The organization committed acts of terrorism against the British, whom it regarded as illegal occupiers, and against Arabs.
Albert Einstein, in a letter to The New York Times in 1948, compared Irgun and its successor Herut party to “Nazi and Fascist parties” and described it as a “terrorist, right wing, chauvinist organization”.
Irgun’s tactics appealed to many Jews who believed that any action taken in the cause of the creation of a Jewish state was justified, including terrorism.
Irgun members were absorbed into the Israel Defense Forces at the start of the 1948 Arab–Israeli war.
The Irgun was a political predecessor to Israel’s right-wing Herut (or “Freedom”) party, which led to today’s Likud party. Likud has led or been part of most Israeli governments since 1977.