Establishment
Sarah Aaronsohn, her brother Aaron, and their sister Rebecca, together with their friend Avshalom Feinberg formed and led Nili.
In 1915, even before the group commenced operations, the Turks imprisoned Feinberg on suspicion of spying, which was not true at the time.
From March to October 1915, a plague of locusts stripped areas in and around Palestine of almost all vegetation and the Turkish authorities, worried about feeding their troops, turned to world-famous botanist and the region's leading agronomist, Aaron Aaronsohn. He requested the release of his friend and assistant, Avshalom Feinberg. The team fighting the locust invasion was given permission to move around the country. They also collected strategic information about Ottoman camps and troop deployment.
For months, the group was not taken seriously by British intelligence, and attempts by Aaron Aaronsohn and Avshalom Feinberg to establish communication channels in Cairo and Port Said failed. Only after Aaron Aaronsohn arrived in London (by way of Berlin and Copenhagen) and by virtue of his reputation, was he able to obtain cooperation from the diplomat Sir Mark Sykes.
Sarah oversaw operations in Zikhron Ya'aqov.
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