{"id":5368,"date":"2026-03-01T15:44:34","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T15:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insignia.netrise.co.il\/?post_type=product&#038;p=5368"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:57:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:57:46","slug":"haganah-pm-special-company","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/product\/haganah-pm-special-company\/","title":{"rendered":"Haganah PM  Special Company"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li>The Special Company (PM) was an elite unit of the He&#8217;ish (Field Force) of the Haganah organization in Tel Aviv, which operated from 1945 to 1947. The PM was the &#8220;spearhead&#8221; of the Yishuv leadership in its internal struggle. The clashes were not only ideological, but also downright physical:<\/li>\n<li>Here are key details about the company:<\/li>\n<li>Role and objectives<\/li>\n<li>Special missions: The company was activated for special security missions for Tel Aviv residents and their property.<\/li>\n<li>Preventing &#8220;retirees&#8221; operations: One of its main functions was to establish a permanent &#8220;conscripted department&#8221; whose goal was to thwart actions by the Irgun and Lehi (the retirees) against Jewish banks and institutions, and to prevent attacks that opposed the policy of the Yishuv leadership.<\/li>\n<li>Security and defense: The unit served as a rapid and trained response force for emergency situations in the city.<\/li>\n<li>Structure and organization<\/li>\n<li>Affiliation: The company was part of the Heaish (Field Force) \u2013 the military wing of the Haganah, which was based on trained young people.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 Nickname: Also known by the initials .M.P.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 Recruitment: The company was partially recruited.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 Transfer to the Kiryatiti Brigade: With the outbreak of the War of Independence at the end of 1947, most of the members of the Hei&#8217;sh in Tel Aviv (organized into 8 companies) were transferred to establish the &#8220;Kiryatiti&#8221; Brigade. \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Location\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 The company&#8217;s headquarters and meeting place were in a house on Mikveh Israel Street in Tel Aviv (which currently serves as the visitors&#8217; center of the Haganah organization in the city). \u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This house served in the years 1945-1947 (1945-1947) as the meeting place and headquarters of the special company of the &#8220;Haganah&#8221; &#8211; the army of the state on the move. This company, which was partially recruited, was activated for special missions to secure the safety and property of the residents of Tel Aviv and the surrounding area.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A permanent &#8220;conscripted unit&#8221; was formed from among its members, to prevent actions by defectors against banks and other Jewish institutions, and to thwart attacks that contradicted the policy of the Yishuv leadership.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 , It is worth getting to know the people who led it and the complex type of missions they carried out (which sometimes placed them in conflict with the Irgun and Lehi).\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Below is a breakdown of the figures and activities:\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Key figures\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 Eliezer (Lesia) Galili: One of the founders of the company and the one who headed it. He was a key figure in the &#8220;Hagana&#8221; organization in Tel Aviv and was considered the strategist who outlined the nature of the unit as a rapid and trained response force.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022 Moshe Dayan: At certain times he was involved in the training and instruction of the Heish units in Tel Aviv, including the PM, and brought his military experience from the British and the Palmach to them.\u00b7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u2022<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Heish fighters: Most of the company&#8217;s members were young Tel Avivians, some of them students and members of youth movements, who had undergone rigorous training in small arms and combat in built-up areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Notable specific operations<\/p>\n<p>The company operated in three main areas:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Season&#8221; operations:<\/p>\n<p>At the height of the struggle between the organized community and the &#8220;retirees&#8221; (Irgun and Lehi), the PM was tasked with tracking, arresting and sometimes even kidnapping Irgun members to prevent them from carrying out operations against the British that, in the opinion of the community leadership, endangered the future of the country in the making.<\/p>\n<p>Security of financial institutions:<\/p>\n<p>The company set up ambushes and patrols around banks in Tel Aviv to prevent robberies carried out by the underground groups in order to finance their activities. The PM fighters would disguise themselves as passersby or undercover security guards.<\/p>\n<p>Protection of the Seam Lines (1947): With the outbreak of the December 1947 events, the company was the first to deploy to border neighborhoods such as Hatikva, Kerem Hateimanim, and Manshiya. They set up firing positions (&#8220;defensive positions&#8221;) and repelled attacks by snipers and infiltrators from Jaffa.<\/p>\n<p>Convoy escort:<\/p>\n<p>In the early stages of the war, the company&#8217;s members secured buses and supply convoys leaving Tel Aviv for Jerusalem and the southern settlements, before the large escort brigades were established.<\/p>\n<p>Legacy<\/p>\n<p>With the establishment of the IDF, the core of the company became the base of the Kiryatiti Brigade (4th Brigade), which was responsible for the defense of the Dan Bloc during the War of Independence.<\/p>\n<p>During that period, tensions between the Haganah (and the PM as its operational arm in Tel Aviv) and the Irgun reached their peak, alongside enormous logistical challenges in obtaining weapons.<\/p>\n<p>Below is a breakdown of the complex conflicts and the means of warfare used by the company<\/p>\n<p>The clashes with the Etzel (the &#8220;retreaters&#8221;)<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thwarting the confiscation of weapons and funds: The Etzel used to carry out &#8220;confiscations&#8221; (armed robbery) of banks and British property to finance its activities. The PM members were placed in hidden ambushes near banks in Tel Aviv (such as the Anglo-Palestine Bank). More than once, hand-to-hand fights and even threats of weapons developed between the PM fighters and the Irgun members on the streets of the city.<\/li>\n<li>The &#8220;Kidnappings&#8221; Affair: As part of the Seazon period, the PM members were the ones who carried out surveillance of Irgun commanders in Tel Aviv. They set up &#8220;hideout apartments&#8221; where the underground members who were captured were held for interrogation, before sometimes being handed over to the British or released under warning.<\/li>\n<li>The War of the Leaflets: The PM protected the Haganah&#8217;s leaflet-posters and prevented the Irgun members from tearing them up. Sometimes this ended in real &#8220;street battles&#8221; in Dizengoff Square or on Allenby Street<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Company Armament (the &#8220;Slicks&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p>Since the Haganah was an underground organization under British rule, the weapons were valuable and well hidden:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Personal weapons: The fighters mainly used pistols (such as FN or Colt) that were easy to conceal under civilian clothes while patrolling the city.<\/li>\n<li>The &#8220;Sten&#8221; submachine gun: This was the company&#8217;s iconic weapon. It was cheap, easy to manufacture in secret Haganah workshops in Tel Aviv (Eyalon Institute), and could be easily disassembled and hidden in bags or jars.<\/li>\n<li>Grenades: The company used self-made hand grenades (called &#8220;potatoes&#8221;) and British &#8220;Mills&#8221; grenades smuggled from British army warehouses.<\/li>\n<li>Heavier weapons: In cases of defending the neighborhoods of the border (such as on the Jaffa border), British Bren machine guns were used, which were considered the highest quality weapons they had at the time<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Unique methods of operation<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Urban camouflage: The PM fighters did not wear uniforms. They walked around as &#8220;ordinary citizens&#8221; &#8211; workers, students or partygoers &#8211; so that they could assimilate into the population and act with complete surprise against the &#8220;retirees&#8221; or the British.<\/li>\n<li>Use of taxis: For rapid movement in the city with weapons, the company used taxis that belonged to stations close to the Hagana, which allowed them to bypass British checkpoints with relative ease.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are two of the most fascinating stories about the PM&#8217;s activities in Tel Aviv &#8211; one about the &#8220;battle of minds&#8221; against the Irgun and the other about the secret world of the Sliks in the city<\/p>\n<p>Anglo-Palestine Bank Robbery Operation<\/p>\n<p>One of the main roles of the PM was to prevent the Irgun from &#8220;confiscating&#8221; money from banks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Event: It was reported to the Haganah by intelligence that the Irgun was planning a bank robbery on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv.<\/li>\n<li>Operation: The PM fighters dressed as ordinary passersby &#8211; some were sitting in nearby cafes, and some were walking around with a newspaper in their hands with a gun hidden underneath.<\/li>\n<li>Result: When the Irgun squad arrived, they were surprised to discover that the &#8220;civilians&#8221; on the street were trained fighters. A violent confrontation developed (without shooting, so as not to attract the British) in which the PM members managed to drive the Irgun members away and prevent the robbery of the money. These events created tremendous tension on the Tel Aviv street, with two Jewish organizations confronting each other<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The famous &#8220;slicks&#8221; of the PM in Tel Aviv The company&#8217;s weapons were not kept at a military base, but inside the city, under the noses of the British: \u2022 The &#8220;Beit HaMohra&#8221; Slick (Mikveh Israel Street): This was the PM&#8217;s headquarters. Under the floor or inside double walls, &#8220;Sten&#8221; submachine guns and pistols were hidden. The fighters would arrive as &#8220;civilians&#8221;, enter the building, arm themselves and go on a mission. \u2022 The taxi slick: The PM collaborated with taxi drivers in Tel Aviv. In some cars, small &#8220;slicks&#8221; were built under the seats or inside the dashboard. This allowed the fighters to move around the city with weapons ready for action, without a routine British search revealing anything. \u2022 The school slick: Sometimes weapons were hidden inside public buildings such as schools (for example, Herzliya Gymnasium), on the assumption that the British would not rush to break into educational institutions and search them..<\/p>\n<p>The kidnapping of Yedidia Segal<\/p>\n<p>One of the most painful and famous cases involving members of the PM and the Heish:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An Irgun member named Yedidia Segal was kidnapped by the Haganah in Tel Aviv for interrogation (after the Irgun had previously kidnapped a Haganah member).<\/li>\n<li>He was held in one of the PM\/Haganah hideouts in the city.<\/li>\n<li>The case ended in tragedy when Segal was found dead near the Arab village of Abu Kabir. This incident almost sparked a civil war in Tel Aviv, and the PM members were forced to go even deeper underground to avoid the Irgun&#8217;s revenge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Special Company (PM) was an elite unit of the He&#8217;ish (Field Force) of the Haganah organization in Tel Aviv, which operated from 1945 to 1947. The PM was the &#8220;spearhead&#8221; of the Yishuv leadership in its internal struggle. The clashes were not only ideological, but also downright physical: Here are key details about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":5369,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"product_cat":[596,382,399,401,404],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5368","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-sort-items","7":"product_cat-badge-pin","8":"product_cat-pre-state-of-israel-2","9":"product_cat-hagana-the-defense","10":"product_cat-war-of-independence-insignia","12":"first","13":"instock","14":"shipping-taxable","15":"purchasable","16":"product-type-simple"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/5368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/5368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7564,"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/5368\/revisions\/7564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=5368"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/solomincollection.co.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=5368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}