{"id":402977,"date":"2026-04-21T06:46:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:46:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/402977\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T06:46:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T06:46:10","slug":"orde-wingate-archive-gifted-to-national-library-of-israel-jns-org","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/402977\/","title":{"rendered":"Orde Wingate archive gifted to National Library of Israel – JNS.org"},"content":{"rendered":"

(
\n Apr. 21, 2026
\n \/ JNS
\n )<\/p>\n

Just in time for Israel\u2019s 78th Independence Day on Wednesday, the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem has received the personal archive of Orde Charles Wingate, a British officer widely regarded as a formative influence on the development of Israel\u2019s modern combat doctrine.<\/p>\n

For many Israelis, Wingate\u2019s name is most familiar through the Wingate Institute near Netanya, the national center for physical education and sport named in his honor. Yet Wingate, who was not Jewish, played a significant role in the history of pre-state Israel.<\/p>\n

Wingate served in Mandatory Palestine during the Arab Revolt of 1936\u20131939, where he developed the concept of Special Night Squads (SNS). These joint British-Jewish counterinsurgency units operated in the Galilee and Jezreel Valley. Military historians say the SNS helped protect dozens of Jewish communities and influenced the development of later Jewish fighting forces.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was here during the difficult days of the Arab Revolt, and he gave the Jews the tactics of leaving their homes and moving outside to surprise the enemy, especially by working at night,\u201d Hezi Amiur, curator of the Federmann Family Israel Collection at the National Library of Israel, told JNS. \u201cThat became part of the doctrine of the Palmach (in pre-state days) and then the army. It is very important that it be part of our collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

The archive includes Wingate\u2019s Hebrew study notebooks, containing words written in both print and script, as well as a personal diary describing his activities in pre-state Israel. The collection also contains photographs, operational plans and intelligence reports.<\/p>\n

Wingate developed a strong connection with the Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine and became an advocate for the establishment of a Jewish state. Some British officials considered him overly sympathetic to Zionist aspirations, and in 1938 he was transferred out of the country.<\/p>\n

He later served in several other theaters, including Ethiopia, where he supported local forces seeking independence. According to Dr. Shlomi Chetrit of Bar-Ilan University\u2019s Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, Wingate became a respected figure there as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn October 1939, the British government sought a way to appease the Arabs,\u201d Chetrit told JNS. \u201cWingate advised David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann on how to try to change British policy. He did things that no officer should be allowed to do. He was demoted not because he was pro-Zionist but because he was insubordinate.\u201d<\/p>\n

During World War II, Wingate served in Asia and Africa, where he continued to develop unconventional military strategies. He was killed in a plane crash while traveling from Burma to India in 1944. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Hebrew notebook belonging to Orde Wingate, April 2026. Credit: National Library of Israel.<\/p>\n

Rachel Misrati, an archivist at the National Library of Israel who is digitizing the collection, said Wingate\u2019s Christian faith shaped his worldview.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a very strong Christian, and his parents came from a strong religious background,\u201d she told JNS. \u201cHe was very conscious about antisemitism and encouraged Anglo Jewry to speak up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wingate\u2019s family preserved the archive for decades before selling it to a private collector. The materials were later purchased for approximately $60,000 by a British philanthropist, who donated them to the National Library of Israel.<\/p>\n

Salai Meridor, chairman of the National Library of Israel, thanked the donor for the contribution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an archive of particularly important national and public value that contributes to the understanding of Wingate\u2019s character, and his influence on the shaping of the country\u2019s future security and defense forces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"( Apr. 21, 2026 \/ JNS ) Just in time for Israel\u2019s 78th Independence Day on Wednesday, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-402977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-israel","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=402977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}