Lehi (group)

Lehi (, Hebrew acronym for Lohamei Herut Israel, "Fighters for the Freedom of Israel",לח"י - לוחמי חירות ישראל) was an armed underground Zionist faction in pre-state Israel (British Palestine) that had as its goal the eviction of the British from Palestine to allow unrestricted immigration of Jews and the formation of a Jewish state.

British authorities called the group the Stern Gang (named after its first commander, Avraham Stern), a label that persists in historical accounts.

Foundations and founding

Avraham ("Yair") Stern was originally an adherent of the Revisionist Zionist movement founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the early 1920s and a member of Irgun, but separated from these groups in 1940 to form his own group, which he called Irgun Zvai Leumi be-Yisrael (National Military Organization in Israel).

Specifically, Stern believed that the Jewish population should focus its efforts on fighting the British rather than supporting them in World War II; and that forceful methods were an effective means to achieve those goals. He differentiated between "enemies of the Jewish people" (e.g., the British) and "Jew haters", (e.g., the Nazis), believing that the former needed to be defeated, and the latter neutralized. To this end, he initiated contact with Nazi authorities offering an alliance with Germany in return for transferring Europe's Jews to Palestine and the establishment of a Jewish state therein.

Principles of Rebirth

Avraham Stern crystalized the ideology of his organization in what was called the "18 Principles of Rebirth":

1. THE NATION The Jewish people is a covenanted people, the originator of monotheism, formulator of the prophetic teachings, standard bearer of human culture, guardian of glorious patrimony. The Jewish people is schooled in self-sacrifice and suffering; its vision, survivability and faith in redemption are indestructible.

2. THE HOMELAND The homeland in the Land of Israel within the borders delineated in the Bible ("To your descendants, I shall give this land, from the River of Egypt to the great Euphrates River." Genesis 15:18) This is the land of the living, where the entire nation shall live in safety.

3. THE NATION AND ITS LAND Israel conquered the land with the sword. There it became a great nation and only there it will be reborn. Hence Israel alone has a right to that land. This is an absolute right. It has never expired and never will.

4. THE GOALS 1. Redemption of the land. 2. Establishment of sovereignty. 3. Revival of the nation. There is no sovereignty without the redemption of the land, and there is no national revival without sovereignty.

These are the goals of the organization during the period of war and conquest:

5. EDUCATION Educate the nation to love freedom and zealously guard Israel's eternal patrimony. Inculcate the idea that the nation is master to its own fate. Revive the doctrine that "The sword and the book came bound together from heaven" (Midrash Vayikra Rabba 35:8)

6. UNITY The unification of the entire nation around the banner of the Hebrew freedom movement. The use of the genius, status and resources of individuals and the channeling of the energy, devotion and revolutionary fervour of the masses for the war of liberation.

7. PACTS Make pacts with all those who are willing to help the struggle of the organization and provide direct support.

8. FORCE Consolidate and increase the fighting force in the homeland and in the Diaspora, in the underground and in the barracks, to become the Hebrew army of liberation with its flag, arms, and commanders.

9. WAR Constant war against those who stand in the way of fulfilling the goals.

10. CONQUEST The conquest of the homeland from foreign rule and its eternal possession.

These are the tasks of the movement during the period of sovereignty and redemption:

11. SOVEREIGNTY Renewal of Hebrew sovereignty over the redeemed land.

12. RULE OF JUSTICE The establishment of a social order in the spirit of Jewish morality and prophetic justice. Under such an order no one will go hungry or unemployed. All will live in harmony, mutual respect and friendship as an example to the world.

13. REVIVING THE WILDERNESS Build the ruins and revive the wilderness for mass immigration and population increase.

14. ALIENS Solve the problem of alien population by exchange of population.

15. INGATHERING OF THE EXILES Total in-gathering of the exiles to their sovereign state.

16. POWER The Hebrew nation shall become a first-rate military, political, cultural and economical entity in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean Sea.

17. REVIVAL The revival of the Hebrew language as a spoken language by the entire nation, the renewal of the historical and spiritual might of Israel. The purification of the national character in the fire of revival.

18. THE TEMPLE The building of the Third Temple as a symbol of the new era of total redemption.

Evolution of the organization

Stern's group was seen as a major threat by the British authorities, who regarded it as a terrorist organisation and instructed the Defence Security Office (the colonial branch of MI5) to track down its leaders. In 1942, British police shot Stern dead in controversial circumstances. Several of the group members were arrested, and the group went into eclipse until it was reformed as "Lehi" under a triumvirate of Israel Eldad, Natan Yellin-Mor, and Yitzhak Shamir. Shamir (who would later become Prime Minister of Israel), was known by the codename "Michael" which was a reference to one of Shamir's heroes, Michael Collins. Collins was the founder of the original IRA and a pioneer in the use of guerrilla warfare. The new Lehi was guided by spiritual and philosophical leaders Uri Zvi Greenberg and Israel Eldad, while the old Lehi was primarily guided by the writings of Abba Achimier. The smallest by far of any of the Jewish armed groups during the mandatory era, it never attracted more than a few hundred followers, and was reviled by most of its contemporaries.

Although the name of the group only became "Lehi" after Stern's death, this article follows the common practice of calling it that throughout its history.

Lehi adopted a non-socialist platform of Anti-Imperialist ideology. It viewed the continued British rule of Palestine as a violation of the mandate's provision generally, and its restrictions on Jewish immigration to be an intolerable breach of international law. Unlike the Haganah and Irgun, which fought on two fronts against British and Arabs, Lehi concentrated its attacks exclusively on British targets.

Lehi also rejected the authority of the Jewish Agency and related organizations, operating entirely on its own throughout nearly all of its existence.

Lehi prisoners captured by the British generally refused to present a defence when brought to trial in British courts. They would only read out statements in which they declared that the court, representing an occupying force, had no jurisdiction over them and is illegal. For the same reason, Lehi prisoners refused to plea for amnesty, even when it was clear that this would have them spared from the death penalty. In one case Moshe Barazani, a Lehi man, and Meir Feinstein, an Irgun member, killed themselves in prison to deprive the British of the ability to hang them.

Lehi was unique in its ability to unite in its ranks Jews from diverse backgrounds. Unlike the Hagana and Irgun, which were ideologically homogeneous, the Lehi included Revisionist Zionists, Religious Zionists communists, atheists and ultra-Orthodox Jews. Although these groups would normally have nothing to do with one another, they were all united in Lehi for the purpose of freeing their country from British rule.

Contact with Nazi authorities

In 1940 and 1941, Lehi proposed intervening in the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany to attain their help in expelling Britain from Mandate Palestine and to offer their assistance in "evacuating" the Jews of Europe arguing that "common interests could exist between the establishment of a new order in Europe in conformity with the German concept, and the true national aspirations of the Jewish people as they are embodied by the NMO (Lehi)." Late in 1940, Lehi representative Naftali Lubenchik was sent to Beirut where he met the German official Werner Otto von Hentig and delivered a letter from Lehi offering to "actively take part in the war on National Socialist Germany's side" in return for German support for "the establishment of the historic Jewish state" ^*. Von Hentig forwarded the letter to the German embassy in Ankara, but there is no record of any official response. Lehi tried to establish contact with the Germans again in December 1941, also apparently without success. Cooperation with the Zionists in Palestine was considered by moderates in the Nazi German government as a real solution for the so-called "Jewish problem" in continental Europe, besides being, according to Wehrmacht officials, militarily very useful in the war against Great Britain. More radical Antisemites inside the National Socialist German Workers Party however preferred an antisemitic alliance with the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, who tried to combat Jewish influence in Arabic lands, predominantly in the British Mandate of Palestine.

Actions

As a group that never had over a hundred members, Lehi relied on audacious but small-scale operations to bring their message home, as such they described themselves as a terrorist group and adopted the tactics of groups such as the IRA, who had successfully used guerrilla warfare to force the British out of the Southern Republic of Ireland back in the 1920s. To this end, Lehi conducted small-scale operations such as assassinations of British soldiers and police officers and, on occasion, Jewish "collaborators". Another strategy, (1947) was to send bombs in the mail to many British politicians. Other actions included sabotaging infrastructure targets: bridges, railroads, and oil refineries. Lehi financed their operations from private donations, extortion, and bank robbery.

Assassination of Lord Moyne

In November 6, 1944 Lehi assassinated Lord Moyne in Cairo. Moyne was the highest ranking British government representative in the region and was directly responsible for blocking Europe's Jews from reaching Palestine during the Holocaust. The assassination act rocked the British government, and outraged Winston Churchill the British Prime Minister. The two young assassins, Eliahu Bet-Zouri and Eliahu Hakim were captured and used their trial as a platform to make public their struggle for freedom to the world. Although rejected by the official Zionist leadership and enraging the British authorities, their dignified behavior and bold statements publicized their cause to the West and even won them the sympathy of Egyptian Muslim students. The two boys refused to ask mercy from a court they did not recognize and were each sentenced to death by hanging. When asked by their hangman why they appeared to be in such high spirits before their death, Hakim answered that they were "smiling to the next generation that would see a Jewish flag over Jerusalem". Like all Irgun and Lehi prisoners sentenced to death in those years, both sang Hatikva (the Zionist anthem) directly prior to their execution.

Assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte

September 17, 1948, Lehi assassinated the UN Mediator, Count Folke Bernadotte, who had been sent to broker a settlement in the dispute. The assassination was directed by Yehoshua Zetler and carried out by a four-man team led by Meshulam Markover. The fatal shots were fired by Yehoshua Cohen. Lehi leaders Nathan Yellin-Mor and Matitiahu Schmulevitz were arrested two months after the murder. Most of the suspects involved were released immediately and all of them were granted general amnesty on the 14^th of February, 1949.

Dissolution and integration

The conflict between Lehi and mainstream Jewish and subsequently Israeli organizations came to an end when Lehi was formally dissolved and integrated into the Israeli Defense Forces on May 31, 1948, its leaders getting amnesty from prosecution or reprisals as part of the integration. It however maintained independent operations in Jerusalem until it was forcefully broken up after the assassination of the UN-envoy Count Folke Bernadotte. Members of the Lehi founded a political party known as "Fighters", and Yellin-Mor was elected to the first Knesset, but the party was short-lived.

In 1980 Israel instituted the Lehi ribbon, red, black, grey, pale blue and white which is awarded to former members of the Lehi underground who wished to carry it.

In 1999, the Magshimey Herut movement was founded as an educational Zionist organization for young adults. Although officially a movement alligned with the ideology of Zev Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism, it has been argued that the movement is actually closer to Lehi in philosophy. Much of Magshimey Herut's written and educational material seem directly influenced by the teachings of Avraham Stern, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Israel Eldad.

Justification of terrorism

An article titled "Terror" in He Khazit (The Front, a Lehi underground newspaper), Issue 2, August 1943, argued as follows. The full text of the article is available at Lehi (group).

Neither Jewish morality nor Jewish tradition can negate the use of terror as a means of battle.
...
We are quite far from moral hesitations on the national battlefield. We see before us the command of the Torah, the most moral teaching in the world: Obliterate - until destruction.The italicised quotation is a combination of two Biblical references to the Amalekites, Exodus 17:14 and Numbers 14:45: "Utterly blot out their remembrance...and destroy them completely." We are particularly far from this sort of hesitation in regard to an enemy whose moral perversion is admitted by all.
But primarily terror is part of our political battle under present conditions and its role is large and great.
It demonstrates, in clear language, to those who listen throughout the world and to our despondent brothers outside the gates of this country of our battle against the true terrorist who hides behind his piles of papers and the laws he has legislated.
It is not directed against people, it is directed against representatives. Therefore it is effective.
If it also shakes the Yishuv from their complacency, good and well.
Only so will the battle for liberation begin.

References

J. Bowyer Bell, Terror Out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, Lehi, and the Palestine Underground, 1929-1949, (Avon, 1977), ISBN 0-380393964
J. Heller, The Stern Gang (Frank Cass, 1995) ISBN 0714645583
K. Marton, A death in Jerusalem (Pantheon, 1994) ISBN 0679420835 — Bernadotte assassination

External links

Proposal by the Stern Gang to participate in WWII on the side of Germany (Note: the German original appears in David Yisraeli, The Palestine Problem in German Politics, 1889-1945, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel, 1974.)
Lehi's website (Hebrew): http://www.lehi.org.il/
Lehi writings in English: http://www.saveisrael.com/

1948 Arab-Israeli War | Militant Zionist groups | National liberation movements | Organizations accused of terrorism | World War II groups

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