Remembering the Members of NILI
Im Tirtzu 10.10.2021
The NILI was a small Jewish espionage organization established in 1915 that passed information to the British, assisting them in ousting the Ottoman Empire from the Land of Israel.
Due to the cruel and oppressive manner in which the Ottoman’s ruled, Aaron Aaronsohn (picture), his sister Sarah, and their friends Avshalom Feinberg and Yosef Lishansky established the NILI, a Hebrew acronym for Netzach Yisrael Lo Yishaker (lit. The Eternity (God) of Israel Will Not Lie).
The NILI was responsible for spying on the Turks and passing information to the British. In 1917, one of the Nili's carrier pigeons was intercepted by the Turks, and Zichron Yaakov, the city in which the NILI was operating, was soon besieged. Sarah Aaronsohn was captured and tortured for days, but did not divulge any of the organization’s secrets.
On the fourth day, she shot herself with a weapon she had concealed, not wanting to risk divulging any information that would incriminate her friends. She passed away on October 9, 1917.
Aaron Aaronsohn was relaying information to the British in Egypt at the time of the discovery and remained there until the Turks were defeated. A few months before the NILI was discovered, Avshalom Feinberg was murdered by marauding Bedouins in the Sinai on one of his journeys relaying information to the British in Egypt.
The news of his murder was told by his companion, Yosef Lishansky, another member of the NILI who had been traveling with him. Lishansky was badly wounded but managed to escape and return to the Land of Israel where he continued operating for the NILI until he was caught and publicly hung by the Turks.
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