117</ref> Initially the group consisted of around one hundred men. In the early summer of 1941 the British military authorities agreed to joint operations against [[Vichy France|Vichy French]] forces in [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]].  The first action was a sabotage mission ([[Operation Boatswain]]) against oil installations at [[Tripoli, Lebanon]].<ref>Stephen Russell Cox (2015) Britain and the origin of Israeli Special Operations: SOE and PALMACH during the Second World War, Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 8:1, 60-78, DOI:10.1080/17467586.2014.964741</ref>  Twenty-three Palmach members and a British liaison officer set out by sea but were never heard of again.<ref>Allon, pp. 118, 119.</ref> On 8 June mixed squads of Palmach and Australians began [[Syria–Lebanon Campaign|operating in Lebanon and Syria]].  The success of these operations led the British GHQ to fund a sabotage training camp for three hundred men at [[Mishmar HaEmek]]. Since the Palmach consisted of unpaid volunteers, the funding was used to cover the needs of twice that number of men.<ref>Allon, p. 121.</ref> When the British ordered the dismantling of Palmach after the Allied victory at the [[Second Battle of El Alamein]] in 1942, the organization went underground.