BERIT HA-BIRYONIM

BERIT HA-BIRYONIM (Heb. בְּרִית הַבִּרְיוֹנִים), an underground group operating in Palestine from 1930 to 1933 against the Mandatory regime. Its founder and chief ideologue was Abba Aḥimeir , and two other leading members were Uri Ẓevi Greenberg and yehoshua yeivin . The group comprised about 30 active members and a few score of sympathizers. Ideologically the Berit stood on the extreme right of the revisionist movement, and in Palestine it dominated the party organ Ḥazit ha-Am. The activities of the Berit were of limited scope: it demonstrated against the visit to Palestine of the British Under-Secretary for the Colonies, Drummond Shiels; called for a boycott of the official census; organized the blowing of the Shofar at the end of the Day of Atonement service at the Western Wall; and pulled down the swastika flags from the German Consulates in Jerusalem and Jaffa. Berit ha-Biryonim disintegrated shortly after the murder of arlosoroff , as a result of persecution by the Mandatory authorities. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. Aḥimeir, Berit ha-Biryonim (1972): Y. Aḥimeir, Sh. Shatzki, Hinnenu Sikarikim (1978). (Joseph Nedava)