Nili
| NILI | |
|---|---|
| נִילי | |
Avshalom Feinberg and Sarah Aaronsohn of the Nili spy ring, 1916 | |
| Active | 1915–1917 |
| Country | Ottoman Empire (operating within Palestine) |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Type | Espionage |
| Role | Intelligence gathering |
| Garrison/HQ | Zikhron Ya'akov |
| Motto(s) | Netzaḥ Yisrael Lo Yeshaker ("The Eternal One of Israel will not lie") |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | |
NILI (Hebrew: נִילי) was a Jewish espionage network which assisted the United Kingdom in its fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem between 1915 and 1917, during World War I. NILI was centered in Zikhron Ya'akov, with branches in Hadera and other Moshava. Nili is an acronym which stands for the Hebrew phrase: "Netzah Yisrael Lo Yeshaker" (1 Samuel 15:29), 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 National Archives, as described in the book Spies in Palestine by James Srodes.
In choosing to side with the British Empire, the members of Nili went against the majority view of their fellow Jews from the Yishuv. Thus, during the Armenian genocide, the group opposed the Yishuv leadership at the time, and tried to intervene on behalf of the Armenians.