What does NILI stand for? 

Nili

NILI was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in Palestine between 1915-1917, during World War I. NILI is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase “Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker,” which translates as “the Eternal One of Israel will not lie. The British government code-named NILI the “A Organization,” according to a 1920 misfiled memorandum in the British Public Records Office as described in the book Spies in Palestine by James Srodes.The choice of siding with the British against the ruling power, the Ottomans, was eventually proven right by history, but in taking it the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the Yishuv, who feared fierce persecution. These fears almost materialised when the spy ring was discovered, and the Jews of Palestine escaped the tragic fate of the Armenians only due to the intervention of the Vatican, the German government and General Erich von Falkenhayn, commander of the Ottoman-German troops in Palestine.

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