The Nili spy organization

A major factor in the victory of the British over the Ottomans in World War I can be ascribed to the Australian cavalry charge at the Battle of Beersheba. This was also the last cavalry charge in world history. The Zionists Chaim Weizmann and Sir Herbert Samuel are also credited with influencing the issuing of the Balfour Declaration by the British government. Yet neither of these might have happened without the espionage activities of Aaron Aaronsohn and his Nili spy organization. Their activities are not well known because, as befits any spy organization, everything they did was performed in secret, and there is also little documentation of their activities. Moreover, the leaders of Nili died before their vision of a Jewish state came to fruition. And last, but not least, their activities were controversial within the Yishuv and were not coordinated with the main Zionist organization. Nevertheless, there is now general agreement that their espionage efforts had considerable influence on both these events.

Nili is an acronym for the Biblical phrase in Hebrew netzakh yisrael lo yeshaker, meaning the Eternal One of Israel will not lie. This was initially a password used by Nili. This spy organization was active after the onset of World War I between 1915 to 1917. Aaron was the political mastermind for the organization. Because of his botanical work and reputation, he was able to travel between countries without suspicion, including to the British in Egypt. His sister Sarah did the groundwork in Palestine for their spy ring, and she recruited a group of some 20 relatives and friends from Zichron Ya’acov and Hadera, all of whom were young Jews in their 20s.

The Ottomans were allied with the Germans in World War 1. Members of Nili surmised that a Jewish state was unlikely to come to fruition under the Ottomans (Herzl had already unsuccessfully attempted this). Sarah Aaronsohn also saw firsthand evidence of the Turkish Armenian massacre and regarded it possible that the Turks would perform a similar massacre against the Jewish population in Palestine.

It made considerable sense for the British to attempt to break through the Ottoman lines through Palestine. If the British could be assisted in doing this, they might in return bestow upon the Jews a Jewish state. The British probably encouraged Nili in this thinking. The downside was that if Nili was discovered this could put the entire Yishuv at risk from the Turkish response. The Turks had already demonstrated extreme cruelty by committing genocide in Armenia. There was no Jewish leadership at that time in Palestine that opposed them, but they had little general support for their activities from the other Jewish settlements.

It is generally recognized that they were a very effective spy organization and provided Britain with vital information about Turkish military preparations. This included the location of Turkish troops in Beersheba, which enabled General Allenby to make a surprise attack on its fort. Aaron’s research laboratory on the coast at Atlit was used as Nili’s base, and was conveniently located for providing sea pick-ups of couriers and agents.

Raymond Savage, a top aide to General Allenby, reported later that General Allenby’s victory in Palestine “was very largely the daring work of young spies, most of them natives of Palestine, which enabled the Field Marshal to accomplish his undertaking so effectively.” General Gilbert Clayton claimed that “we owe the lives of 30,000 soldiers to the Nili.”

It is also telling that at the time the Balfour Declaration was decided upon by the British cabinet, two individuals were invited to be on hand in an anteroom. One was Chaim Weitzman and the other was Aaron Aaronsohn. On the other hand, the Arabs were also given an understanding of statehood by Lawrence of Arabia who was aware and supportive of the activities of Nili.

The Nili group was exposed when one of their homing pigeons landed in the house of the Turkish governor in Caesarea. Aaron’s sister went into hiding, but her location was revealed. After days of torture, during which she refused to divulge information about the group, she was permitted to go home to change before being taken to her death in Turkey. She went to a slik in Aaron’s home and took out a revolver, went to the bathroom and shot herself. She died a few days later. All the members of the group were rounded up. Two were sentenced to death. Another member, Avshalom Feinberg, who had originally envisaged the idea of an espionage organization, had previously been killed by Bedouin in the Sinai desert while attempting to make his way to British-held Cairo.

Aaron survived the war. He was active in promoting the terms of the Balfour declaration. However, he died in an air accident in 1919 on his way to the Paris Peace Conference at the invitation of Chaim Weitzman. It was this conference that determined the parameters of the peace treaties of World War I.

For many years the selfless efforts of Nili were ignored by Zionist leaders. There was also no one influential to push their narrative. However, this has changed and their contribution to the state is now generally recognized. The Nili Museum was established in 1956, appropriately adjacent to the Aaronsohn family home.