The hotel after the bombing

The King David Hotel bombing (July 22, 1946) was a bombing attack against the British government of Palestine by members of Irgun — a militant Zionist organization. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about explosive devices. ... Map of the territory under the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Irgun emblem. ... Zionism is a political movement that supports a homeland for the Jewish people in the Land of Israel, where Jewish nationhood is thought to have evolved somewhere between 1200 BCE and late Second Temple times,[1][2] and where Jewish kingdoms existed up to the 2nd century CE. Zionism is...

The attack, initially ordered by Menachem Begin the head of the Irgun and later Prime Minister of Israel, had members of the Irgun, dressed as Arabs, set off a bomb in the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which had been the base for the British Secretariat, the military command and a branch of the Criminal Investigation Division (police). 91 people were killed, most of them staff of the secretariat and the hotel: 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 other. Around 45 people were injured. The attack was commanded by Yosef Avni and Yisrael Levi.^[1]   (‎, August 16, 1913 – March 9, 1992) was a Polish-Jewish head of the Zionist underground group the Irgun, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Likud Prime Minister of Israel. ... The Prime Minister of Israel (Hebrew: ראש הממשלה, Rosh HaMemshala, lit. ... Languages Arabic other minority languages Religions Predominantly Sunni Islam, as well as Shia Islam, Greek Orthodoxy, Greek Catholicism, Roman Catholicism, Alawite Islam, Druzism, Ibadi Islam, and Judaism Footnotes a Mainly in Antakya. ... The King David Hotel, built in Jerusalem with locally quarried pink sandstone, was opened in 1931. ... For other uses, see Jerusalem (disambiguation). ... Languages Arabic and other minority languages Religions Islam, Christianity, Druzism and Judaism Arab woman from Ramallah wearing traditional dress in 1915. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Yosef Avni (b. ...

The attack on the hotel was the deadliest attack against the British in the history of the Mandate.

The attack

Moshe Sneh, chief of the Haganah General Headquarters, sent a letter to Menachem Begin, the leader of the Irgun, with instructions. Text in (bracketed italics) has been inserted to clarify some of the references. The original letter can be found in the Jabotinsky Institute Archives (k-4 1/11/5). Stamp with Snehs picture Moshe Sneh (born January 6, 1909 in Poland; died March 1, 1972) was an Israeli politician and one of the founders of Mapam, a left-wing group which later merged into the Israeli Communist Party. ... The Haganah (Hebrew: Defense, ×”×’× ×”) was a Zionist terrorism organization in Palestine during the British mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948. ...

• At the earliest possible opportunity, you are to carry out the operation at the "chick" (code for the King David Hotel) and at the house of "your servant and messiah" (code for the David Brothers building). Inform me of the date. Preferably at the same time. Do not reveal the identity of the implementing body - either by announcing it explicitly or by hinting.
• We too are preparing something - will inform you of details in good time.
• Exclude TA (Tel Aviv) from any plan of action. We are all interested in preserving TA - as the center of Yishuv life and the center of our own activities. If, as the result of any action, TA is immobilized (i.e., curfew, arrests), this will paralyze us and our plans as well. And the important objects of the other side are not focused here. Hence, TA is 'out of bounds' for the forces of Israel. 1.7.46. M. (Moshe Sneh)."

Despite its initial approval, repeated delays of the operation were requested by the Haganah in response to the changing political situation. The plan was finalised between Amichai Feglin(Gidi), chief of operations from the Irgun, and Itzhak Sadeh, commander of the Palmach. The details and the specific hour chosen for the attack were aimed at minimizing civilian casualties (the attack was planned before lunch time, so that there would be no people on the ground floor of the coffee shop which was the section to be destroyed. Irgun reports included explicit precautions so that the whole area would be evacuated). ^[2] The plan consisted of Irgun men, dressed as hotel employees and carrying the explosives which were concealed in milk cans, entering the building from a cafe on the ground floor, and placing the charges below the hotel wing where the British institutions were located. Finally it was decided the attack would take place on July 22 at 11:00. The attack used approximately 350 kg of explosives spread across six charges. Due to a delay the operation started at 12:00, and a minor gunfight ensued with two British soldiers who became suspicious and tried to intervene. Irgun suffered two casualties as a result of this gunfight. ^[2] After placing the bombs, the Irgun men quickly escaped and detonated a small explosive in the street outside the hotel to keep passers-by away from the area. The Arab workers in the kitchen were told to flee and they did.^[2] Tel-Aviv was founded on empty dunes north of the existing city of Jaffa. ... Yishuv is a Hebrew word meaning settlement. ... Itzhak Sadeh, (1890- 1952), was the commander of the Palmach and one of the founders of the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the independence of the State of Israel. ... The Palmach (Hebrew: פלמח, an acronym for Plugot Mahatz (Hebrew: פלוגות מחץ), Strike Companies) was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the British Mandate of Palestine. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

A warning message was delivered to the telephone operator of the King David Hotel before the attack and also delivered to the French consulate and the Palestine Post newspaper. According to Irgun sources, the message read "I am speaking on behalf of the Hebrew underground. We have placed an explosive device in the hotel. Evacuate it at once - you have been warned." The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli newspaper in the English language. ...

Irgun representatives have always claimed that the warning was given well in advance so that adequate time was available to evacuate the hotel. Menachem Begin writes (p. 221, The Revolt, <1951> ed.) that the telephone message was delivered 25 - 27 minutes before the explosion. The British authorities denied for many years that there had been a warning at all, but the leaking of the internal police report on the bombing during the 1970s proved that a warning had indeed been received. However, the report stated that the warning was only just being delivered to the officer in charge as the bomb went off (Bethell). According to Begin, the British had been warned of the bombing but refused to evacuate the building because "We don't take orders from the Jews" ^[3]. However, according to Shmuel Katz, in his book Days of Fire, "The Haganah radio later broadcast a report that on receiving the warning Sir John Shaw, the Chief Secretary of the British administration, had said: "I give orders here. I don't take orders from Jews," and that he had insisted that nobody leave the building. Katz says that this version may be dismissed because it probably developed from the fact that while some of Shaw's close colleagues and subordinates were killed, he himself was unscathed, and gained credence when Shaw was transferred from Palestine a month later. It is more likely that the British did not take the warning seriously because they did not believe Etzel could infiltrate their HQ that was guarded so well.   (‎, August 16, 1913 – March 9, 1992) was a Polish-Jewish head of the Zionist underground group the Irgun, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Likud Prime Minister of Israel. ... Samuel Katz (Hebrew: שמואל ×›×¥ Shmuel Katz), alias Mooki (Hebrew: מוקי) (born December 9, 1914) is an Israeli writer, historian and journalist. ... Irgun emblem. ...

The French Consulate did open their windows from fear of a possible blast, and the operator of the Palestine Post called the police after the warning. When the bombing occurred, there were already several reporters in the area because of the leaked warning.^[2]

Responses to the attack

Prime Minister Clement Attlee commented on the attack to the House of Commons: Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951. ...

Hon. Members will have learned with horror of the brutal and murderous crime committed yesterday in Jerusalem. Of all the outrages which have occurred in Palestine, and they have been many and horrible in the last few months, this is the worst. By this insane act of terrorism 93 innocent people have been killed or are missing in the ruins. The latest figures of casualties are 41 dead, 52 missing and 53 injured. I have no further information at present beyond what is contained in the following official report received from Jerusalem:

"It appears that after exploding a small bomb in the street, presumably as a diversionary measure — this did virtually no damage — a lorry drove up to the tradesmen's entrance of the King David Hotel and the occupants, after holding up the staff at pistol point, entered the kitchen premises carrying a number of milk cans. At some stage of the proceedings, they shot and seriously wounded a British soldier who attempted to interfere with them. All available information so far is to the effect that they were Jews. Somewhere in the basement of the hotel they planted bombs which went off shortly afterwards. They appear to have made good their escape."

Every effort is being made to identify and arrest the perpetrators of this outrage. The work of rescue in the debris, which was immediately organised, still continues. The next-of-kin of casualties are being notified by telegram as soon as accurate information is available. The House will wish to express their profound sympathy with the relatives of the killed and with those injured in this dastardly outrage.

(House of Commons Debates, Hansard 425:1877-78 (23 July, 1946)).

The Chief Secretary for the Government of Palestine, Sir John Shaw, declared in a broadcast:

• "As head of the Secretariat, the majority of the dead and wounded were my own staff, many of whom I have known personally for eleven years. They are more than official colleagues. British, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians; senior officers, police, my orderly, my chauffeur, messengers, guards, men and women - young and old - they were my friends."

The Jewish leadership publicly condemned these attacks. The Jewish agency expressed "their feelings of horror at the base and unparalleled act perpetrated today by a gang of criminals". In fact, the Irgun was acting in response to instructions from the United Resistance, as described in the letter from Moshe Sneh cited above. Richard Crossman, a member of the British Parliament reported later that in a private meeting with Chaim Weizmann, shortly after the attack, he expressed a different response than the ones he made publicly over the attack. Weizmann was reported as crying and saying that he can't help but be very proud for "our boys", and if it had been a German HQ they would have received the Victoria Cross (Richard Crossman - A Nation Reborn, The Israel of Weizmann Bevin and Ben-Gurion). Richard Howard Stafford Crossman (15 December 1907 to April 1974) was a British politician and writer. ... Chaim Azriel Weizmann (Hebrew: חיים עזריאל ויצמן) November 27, 1874 – November 9, 1952) was a chemist, statesman, President of the World Zionist Organization, first President of Israel (elected February 1, 1949, served 1949 - 1952) and founder of a research institute in Israel that eventually became the Weizmann Institute of Science. ... For other uses, see Victoria Cross (disambiguation). ...

The Irgun issued an initial statement accepting responsibility for the attack, blaming the British for the deaths due to failure to respond to the warning and mourning the Jewish victims. A year later, on July 22, 1947, they issued a new statement saying that they were acting on instructions from "a letter from the headquarters of the United Resistance, demanding that we carry out an attack on the center of government at the King David Hotel as soon as possible." is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Menachem Begin reportedly was very saddened and upset. He was angry that the British did not evacuate and so there were casualties, which was against the Irgun's policy. One of the dead was Jewish and Etzel sympathizer Yulius Jacobs.^[2]

The British army commander in Palestine, General Sir Evelyn Barker, in an order written only a few minutes after the bombing, commanded that "all Jewish places of entertainment, cafes, restaurants, shops and private dwellings" be "out of bounds to all ranks". He concluded: "I appreciate that these measures will inflict some hardship on the troops, but I am certain that if my reasons are fully explained to them, they will understand their propriety and they will be punishing the Jews in the way the race dislikes as much as any by striking at their pockets and showing our contempt for them." The order was rescinded two weeks later after much outrage {Tom Segev, One Palestine, Complete, pp.479ff.} at its "antisemitic nature." Sir Evelyn Hugh Barker (1894 — 1983) was a British Army general in World War II, and commander of British forces in the Mandate Palestine from 1946 to 1947. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster Anti-Semitism (alternatively spelled antisemitism) is hostility towards or prejudice against Jews (not, in common usage, Semites in general &#8212; see the Scope section below). ...

In the days following the attack over 130,000 citizens of Tel-Aviv were interrogated by CID. The British government took the decision to imprison illegal Jewish immigrants to Palestine on Cyprus, including children. The camps were to be funded by taxation of the Jewish community in Palestine. Hebrew Arabic تَلْ أَبِيبْ يَافَا Name Meaning Spring Hill Founded in 1909 Government City District Tel Aviv Population 384,600[1] Metropolitan Area: 3,150,800 (2006) Jurisdiction 51,788 dunams (51. ... CID may refer to: In criminal investigation: Criminal Investigation Department, the branch of all British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong Criminal Investigation Division, a United States federal law enforcement agency In Indian media: C.I.D., a 1956 Indian Hindi film C... This article is considered orphaned, since there are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The Holy Land or Palestine Showing not only the Old Kingdoms of Judea and Israel but also the 12 Tribes Distinctly, and Confirming Even the Diversity of the Locations of their Ancient Positions and Doing So as the Holy Scriptures Indicate, a geographic map from the studio of Tobiae Conradi...

The attack on the King David Hotel did not impede progress toward an Anglo-American agreement on Palestine, which was then in its concluding phase. In a letter dated July 25, 1946, Prime Minister Atlee wrote to President Truman: "I am sure you will agree that the inhuman crime committed in Jerusalem on 22 July calls for the strongest action against terrorism but having regard to the sufferings of the innocent Jewish victims of Nazism this should not deter us from introducing a policy designed to bring peace to Palestine with the least possible delay." (confidential letter, Atlee to Truman, Truman Presidential Library, www.trumanlibrary.org). is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

Controversy

In July 2006, right-wing Israelis including former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former members of Irgun attended a 60th anniversary celebration of the bombing, which was organized by the Menachem Begin Centre. The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem dissented, saying "We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated." They also protested against an Israeli plaque that claims that people died because the British ignored warning calls, saying it was untrue and "did not absolve those who planted the bomb." The plaque read "For reasons known only to the British, the hotel was not evacuated.” City officials agreed to slightly amend the wording on the plaque. ^[4]   (Hebrew: בִּנְיָמִין נְתַנְיָהוּ (without niqqud: בנימין נתניהו), Hebrew transliteration written in English: Binyamin Netanyahu, nicknamed Bibi) (born October 21, 1949, Tel Aviv) was the 9th Prime Minister of Israel and is a leading figure in the Likud party. ... Irgun emblem. ...   (‎, August 16, 1913 – March 9, 1992) was a Polish-Jewish head of the Zionist underground group the Irgun, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Likud Prime Minister of Israel. ...

See also

• Arab-Israeli conflict
• Zionist political violence

Combatants Arab nations Israel Arab-Israeli conflict series History of the Arab-Israeli conflict Views of the Arab-Israeli conflict International law and the Arab-Israeli conflict Arab-Israeli conflict facts, figures, and statistics Participants Israeli-Palestinian conflict · Israel-Lebanon conflict · Arab League · Soviet Union / Russia · Israel and the United... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Further reading

• T. Clarke, By Blood and Fire
• Nicholas Bethell, The Palestine Triangle, Andre Deutsch 1979, Futura 1970.
• Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World, (NY: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970), p. 172.
• Menachem Begin, The Revolt, Dell Books, New York NY, 1978

References

James Taranto (born 1966) is a Manhattan-based columnist for The Wall Street Journal and editor of its online editorial page, OpinionJournal. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... is the 35th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1788. ... is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Attack on the King David Hotel (from the Irgun website)
• The Outrage - Account from British military sources.