Editing King David Hotel bombing (section)

===Planning===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Mbegin2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.7|[[Menachem Begin]]]] -->
The leaders of Haganah opposed the idea initially.<ref name="idiot" /> On 1 July 1946, [[Moshe Sneh]], chief of the Haganah General Headquarters, sent a letter to the then leader of the Irgun, [[Menachem Begin]], which instructed him to "carry out the operation at the 'chick'", code for the King David Hotel.<ref group="note">The original letter can be found in the ''Jabotinsky Institute Archives'' (k-4 1/11/5).</ref> Despite this approval for the project, repeated delays in executing the operation were requested by the Haganah, in response to changes unfolding in the political situation. The plan was finalized between [[Amichai Paglin]] (Irgun alias 'Gidi'), Chief of Operations of the Irgun, and [[Itzhak Sadeh]], commander of the [[Palmach]].<ref name="bethell" />

In the plan, Irgun men, disguised as Arabs, except for Gideon, the leader, who would be dressed as one of the hotel's distinctive Sudanese waiters, would enter the building through a basement service entrance carrying the explosives concealed in milk cans. The cans were to be placed by the main columns supporting the wing where the majority of the offices used by the British authorities were located. The columns were in a basement nightclub known as the Régence.<ref name="bethell" /> In the final review of the plan, it was decided that the attack would take place on 22 July at 11:00, a time when there would be no people in the coffee shop in the basement in the area where the bomb was to be planted.<ref name="idiot">{{Cite book|first=H. Paul|last=Jeffers|title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Jerusalem|publisher=Alpha Books|location=Jerusalem|year=2004|pages=149–52|isbn= 978-1-59257-179-6}}</ref> It would be possible to enter the hotel more easily at that time as well.<ref name="bethell">{{Cite book|first=Nicholas|last=Bethell|title=The Palestine Triangle|publisher=Andre Deutsch|year=1979}}</ref>

It would have been impossible to have planted the bomb in the Régence any later than 14:00 because it was always full of customers after that time.<ref name="tclarke81" /> The timing was also determined by the original intention that the attack should coincide with another, carried out by the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]], on government offices at the David Brothers Building. Codenamed "Operation Your Slave and Redeemer", this one was cancelled at the last moment. The Irgun said details of the plan were aimed at minimizing civilian casualties. Irgun reports allegedly included explicit precautions so that the whole area would be evacuated.<ref name="katz1966">{{Cite book|first=Shmuel|last=Katz|author-link=Shmuel Katz (politician)|title=Days of Fire|publisher=Karni Press|year=1966}}</ref> This led to recriminations between the Haganah and Irgun later. The Haganah said that they had specified that the attack should take place later in the day when the offices would have been emptier of people.<ref name="bethell" />