Is it older than Israel?

The Haganah, the defence, was formed in June 1920 as the armed force of the Jewish community in Mandate Palestine under the Jewish Agency. Through the Arab revolt of 1936 to 1939 it held to restraint while the Irgun did not, and it trained with the British, who used its members in the Special Night Squads. From 1941 it had a standing strike force, the Palmach.

In 1945 and 1946 it joined the Irgun and Lehi in the Jewish Resistance Movement against the British, blowing up railways and bridges, and approved the King David Hotel attack before disowning it. From December 1947 its brigades fought the war for the state, carried out Plan Dalet, and emptied most of the villages. On 26 May 1948 it became the Israel Defense Forces.