April 12 1909 – 21 Nisan 5669 (seventh day of Pesach)

The founding meeting of the Shomer (watch) organisation was held in Kfar Tabor. Israel Shochat and Yitzhak Ben Zvi spoke, and a constitution defining the organisation’s aims was adopted: “To develop a group of Jewish guards in our land and fit them for such work.”  The Shomer was the second security organisation founded by the Zionist immigration to the Holy Land. It was preceded by Bar Giora, a secret organisation including a number of the same personalities, which was now absorbed into Ha-Shomer. The burden of responsibility for protecting the new Jewish settlements passed with the creation of Ha-Shomer from Arab hands into Jewish ones.

 

Bar Giora guardsmen in Kfar Giladi
Bar Giora guardsmen in Kfar Giladi Israel Government Press Office
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