Mossad LeAliyah Bet

The Mossad LeAliyah Bet (Hebrew: המוסד לעלייה ב', lit. Institution for Immigration B) was a branch of the paramilitary organization Haganah in British Mandatory Palestine, and later the State of Israel, that operated to facilitate Jewish immigration to British Palestine. During the Mandate period, it was facilitating illegal immigration in violation of governmental British restrictions.^[1] It operated from 1938 until four years after the founding of the State of Israel in 1952.^[2] It was funded directly by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (the JDC), and was not subject to the control of the Jewish Agency who operated their own Aliyah department headed by Yitzhak Rafael.^[3]

The Yishuv referred to legal immigration as "Aliyah Alef" (Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, corresponding to the Latin A), whilst clandestine immigration was referred to as "Aliyah Bet" (Bet is the second letter, corresponding to the Latin B).

^ Early Operations of Israeli Intelligence Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Agency for Israel
^ Haaretz, Why the Mossad must remain an intelligence service for all Jews. Quote: "Two units were designated as the successors to the Mossad Le'Aliyah Bet, which was disbanded in 1952. The more secret of the two was the Mossad's Bitzur unit, tasked with overseeing the immigration of Jews from countries where their lives were in danger as well as protecting Jewish communities in the Diaspora. The other, Nativ, encouraged immigration from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and after the fall of the Iron Curtain was charged with issuing immigration visas, establishing cultural centers and keeping track of any manifestations of anti-Semitism"
^ Hakohen, Devorah (2003). Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and Its Repercussions in the 1950s and After. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8156-2969-6.

[1] Early Operations of Israeli Intelligence Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine Jewish Agency for Israel

[2] Haaretz, Why the Mossad must remain an intelligence service for all Jews. Quote: "Two units were designated as the successors to the Mossad Le'Aliyah Bet, which was disbanded in 1952. The more secret of the two was the Mossad's Bitzur unit, tasked with overseeing the immigration of Jews from countries where their lives were in danger as well as protecting Jewish communities in the Diaspora. The other, Nativ, encouraged immigration from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, and after the fall of the Iron Curtain was charged with issuing immigration visas, establishing cultural centers and keeping track of any manifestations of anti-Semitism"

[3] Hakohen, Devorah (2003). Immigrants in Turmoil: Mass Immigration to Israel and Its Repercussions in the 1950s and After. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. p. 33. ISBN 978-0-8156-2969-6.

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