Editing Irgun (section)

===End of restraint===
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2022}}
{{Main|List of Irgun attacks}}
[[File:David raziel.jpg|thumb|upright|[[David Raziel]], commander of the Irgun]]
While continuing to defend settlements, Irgun members began attacks on Arab villages around April 1936, thus ending the policy of restraint. These attacks were intended to instill fear in the Arab side, in order to cause the Arabs to wish for peace and quiet. In March 1938, [[David Raziel]] wrote in the underground newspaper "By the Sword" a constitutive article for the Irgun overall, in which he coined the term '''"Active Defense"''':

<blockquote>The actions of the Haganah alone will never be a true victory. If the goal of the war is to break the will of the enemy – and this cannot be attained without destroying his spirit – clearly we cannot be satisfied with solely defensive operations.... Such a method of defense, that allows the enemy to attack at will, to reorganize and attack again ... and does not intend to remove the enemy's ability to attack a second time – is called passive defense, and ends in downfall and destruction ... whoever does not wish to be beaten has no choice but to attack. The fighting side, that does not intend to oppress but to save its liberty and honor, he too has only one way available – the way of attack. Defensiveness by way of offensiveness, in order to deprive the enemy the option of attacking, is called ''active defense''.</blockquote>

By the end of World War II, more than 250 Arabs had been killed. Examples include:
*After an Arab shooting at Carmel school in Tel Aviv, which resulted in the death of a Jewish child, Irgun members attacked an Arab neighborhood near [[Kerem Hatemanim]] in Tel Aviv, killing one Arab man and injuring another.
*On August 17, the Irgun responded to shootings by Arabs from the [[Jaffa]]–[[Jerusalem]] train towards Jews that were waiting by the train block on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv. The same day, when a Jewish child was injured by the shooting, Irgun members attacked a train on the same route, killing one Arab and injuring five.
During 1936, Irgun members carried out approximately ten attacks.

Throughout 1937 the Irgun continued this line of operation.
*On March 6, a Jew at Sabbath prayers at the [[Western Wall]] was shot by a local Arab. A few hours later, the Irgun shot at an Arab in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Rechavia.
*On June 29, a band of Arabs attacked an [[Egged Bus Cooperative|Egged]] bus on the Jerusalem – Tel Aviv road, killing one Jew. The following day, two Jews were also killed near [[Pardes Hanna-Karkur|Karkur]]. A few hours later, the Irgun carried out a number of operations.
**An Arab bus making its way from [[Lifta]] was attacked in Jerusalem.
**In two other locations in Jerusalem, Arabs were shot as well.
**In Tel Aviv, a hand grenade was thrown at an Arab coffee shop on Carmel St., injuring many of the patrons.
**Irgun members also injured an Arab on Reines St. in Tel Aviv.
**On September 5, the Irgun responded to the murder of a rabbi on his way home from prayer in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]] by throwing explosives at an Arab bus that had left Lifta, injuring two female passengers and a British police officer.

A more complete list can be found [[List of Irgun attacks during the 1930s|here]].

At that time, however, these acts were not yet a part of a formulated policy of the Irgun.<ref>"Tagar u'Magen (Jabotinsky and the Etzel)" {{in lang|he}}, Jabtotinsky Publishing, p. 28</ref> Not all of the aforementioned operations received a commander's approval, and Jabotinsky was not in favor of such actions at the time. Jabotinsky still hoped to establish a Jewish force out in the open that would not have to operate underground. However, the failure, in its eyes, of the [[Peel Commission]] and the renewal of violence on the part of the Arabs caused the Irgun to rethink its official policy.