Editing Nili

{{Short description|Jewish underground movement in Ottoman Palestine}}
{{other uses|Nili (disambiguation)}}
{{Refimprove|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name     = NILI
| native_name   = נִילי
| image         = Avshalom Feinberg and Sarah Aaronsohn, 1916.jpeg
| caption       = [[Avshalom Feinberg]] and [[Sarah Aaronsohn]] of the Nili spy ring, 1916
| dates         = 1915–1917
| country       = Ottoman Empire (operating within [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]])
| allegiance    = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| type          = Espionage
| role          = Intelligence gathering
| size          = 
| garrison      = [[Zikhron Ya'akov]]
| notable_commanders = {{flatlist|
* [[Sarah Aaronsohn]]
* [[Aaron Aaronsohn]]
* [[Avshalom Feinberg]]
* [[Yosef Lishansky]]
}}
| motto         = Netzaḥ Yisrael Lo Yeshaker ("The Eternal One of Israel will not lie")
}}
'''NILI''' ({{langx|he|נִילי}}) was a [[Jew]]ish [[espionage]] network which assisted the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] in its [[Sinai and Palestine Campaign|fight against]] the [[Ottoman Empire]] in the [[Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem]] between 1915 and 1917, during [[World War I]]. NILI was centered in [[Zikhron Ya'akov]], with branches in [[Hadera]] and other [[Moshava]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2023-03-09 |title=Hadera: transnational migrations from Eastern Europe to Ottoman Palestine and the glocal origins of the Zionist-Arab conflict |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00263206.2023.2183499 |journal=Middle Eastern Studies |pages=11 |doi=10.1080/00263206.2023.2183499 |s2cid=257443159 |issn=0026-3206}}</ref> Nili is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase: ''"Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker"'' ({{bibleverse|1 Samuel|15:29}}), which translates as ''"the Eternal One of Israel will not lie"''.<ref>{{cite news |last=O'Malley |first=J. P. |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-spy-sarah-aaronsohns-suicide-israeli-history-was-rewritten-claims-author/ |title=With Spy Sarah Aaronsohn's Suicide, Israeli History was Rewritten, Claims Author |work=The Times of Israel |date=14 December 2016 |access-date=17 November 2019 }}</ref> The British government code-named NILI the ''"A Organization"'', according to a 1920 misfiled memorandum in the British [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|National Archives]], as described in the book ''Spies in Palestine'' by [[James Srodes]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Srodes |first=James |author-link=James Srodes |year=2016 |title=Spies in Palestine |location=Berkeley |publisher=Counterpoint Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/spiesinpalestine0000srod/page/ viii] |isbn=978-1619026131 |url=https://archive.org/details/spiesinpalestine0000srod/page/ }}</ref>

In choosing to side with the British Empire, the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the [[Yishuv]]. Thus, during the [[Armenian genocide]], the group opposed the Yishuv leadership at the time, and tried to intervene on behalf of the Armenians.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Melson |first1=Robert |author-link = Robert Melson (political scientist)|title=The Banality of Indifference: Zionism and the Armenian Genocide (review) |journal=Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies |date=2002 |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=124–126 |doi=10.1353/sho.2002.0075|s2cid=144179420 }}</ref>

== Establishment ==
[[File:Lishanski-1.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Yosef Lishansky]] of the Nili spy ring]]
[[Sarah Aaronsohn]], her brothers [[Aaron Aaronsohn|Aaron]] and [[Alexander Aaronsohn|Alexander]], and their sister Rivka, together with their friend (and Rivka's fiancé) [[Avshalom Feinberg]] formed and led Nili.<ref name="encyclopedia">{{Cite web|title=Sarah Aaronsohn {{!}} Encyclopedia.com|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/educational-magazines/sarah-aaronsohn|access-date=7 November 2023|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref><ref name="jwa.org">{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/aaronsohn-sarah|title=Sarah Aaronsohn – Jewish Women's Archive|website=jwa.org|accessdate=7 November 2023}}</ref>

In 1915, even before the group commenced operations, the [[Ottoman Turks|Ottomans]] imprisoned Feinberg on suspicion of spying, which was not true at the time. When Feinberg was arrested for espionage and held in [[Beersheba]], Yosef Lishansky joined Nili in December 1915. Because he was active in the south, he was recruited by Feinberg to pass information to and from Sarah Aaronsohn, who was operating from Atlit.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

From March to October 1915, a plague of [[locust]]s stripped areas in and around Palestine of almost all vegetation. The Turkish authorities, worried about feeding their troops, turned to world-famous [[botanist]] and the region's leading [[agronomist]], [[Aaron Aaronsohn]], who requested the release of his friend and assistant, Avshalom Feinberg. The team fighting the locust invasion was given permission to move around the country, enabling them to collect strategic information about Ottoman camps and troop deployment.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}<!--references for at least some parts those claims can be found in the wiki article on Aaron Aaronsohn-->

For months, the group was not taken seriously by British intelligence, and attempts by Aaron Aaronsohn and Avshalom Feinberg to establish communication channels in [[Cairo]] and [[Port Said]] failed. Only after Aaronsohn arrived in [[London]] (by way of [[Berlin]] and [[Copenhagen]]) and owing to his reputation, was he able to obtain cooperation from the diplomat Sir [[Mark Sykes]].{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Sarah oversaw operations in Palestine from [[Zikhron Ya'akov]].{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

== Demise ==
Attempting to reach Egypt on foot, Avshalom Feinberg was killed and [[Yosef Lishansky]] was wounded but managed to reach British lines.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

From February to September 1917, the steam yacht ''Managem'' regularly sailed to the Palestinian coast near [[Atlit (modern town)|Atlit]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Nigel |author-link=Rupert Allason |title=Historical Dictionary of British Intelligence |date=2014|publisher=The Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=9780810878976|page=628|edition=Second}}</ref> Lishansky swam ashore to collect Nili information and to pass money sent by American Jews to the starving [[Yishuv]]. However, the presence of [[Germany|German]] [[submarines]] made the trips too risky and the group switched to [[homing pigeon]]s.

In the fall of 1917, the Bosnian [[mudir]] of [[Caesarea Maritima|Qisarya]], [[Ahmad Bek Kat-huda Ćehajić]], exposed Nili when he intercepted one of its carrier pigeons.<ref name=":0" /> The Ottomans were able to [[decipher]] the Nili [[code (cryptography)|code]] (based on [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[French language|French]], and [[English language|English]]) within one week. As a result, the Ottomans were able to unravel the spy network, whereupon the leadership of the Yishuv and the [[Hashomer]] disassociated itself from Nili. One Nili member, [[Na'aman Belkind]], was captured by the Ottomans and reportedly revealed information about the group.{{citation needed|date=February 2021}}

In October 1917, the Ottomans surrounded Zikhron Ya'akov and arrested numerous people, including Sarah Aaronsohn, who committed suicide after four days of torture. Other prisoners were incarcerated in [[Damascus]]. Lishansky and Belkind were hanged.

==Controversies==

Nili's "irresponsibility" for not coordinating their operations with the Zionist leadership, thereby endangering the [[Yishuv]], was the cause of a longstanding controversy among the Jewish community of the [[Mandatory Palestine|British Mandate of Palestine]] and subsequently of the [[State of Israel]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}} The issue was officially resolved in November 1967, when Feinberg's remains were reinterred on [[Mount Herzl]] with full military honors, with [[eulogy|eulogies]] delivered by both Speaker of the [[Knesset]] and chief chaplain of the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2023}}

==Remembrance==
The Aaronsohn home in [[Zikhron Ya'akov]], Beit Aaronsohn, has been preserved as a museum and memorial to Nili. West of Zikhron Ya'akov is a [[moshav]] called [[Givat Nili]]. The [[Israeli settlement|settlement]] [[Nili, Mateh Binyamin|Nili]] in the [[Binyamin Region|western Binyamin region]] is also named for Nili. Many streets throughout Israel bear the Nili name. In December 2015. the [[Israel Postal Company|Israel Post]] marked the centenary of Nili with a special stamp issue.<ref>{{cite web|title=Nili Centenary Stamp Sheet|url=http://www.israelpost.co.il/mall.nsf/prodsbycode/1116?OpenDocument&L=EN|publisher=Israel Post|access-date=18 December 2015}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*[[Shmuel Katz (politician)|Shmuel Katz]], 2007, ''The Aaronsohn Saga'', Gefen Publishing {{ISBN|978-965-229-416-6}}
*''Heroes of Israel'' by [[Chaim Herzog]], 1989. {{ISBN|978-0-316-35901-6}}
*''Nili Daniella B.'' by D&C 5767/2007. {{ISBN|978-0-220-20070-1}}
* ''The Gideonites: The story of the Nili spies in the Middle East'' by Dvorah Omer [Hebrew]
* Anita Engle,''The Nili Spies,'' Hogarth Press: London, 1959 [English] 
*''The Nili Spies'' by Anita Engle [Hebrew]
*''Nili'' by Jacob Poleskin-Yaari [Hebrew]
*''Sara, Nili Hero'' by Dvorah Omer [Hebrew]
*''[[Ot me-Avshalom]]'' by [[Nava Macmel-Atir]], 2009 [Hebrew]. {{ISBN|978-965-482-889-5}}
*''Spies in Palestine: Love, Betrayal, and the Heroic Life of Sarah Aaronsohn'' by [[James Srodes]] (2016, Counterpoint Press)  {{ISBN|978-1619026131}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/nili.html Nili] at the [[Jewish Virtual Library]]
* [https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/americancolony/amcolony-locust.html The locusts plague in Palestine of 1915] at the US [[Library of Congress]]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090107154334/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/PEOPLE/bios/aron.html Aaron Aharonson]
* Prof.  Billie Melman, [http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/aaronsohn-sarah Sarah Aaronsohn] (''Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia,'' Jewish Women's Archive)

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Jewish military history]]
[[Category:Yishuv during World War I]]
[[Category:World War I spies for the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Militant Zionist groups]]
[[Category:Spy rings]]
[[Category:1915 establishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:1917 disestablishments in the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Words and phrases in Modern Hebrew]]
[[Category:Zionism in Mandatory Palestine]]