{"id":79809,"date":"2020-07-21T17:05:22","date_gmt":"2020-07-21T15:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=79809"},"modified":"2020-07-21T14:50:35","modified_gmt":"2020-07-21T12:50:35","slug":"31-05-29","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=79809","title":{"rendered":"Fake News From Pre-state Days of Jewish Underground Militias"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Fake News From Pre-state Days of Jewish Underground Militias<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n

Ofer Aderet<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For years, a special report gathered dust in the archives alleging that the forerunner to the Israeli army paid the Irgun to blow up the King David Hotel<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The bomb blast at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, July 22, 1946. The terror attack left more than 90 dead, including Brits, Arabs and Jews. Credit: NOEL \/ AP<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Three months after Jerusalem\u2019s King David Hotel was blown up in July 1946, an unusual report appeared in the intelligence service of the Haganah. \u201cThe Haganah paid 70,000 Palestine pounds to the Irgun to blow up the King David Hotel,\u201d stated the document, which has been gathering dust in an archive for decades.<\/span><\/p>\n

Avraham was shocked to read that the Haganah \u2013 the forerunner of the Israel Defense Forces, founded by the Labor movement \u2013 had funded the country\u2019s deadliest terror attack. The bombing had been carried out by the Irgun underground militia under the command of Menachem Begin, who would go on to become prime minister some 30 years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

The document was recently found in the Haganah archive by Avichai Avraham, 35, a history of Israel student at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe document is fascinating because it reminds us that there are still things that are hidden from those days,\u201d Avraham said last week. He discovered the document as part of in-depth research, revealing that a more complex story lies behind the story, centering on a Jewish journalist who was denounced as a liar and a traitor: George Marantz.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marantz, of whom little is known, was accused by many in the Yishuv \u2013 the Jewish community in what was then British Mandatory Palestine \u2013 of inventing the story to sow discord in the Zionist movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The contacts between the Haganah and the Irgun are dramatically described in the document. It was claimed that the local Jewish leadership had decided to take revenge on the British for the so-called Black Sabbath \u2013 June 29, 1946, when the British authorities launched a major operation to round up Jewish fighters and weaponry. According to the document, the Haganah refused to carry out the planned revenge mission \u201cbecause only people trained in commando action can do it,\u201d and so the Irgun was handed the task.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the document, on July 8, 1946, \u201cthe Haganah people were taken blindfolded for a meeting with Menachem Begin.\u201d On the agenda was payment for the planned action. \u201cThe Irgun demanded 100,000 Palestine pounds,\u201d but the sum agreed on was 70,000 pounds, \u201con condition that there be no victims,\u201d the report stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

A second bomb exploding at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, July 22, 1946. Credit: No 1 Army Film & Photographic Unit<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n