The+Lechi+Underground+in+Jerusalem

toc = = =__Research Question__=

What were the Lehi's actions in Jerusalem, during the British Mandate?

=__Rationale__= I chose to write about the Lehi in my project because I felt that the Lehi are always criticized, and that most people know only the bad things about them. Of course- there are some things they need to be criticized about, and members of the Lehi say it now, but most of the good things, like their ideology and passion, aren’t recognized by the Israeli society. In my project I want to include some things that the Lehi should be criticized about, and I want it to be open for discussion and thought. But I will also include in my project the good things about the Lehi so people will learn more about them. I believe they were good people that had a lot of strength and passion, but were also full of anger and disappointment against the British and Israeli society, and took it out in a controversial way. The most important thing I want people to understand from my project is that the Lehi weren't just radical people but also big ideologists, and I want people to understand they're motives, not to approve of them, but to understand. Enjoy Reading!!

=**__The History of the Lehi__**= The Lehi was established in 1940 after separating from the Irgun. Its commander was Avraham Stern, also known as "Yair", who was murdered by the British police in 1942. The name of the group only became Lehi after Stern's death. The Lehi stands for the words in Hebrew- "Lohamei Herut Israel"- fighters for the freedom of Israel. They were also known as "The Stern Gang". The Lehi were described by the British mandate as a terrorist organization, and were not accepted by the Jewish authorities, such as the Jewish Agency. Spiritual leaders such as, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Israel Eldad guided the Lehi. The Lehi had three main goals: 1. To bring together all those interested in liberating (willing to join active fighting against the British); 2. To appear before the world as the only active Jewish military organization; 3. To take over the land of Israel by armed force.

In order to understand why Avraham Stern decided to establish the Lehi, you must understand the events that caused it. The Jews in Israel were very furious because the British did not keep their promises contained in the Balfour Declarations, and because of the white paper of 1939. The Jews decided to fight against the British and force them out of Israel. First the Zionists established the Haganah- an armed Zionist organization funded and recognized by the Jewish agency that was headed by Ben Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister).

But there were other Zionists who did not believe in the Haganah and the Jewish agency’s way, who believed that shrinking Israel was a step that should be accepted in order to keep good relations with the British. As they saw it, the British broke promise after promise, and were very pro-Arab. They believed that the Jews had to be much more pro-active. Therefore, they established a new organization, apart from the Haganah, called Irgun Tzevai Leumi, simply known as the Etzel, in 1937. But there were some Jews who still weren’t satisfied by the way that the Etzel fought the British. They were mostly upset with the decision to suspend operations against the British during World War Two. So they decided to apart from the Etzel and establish a new organization called Lehi, in 1940.

The Lehi was the most radical group of them all and had only a few hundred members. They fought against the British when the Haganah and the Etzel decided to stop the war against them during World War Two, when the British fought the Germans. The Lehi was criticized by the Jews of Israel because of their radical actions and thoughts against the British. Most Jews saw the British as a tolerable leadership, and were terrified at the thought of a new unknown government that wasn’t sure to be Jewish. The British saw the Lehi as a major threat; they would arrest and even kill whomever they could from the Lehi. You can see that from how hard they looked for the leader Avraham Stern. A Jew told them where he was hiding, and a British detective (Inspector Geoffrey Morton) murdered him while hiding in a closet. The Stern Gang horrified the British. The British murdered most of their leaders and arrested almost all the rest.

However the group continued acting, even though they had almost no leaders, just on very low profile. The Lehi revived after its leaders Yitzhak Shamir (a future Israeli Prime Minister), Eliyahu Giladi (assassinated by the Lehi for intending to join the Haganah), Natan Yalin and Israel Eldad escaped in 1942, during the big escape from the Acho prison. The conflict between the Lehi and the Jewish mainstream came to an end when the Lehi joined the Israeli Resistance Movement, a group that united all the groups, Haganah, Etzel, and Lehi, in November 1945.

=**__The Lehi's Actions in Israel__**= "The British Army suffered greater losses in traffic accidents than in all the Jewish underground operations put together. But the blows to the Empire's pride and prestige were something that could not be digested. The break-in at the Acre Prison and hanging of the two sergeants were blows to our pride. The break-in at the prison gained the symbolic significance of the fall of the Bastille" (A senior British officer in the British Army, "To the Promised Land" by Uri Dan). This paragraph shows us what great significance the actions of the undergrounds had. Each and every action was another blow out for the British pride. This explains why the Lehi were so anxious to act against the British. But the Lehi didn’t have a lot of members in their group, and they didn’t have a big foundation like the Haganah and the Etzel, they were mostly funded by their ideology and their insanity, and also from private donations, extortion and bank robbery.

The Lehi weren’t afraid of criticism, but the criticism put them in bigger danger than the other underground members. Jews in Israel, who didn’t believe in the Lehi's way and were afraid of them, would inform on whomever they believed belonged to the Lehi. This made them become even more careful while planning their actions, and their actions were in bigger danger. Another factor, that is less important, is that their leaders were often in prison or hiding, and that made the plans much more difficult.

But despite all these matters, the Lehi did manage to perform a few actions of their own, and a few with the other undergrounds. The Lehi used three main strategies while fighting the British. The first one was conducting small-scale operations such as assassinations of British soldiers and police officers. The second one was sending bombs in the mail to many British politicians. The third one included sabotaging infrastructure targets such us: bridges, railroads et-cetera. The Lehi adopted their tactics of groups such as the IRA. The Lehi would some of the times warn the British before a big action so people won't get hurt.

Here is a list of some of the Lehi's actions in Israel: __Assassination of Lord Moyne-__ On November 6th 1944. Lord Moyne was the highest-ranking British government representative in the region. Two members of the Lehi- Eliyahu Bet-Zouri and Eliyahu Hakim assassinated him. They were executed in 1945. __Bombing of intersection of railroads in Lod__- On November 1st 1945. The Etzel and Lehi worked in cooperation. It was part of a big night of actions of both of the undergrounds. In that night they bombed several railroads and train stations. They bombed the intersection and had a fight with the British. __Bombing of 8 airplanes of the British-__ On February 25th 1946. A group from the Lehi invaded in to a landing pad of the British called "Sirkin", and bombed 8 airplanes of the British royal army. __Action in the train workshop in__ __Haifa-__ On June 1946. During the action the Lehi bombed cars, engines and facilities. On their way back from the action the group bumped into a barrier of British tanks. The British killed 11 people, and took captive 22 people.

__Cairo-Haifa train bombings-__ On February 29th 1948. The Lehi mined the train north of Rehovot, killed 28 soldiers and wounded 35. On March 31st the Lehi mined the train in Binyamina, this time 40 civilians were killed and 60 were wounded. This was the biggest action the Lehi ever had. The Lehi members that were caught in this action refused to cooperate with the British authorities were judged for death penalty with their absence, but the death penalty was exchanged by life sentence. __Assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte-__ On September 17th 1948. The Lehi assassinated Count Folk Bernadotte, who was a UN Mediator who was sent to broker a settlement in the dispute. A four-man team from the Lehi was responsible for this assassination, including Meshulam Makover and Yehoshua Cohen.

When Lehi members were taken to prison, they were judged by the British rules, and in a British court. The Lehi prisoners refused to plea for amnesty, even when it was clear that this would have them spared from the death penalty. They would listen throughout the whole trial, and when they had an option to speak they would stand and say that they didn’t believe in the British rules and court. They would stand in the courtroom and they would give a speech on their beliefs, and then listen to their verdict.

Examples of this kind of behavior were Moshe Barazani (Lehi) and Meir Feinstein (Etzel). They were both charged with the death penalty, and they were in the same dungeon. In Moshe Barazani's trial he stood up before they read out loud his verdict, and said, "The Hebrew nation sees you (the British) as an enemy and foreign ruler in its country. We, the fighters for the freedom of Israel, are fighting you in order to free our homeland. In this battle I have fallen captive in to your hands, and you have no right to judge me. With hanging you shall not frighten us, and you will not succeed in destroying us. My nation, as others who are enslaved by you, will raze your empire to the ground!". This speech shows us how important Israel was to the underground members. They were willing to die for it, and they really believed that Israel belonged to the Jews and that the Jews should rule it. Eventually, Moshe Barazani and Meir Feinstein committed suicide in prison with a grenade between their chests, in order to prevent the British from hanging them.

=**__What Happened to the Lehi After Israeli Independence?__**= The Lehi, as I mentioned in the first essay "The History of the Lehi", joined the Israeli Defense Forces in 1948. They stopped operating after that by their own, but they continued to function in Jerusalem. For example, the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte was on September 17th 1948 in Jerusalem, while the group was already in the Israeli Defense Forces. But after the assassination the group was forcefully broken up for good.

After Israel was declared, the Lehi tried to get into politics. Some left-wings members of the Lehi founded a political party called "The Fighters list" with Yellin-Mor as its head. The party fought the elections in January 1949 and won one seat. However, the party disbanded after failing to win a seat in the 1951 elections. The members of the Lehi also joined the army of Israel after the declaration.

Although the Lehi broke up, some of her leaders and members continued to act for the public on their own. For example, Yitzhak Shamir. Shamir was one of the three leaders of the group after the British murdered Avraham Stern. After Israeli independence Yitzhak Shamir joined the secret intelligence service (the Mossad) and served there during the years 1955-1965. After that, he joined the Likud party headed by Menahem Begin (from the Etzel). He was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 as a member of the Likud. He became chairman of the Knesset in 1977, and foreign minister in 1980. Then he became prime minister in 1983. He called his son Yair after Stern's nickname.

Another example we can see in Israel Eldad. Israel Eldad was also one of the three leaders of the Lehi after Avraham Stern's death. Israel Eldad tried to get into politics one time in 1969 but failed. Then Rehavam Ze'evi offered him a place in his political party "Moledet" but he refused, so he was put in the 120th place for honor. After the Israeli independence Eldad became a social critic of Israeli Society. He published a monthly paper called "Sulam" where he sharply criticized the Israeli government. Eldad advocated the establishment of a kingdom of Israel, with a descendant of King David, through the liberation of the entire land of Israel. Eldad loved the Tanach, and believed in it very much. He was a high school teacher in "Gymnasia Herzelia". He passed away on January 22, 1996.

In 1980 Israel instituted the Lehi ribbon. Israel has ribbons for every underground, which is awarded to former members that fought in the undergrounds that wish carry it. There was discussion whether or not to make a ribbon for the Lehi, since thwere controversial, but in the end they decided to make a ribbon after all. The ribbon is red, black, gray, pale blue, and white.

In 1999 the "Magshimey Herut" movement was founded as an educational Zionist organization for young adults. The movement is influenced by the teachings of Avraham Stern, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Israel Eldad.

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=__The Meaning of Living in Israel__=

Living in Israel means to live the dreams of hundred of generations before me.

Living in Israel means to live next to the most holy city in the world-Jerusalem.

Living in Israel means to feel even closer to all the people that gave their lives for the freedom of my country.

Living in Israel means to drive for four hours through four different sceneries.

Living in Israel means to listen to the news every half an hour just to be sure that nothing new happened.

Living in Israel means to fulfill the orders that Hashem gave Abraham.

Living in Israel means to raise children on the ideology that people long before you believed in.

Living in Israel means to not only believe in your beliefs, but also listen to different beliefs.

Living in Israel means to live between so many different people than you and still feel that they're your family.

Living in Israel means to serve in the army and defend your country and people.

Living in Israel means to love each and every person that lives here just because he is a Jew.

Living in Israel means to live with a variety of people.

Living in Israel means to be connected to my roots.

=__Conclusion__= I wrote in my Rationale that I wanted people to know more about the Lehi, and that I hope they won't judge them without knowing who they were, and all the good things about them. I really hope I managed to make people understand them. Some people might ask how my project is related to Jerusalem. Well, the Lehi did very few actions in general, and even less in Jerusalem. But I think that the way the Lehi would do anything for Israel, and their passion for Israel is mostly connected to Jerusalem since Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel.

I think the most important thing I've learned in this project is about the history of my country and people, and also a lot about the Jewish undergrounds during the time of the British Mandate. I have thaught myself (as I wrote in the Rationale) about the Lehi and their mode of action, and I do have my own criticism about them, but I believe the Lehi weren't terrorists as everyone thinks they were. I choose to think they were freedom fighters.

Terrorists aim to create terror by killing innocent people, men, women and children. The Lehi did their best not to kill any innocent people, and also police officers. The Lehi's leaders took a stance in all of their actions; accept for assassinations, not to kill civilians including British police officers. They had humanity, not like all the terrorists; all they wanted was their country that in their belief belonged to them legally and religiously. They need to be criticized about the way they fought for their belief, but not **about** their belief. I see them as heroes with no limits or compromises, who believed to the death in their dreams, and they should be respected for that.

=**__Bibliography__**= Dr. Matania Ginosar, The British called me a terrorist, last updated fubruary 2003, [|www.jewishmag.com/64mag/lechi/lechi.html] Lehi home page, [|www.lehi.org.il]

Rabbi Ken Spiro, cuorse in Jewish history part #64 The British Mandate, last updated January 2007, [|www.aish.com/literacy/jewishhistory]

Web encyclopedia, last updated 1999, [|www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/lehi/]

Web encyclopedia, last updated 24 January 2007, [|www.en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Avraham_Stern]

Web encyclopedia, last updated 30 January 2007, [|www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/lehi]