Jewish Supernumerary Police

Jewish Supernumerary Police
Shotrim Musafim (שוטרים מוספים)
Members of the Jewish Supernumerary Police, 1937.
Active1936–1948
Disbanded1948
CountryBritish Mandate of Palestine
AllegianceBritish Mandate of Palestine
BranchNotrim
TypeAuxiliary police
RoleGuard duties, counter-insurgency
Size6,000–22,000
Part ofBritish Army
Garrison/HQVarious Jewish settlements in Palestine
Engagements1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine

The Jewish Supernumerary Police (Hebrew: Shotrim Musafim), sometimes referred to as Jewish Auxiliary Police, were a branch of the Guards (Notrim) set up by the British in the British Mandate of Palestine in June 1936.

The British authorities gradually expanded the Supernumerary Police from 6,000 to 14,000 and ultimately 22,000. Those trained became the nucleus of the Haganah,[1] which itself became the main constituent of the Israel Defense Forces during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

The other branch of the Notrim was an élite mobile force, created in 1938, known as the Jewish Settlement Police.

  1. ^ Nasr, 1996, p. 13.