Irgun Zeva'i Le'ummi (Heb. "National Military Organization" - I.Z.L., Ezel, or the Irgun], a Jewish underground armed organization founded in Jerusalem in the spring of 1931 by a group of Haganah commanders, headed by Avraham Tehomi, who had left the Haganah in protest against its defensive character. Joining forces with a clandestine armed group of Betar members from Tel Aviv, they formed a parallel, more activist defense organization. Until they declaration of a Jewish state they were responsible for the sabotage and slaughter of the Arabs and British occupiers.