Editing Zionist political violence

{{short description|Violence or terrorism motivated by Zionism}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}

[[Image:King david hotel bombing1.jpg|thumb|200px|Aftermath of the [[King David Hotel bombing]], 1946]]
'''Zionist political violence''' refers to acts of [[political violence]] or [[terrorism]] committed by [[Zionism|Zionists]] in support of establishing and maintaining a [[Jewish state]] in [[Palestine]]. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, and the [[State of Israel]] and its [[Israeli defense forces|military forces]] since the early 20th century as part of the ongoing [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict|Israeli-Palestinian conflict]].

In the [[Yishuv|pre-state period]] (1920s–1940s), Zionist paramilitaries such as the [[Irgun]], [[Lehi (militant group)|Lehi]], [[Haganah]] and [[Palmach]] engaged in violent campaigns against [[Mandatory Palestine|British authorities]], [[Palestinian Arabs]], and more moderate Jews to advance their political goals. Targets included security personnel, government figures, civilians, and infrastructure. After [[Israeli Declaration of Independence|Israel's establishment]] in 1948, the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) and other state security forces continued to employ violence against Palestinian and neighboring Arab populations during the [[1948 Palestine war|1948 war]] (known by Palestinians as the [[Nakba]], catastrophe), subsequent [[Arab–Israeli War (disambiguation)|Arab-Israeli wars]], and the military occupation of the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]].

Later acts of Zionist violence have ranged from the government's use of force to suppress Palestinian unrest (such as during the [[Intifada|intifadas]] from 1987 to 1993 and 2000 to 2005), to attacks perpetrated by [[Israeli settlement|Israeli settlers]] and right-wing extremists against Palestinian civilians, property and holy sites. In an act of intra-Jewish political violence, former Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] was [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|assassinated]] in 1995 by [[Yigal Amir]] who opposed Rabin's peace initiatives and territorial concessions to the Palestinians. The Israeli military has also conducted large-scale assaults in the occupied territories and neighbouring states including [[Lebanon]], resulting in widespread destruction and civilian casualties.

Human and Palestinian rights organisations have accused Israel of [[state terrorism]], [[Israeli war crimes|war crimes]], and disproportionate use of force against Palestinians. Israel defends its actions as necessary to preserve the security of the Jewish state and its citizens in the face of Palestinian political violence and regional threats.

==Impact==

Actions were carried out by individuals and Jewish paramilitary groups such as the [[Irgun]], the [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]], the [[Haganah]] and the [[Palmach]] as part of a conflict between Jews, [[Mandatory Palestine|British]] authorities, and [[Palestinian people|Palestinian Arabs]], regarding land, immigration, and control over Palestine.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm |title=The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-Controlled Areas, by David Raab |publisher=Jcpa.org |access-date=2010-02-21 |archive-date=2018-12-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226061912/http://jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

British soldiers and officials, [[United Nations]] personnel, Palestinian Arab fighters and civilians, and Jewish fighters and civilians were targets or victims of these actions. Domestic, commercial, and government property, infrastructure, and material have also been attacked.

==Main occurrences==

During the [[1920 Nebi Musa riots]], the 1921 [[Jaffa riots]] and the [[1929 Palestine riots]], Palestinian Arabs manifested hostility against Zionist immigration, which provoked the reaction of Jewish militias.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ameu.org/getattachment/65e15600-d2b0-472e-923e-be4ed7ed1514/Zionist-Violence-Against-Palestinians.aspx |title=Zionist violence against Palestinians |journal=The Link |volume=21 |issue=3 |date=September 1998 |first=Muhammad |last=Hallaj |publisher=[[Americans for Middle East Understanding]] |archive-date=2024-06-16 |access-date=2015-10-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240616174637/http://www.ameu.org/getattachment/65e15600-d2b0-472e-923e-be4ed7ed1514/Zionist-Violence-Against-Palestinians.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1935, the [[Irgun]], a Zionist underground military organization, split off from the [[Haganah]].<ref name=Welty>{{Cite book |title=Palestinian Nationalism and the Struggle for National Self-Determination |last=Welty |first=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Welty |year=1995 |publisher=Temple University |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-56639-342-3 |page=21}}</ref> The Irgun were the armed expression of the nascent ideology of [[Revisionist Zionism]] founded by [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]. He expressed this [[ideology]] as ''"every Jew had the right to enter Palestine; only active retaliation would deter the Arab and the British; only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state"''.<ref>[[Howard Sachar]]: ''A History of the State of Israel'', pp. 265–266</ref>

During the [[1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine]], Palestinian Arabs fought for the end of the [[Mandatory Palestine|Mandate]] and the creation of an Arab state based on the whole of Palestine.<ref>Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment (New York, 2011), p. 85.</ref> They attacked both British and Jews as well as some Palestinian Arabs who supported a [[Pan-Arabism]]. Mainstream Zionists, represented by the [[Vaad Leumi]] and the Haganah, practiced the policy of [[Havlagah]] (restraint); Irgun militants did not follow this policy and called themselves "Havlagah breakers."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |last2=Roberts |first2=Priscilla |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=433 |isbn=978-1-85109-841-5}}</ref> The Irgun began bombing Palestinian Arab civilian targets in 1938.<ref name=Welty/> While the Palestinian Arabs were "carefully disarmed" by the British Mandatory authorities by 1939, the Zionists were not.<ref name=Welty/> As a conciliation to the Arabs, the [[White Paper of 1939]] was passed, imposing significant limits in Jewish immigration in the shadow of [[World War II]].

After the [[United Kingdom declaration of war on Germany (1939)|British Declaration of War]] in September 1939, the head of the [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency for Palestine]] [[David Ben-Gurion]] declared: 'We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.';<ref>[[Jewish Brigade|The Brigade]] by Howard Blum, p. 5.</ref> the Haganah and Irgun subsequently suspended their activity against the British in support of their war against [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/stern.html |title=Avraham Stern |access-date=2007-11-19 }}</ref> However, the smaller [[Lehi (group)|Lehi]] continued anti-British attacks and [[direct action (military)|direct action]] throughout the war. At that time, the British also supported the creation and the training of [[Palmach]], as a unit that could withstand a German offensive in the area, with the consent of the [[Yishuv]] which saw an opportunity to get trained units and soldiers for the planned Jewish state<ref>{{cite book |last=Gal|first=Reuven |title=A Portrait of the Israeli Soldier |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1986 |page=6 |isbn=978-0-313-24315-8}}</ref> and during 1944–1945, the most mainstream Jewish paramilitary organization, Haganah, cooperated with the British authorities against the Lehi and Etzel.<ref name="galor">Gal-or, Noemi. Tolerating Terrorism in the West: An International Survey. Routledge, 2004. p. 74</ref>

After World War II, between 1945 and the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|29 November 1947 Partition vote]], British soldiers and [[Palestine Police Force|policemen]] were [[Jewish insurgency in Palestine|targeted by Irgun and Lehi]]. The Haganah and Palmach at first collaborated with the British against them, particularly during [[the Hunting Season]], before actively joining them in the [[Jewish Resistance Movement]], then finally choosing an official neutral position after 1946 while the Irgun and the Lehi continued their attacks against the British.<ref>Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920–1948). The Anchor Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9508367-0-6}}. pp. 272, 299. States that Haganah withdrew on 1 July 1946. But remained permanently uncooperative.</ref>

The Haganah, Irgun and Lehi also executed dozens of Jews for alleged treason or collaboration with Britain or Arabs, often after irregular [[drumhead courts-martial]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bram |first1=Shir Aharon |title=When the Irgun Decided to Be Judge, Jury and Executioner |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/en/hoi_underground_executions/ |website=The Librarians |date=11 January 2023 |publisher=The National Library of Israel |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref> 

The Haganah also carried out violent attacks in Palestine, such as the liberation of interned immigrants from the [[Atlit detainee camp]], the bombing of the country's railroad network, sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British Palestine police. It continued to organize [[Aliyah bet|illegal immigration]] throughout the entire war.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/atlit.html |title=Atlit Immigration Camp &#124; Jewish Virtual Library |publisher=jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=2015-06-13}}</ref>

In February 1947, the British announced that they would end the mandate and withdraw from Palestine and they asked for the arbitration of the [[United Nations]]. After the vote of the Partition Plan for Palestine on 30 November 1947, [[1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine|civil war broke out in Palestine]]. Jewish and Arab communities fought each other violently in campaigns of attacks, retaliations, and counter-retaliations which provoked around 800 deaths after two months. Arab volunteers entered Palestine to fight alongside the Palestinian Arabs. In April, 6 weeks before the termination of the Mandate, the Jewish militias launched wide operations to control the territory dedicated to them by the Partition Plan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Benny |title=Histoire revisitée du conflit arabo-sioniste |publisher=Editions complexe |year=2003 |pages=16–17 |isbn=978-2-87027-938-0}}</ref> [[Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War|Many atrocities occurred]] during this time. The Arab population in the [[mixed cities]] of [[Tiberias]], [[Safed]], [[Haifa]] and [[Jaffa]], as well as [[Beisan]] and [[Acre, Israel|Acre]] and in the neighbouring villages, fled or were expelled during this period. During the [[Battle for Jerusalem (1948)]] where the Jewish community of 100,000 people was besieged, most Arab villages of the [[Tel Aviv]] – Jerusalem corridor were captured by Jewish militias and leveled.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lapierre |first1=Dominique |last2=Collins |first2=Larry |title=O Jérusalem |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1971 |pages=131–153 |isbn=978-2-266-10698-6}}</ref>

At the beginning of the civil war, the Jewish militias organized several bombing attacks against civilians and military Arab targets. On 12 December, Irgun placed a car bomb opposite the Damascus Gate, killing 20 people.<ref name="Karsh 2002, p.32">Karsh (2002), p. 32</ref> On 4 January 1948, the Lehi detonated a lorry bomb against the headquarters of the paramilitary [[Najjada]] located in [[Jaffa]]'s Town Hall, killing 15 Arabs and injuring 80.<ref name="Karsh 2002, p.32"/><ref>[[Yoav Gelber]], 'Palestine 1948', p. 20; The Scotsman newspaper, 6th January 1948; Walid Khalidi states that 25 civilians were killed, in addition to the military targets. 'Before Their Diaspora', 1984. p. 316, picture p. 325; Benny Morris, 'The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949', Cambridge University Press, p. 46.</ref> During the night between 5 and 6 January, the Haganah bombed the [[Semiramis Hotel bombing|Semiramis Hotel]] in Jerusalem that had been reported to hide Arab militiamen, killing 24 people.<ref>Benny Morris, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', p. 123.</ref> The next day, Irgun members in a stolen police van rolled a [[Barrel bomb (Palestine and Israel)|barrel bomb]]<ref>Larry Collins/Dominique Lapierre, 'O Jerusalem'. History Book Club/ Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. 1972. p. 135: 'two fifty-gallon oil drums packed tight with old nails, bits of scrap iron, hinges, rusty metal filings. At their center was a core of TNT...'</ref> into a large group of civilians who were waiting for a bus by the [[Jaffa Gate]], killing around 16.<ref>Collins/Lapierre. p. 138: 17 killed</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948|first=Dov|last=Joseph|author-link=Dov Yosef|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1960|lccn=60-10976|oclc=266413|url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse/page/56/mode/2up|url-access=registration|page=56|quote=It killed fourteen Arabs and wounded forty others.}}</ref><ref>[[The Scotsman]], 8 January 1948: 16 killed, 41 injured.</ref> Another Irgun bomb went off in the Ramla market on February 18, killing 7 residents and injuring 45.<ref>Embassy of Israel, London, website. 2002. Quoting Zeev Vilnai – 'Ramla past and present'.</ref> On 28 February, the Palmah organised a bombing attack against a garage in Haifa, killing 30 people.<ref>[[Benny Morris]], ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem revisited'', p. 221.</ref>

In 1995, [[Yitzhak Rabin]] was the Prime Minister of Israel who was [[Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin|assassinated]] by [[Yigal Amir]] after a peace rally. Amir had been opposed to Rabin's peace initiative, which included signing the [[Oslo Accords]] and withdrawing from the West Bank. He believed that Rabin was a [[rodef]], meaning a "pursuer" who endangered Jewish lives, and that he was justified in removing Rabin as a threat to Jews in the territories according to the concept of din rodef ("law of the pursuer"), which is a part of traditional [[Halakha|Jewish law]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisen |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhpNQWj4YMcC&dq=rodef+yigal+amir&pg=PA158 |title=The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-979294-8 |language=en}}</ref>

==Condemnation as terrorism==
[[File:Albert Einstein and others letter.jpg|thumbnail|[[Hannah Arendt]], [[Jessurun Cardozo]], [[Albert Einstein]] and others letter]]
Irgun was described as a [[Definition of terrorism|terrorist organization]] by the United Nations, British, and [[United States]] governments, and in media such as ''[[The New York Times]]'' newspaper,<ref>Pope Brewer, Sam. [https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/30/archives/irgun-bomb-kills-11-arabs-2-britons-missile-thrown-from-a-taxi-in.html?sq=terrorist+Irgun&scp=2&st=p Irgun Bomb Kills 11 Arabs, 2 Britons] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817055447/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/30/archives/irgun-bomb-kills-11-arabs-2-britons-missile-thrown-from-a-taxi-in.html?sq=terrorist+Irgun&scp=2&st=p |date=2021-08-17 }}. ''New York Times''. December 30, 1947.</ref><ref>[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E16F93D55147B93C4A81783D85F438485F9&scp=3&sq=terrorist+Irgun&st=p Irgun's Hand Seen in Alps Rail Blast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407231355/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E16F93D55147B93C4A81783D85F438485F9&scp=3&sq=terrorist+Irgun&st=p |date=2014-04-07 }}. ''New York Times''. August 16, 1947.</ref> and by the [[Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry]].<ref>W. Khalidi, 1971, 'From Haven to Conquest', p. 598</ref> In 1946, The World Zionist Congress strongly condemned terrorist activities in Palestine and "the shedding of innocent blood as a means of political warfare". Irgun was specifically condemned.<ref name = NYTirgun>[https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/24/archives/zionists-condemn-palestine-terror-basle-congress-bars-joining-in.html?sq=Irgun+terrorist+president&scp=13&st=p Zionists Condemn Palestine Terror] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615004618/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/24/archives/zionists-condemn-palestine-terror-basle-congress-bars-joining-in.html?sq=Irgun+terrorist+president&scp=13&st=p |date=2018-06-15 }} New York Times. December 24, 1946.</ref>

[[Menachem Begin]] was called a [[Terrorism|terrorist]] and a [[Fascism|fascist]] by [[Albert Einstein]] and 27 other prominent Jewish intellectuals in a letter to the New York Times which was published on December 4, 1948. Specifically condemned was the participation of the Irgun in the [[Deir Yassin massacre]]:<ref name="New Palestine Party">{{cite letter |author1=Isidore Abramowitz|author2=Hannah Arendt|author2-link=Hannah Arendt|author3=Abraham Brick|author4=Jessurun Cardozo|author4-link=Jessurun Cardozo|author5=Albert Einstein|author5-link=Albert Einstein|author6=Herman Eisen|author7=Hayim Fineman|author8=M. Gallen|author9=H.H. Harris|author10=Zellig Harris|author10-link=Zellig Harris|author11=Sidney Hook|author11-link=Sidney Hook|author12=Fred Karush|author13=Bruria Kaufman|author13-link=Bruria Kaufman|author14=Irma L. Lindheim|author14-link=Irma Lindheim|author15=Nahman Maisel|author16=Seymour Melman|author16-link=Seymour Melman|author17=Myer D. Mendelson|author18=Harry M. Oslinsky|author19=Samuel Pitlick|author20=Fritz Rohrlich|author21=Louis P. Rocker|author22=Ruth Sagis|author23=Isaac Sankowsky|author24=Isaac Jacob Schoenberg|author24-link=Isaac Jacob Schoenberg|author25=Samuel Shuman|author26=M. Singer|author27=Irma Wolfe|author28=Stefan Wolf |recipient=[[The New York Times]] |subject=New Palestine Party |date=4 December 1948 |url=https://archive.org/details/AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948 |access-date=2015-06-03 }}</ref>

*"terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants – 240 men, women and children – and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem."

The letter warns [[American Jews]] against supporting Begin's request for funding of his political party [[Herut]], and ends with the warning:
*"The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a "Leader State" is the goal."<ref name="New Palestine Party"/>

Lehi was described as a [[terrorist]] organization<ref>"Stern Gang"  ''A Dictionary of World History''. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press [http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-SternGang.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205070033/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-SternGang.html|date=2009-02-05}}.</ref> by the British authorities and United Nations mediator [[Ralph Bunche]].<ref>[http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/45fc0c6e511ec0c5802564d400560ca0!OpenDocument&Highlight=0,terrorists,bernadotte Ralph Bunche report on assassination of UN mediator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507081227/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/45fc0c6e511ec0c5802564d400560ca0%21OpenDocument%26Highlight%3D0%2Cterrorists%2Cbernadotte |date=2008-05-07 }} 27th Sept 1948, "notorious terrorists long known as the Stern group"</ref>

==Jewish public opinion==
During the conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine before the war, the criterion of "[[Purity of arms]]" was used to distinguish between the respective attitudes of the Irgun and Haganah towards Arabs, with the latter priding itself on its adherence to principle.<ref name="shapira1"/> The Jewish society in the British Mandate Palestine generally disapproved and denounced violent attacks both on grounds of moral rejection and political disagreement, stressing that terrorism is counter-productive in the Zionist quest for Jewish [[self-determination]].<ref name="galor"/> Generally speaking, this precept requires that "weapons remain pure [and that] they are employed only in self-defence and [never] against innocent civilians and defenceless people".<ref name="shlaimdebate">[[Avi Shlaim]], ''[http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472115419-ch5.pdf The Debate About 1948] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605062304/http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472115419-ch5.pdf |date=2011-06-05 }}'', International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27:3, 1995, pp. 287–304</ref> But if it "remained a central value in education" it was "rather vague and intentionally blurred" at the practical level.<ref name="shapira1">[[Anita Shapira]] (1992), p. 252</ref>

In 1946, at a meeting held between the heads of the Haganah, [[David Ben-Gurion]] predicted a confrontation between the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab states. Concerning the "principle of purity of arms", he stressed that: "The end does not justify all means. Our war is based on moral grounds"<ref name="shapira2">[[Anita Shapira]] (1992), p. 295</ref> and during the 1948 War, the [[Mapam]], the political party affiliated to Palmach, asked "a strict observance of the Jewish Purity of arms to secure the moral character of [the] war".<ref name="gelber1948">[[Yoav Gelber]] (2006), p. 291</ref> When he was later criticized by Mapam members for his attitude concerning the [[1948 Palestinian exodus|Arab refugee problem]], Ben-Gurion reminded them of the [[1948 Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle|Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle]] and the fact Palmah officers had been responsible for the "outrage that had encouraged the Arabs' flight made the party uncomfortable."<ref name="gelber1948"/>

According to [[Avi Shlaim]], this condemnation of the use of violence is one of the key features of 'the conventional Zionist account or old history' whose 'popular-heroic-moralistic version' is 'taught in Israeli schools and used extensively in the quest for legitimacy abroad'.<ref name="shlaimdebate"/> [[Benny Morris]] adds that '[t]he Israelis' collective memory of fighters characterized by "purity of arms" is also undermined by the evidence of [the dozen cases] of rapes committed in conquered towns and villages.' According to him, 'after the 1948 war, the Israelis tended to hail the "purity of arms" of its militiamen and soldiers to contrast this with Arab barbarism, which on occasion expressed itself in the mutilation of captured Jewish corpses.' According to him, 'this reinforced the Israelis' positive self-image and helped them "sell" the new state abroad and (...) demonized the enemy'.<ref name=Morris2008p404>Morris 2008, pp. 404–406.</ref>

Some Israelis justify acts of political violence. Sixty years after participating in the assassination of Swedish diplomat [[Folke Bernadotte]], [[Geulah Cohen]] had no regrets. As a broadcaster on Lehi's radio, she recalled the threats against Bernadotte in advance of the assassination. "I told him if you are not going to leave Jerusalem and go to your Stockholm, you won't be any more." Asked if it was right to assassinate Bernadotte, she replied, "There is no question about it. We would not have Jerusalem any more."<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html Israel's forgotten hero: The assassination of Count Bernadotte – and the death of peace] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925193755/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html |date=2015-09-25 }} The Independent, 18 Jan 2008</ref> In July 2006, the [[Menachem Begin Heritage Center]] organized a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the [[King David Hotel bombing]]. The conference was attended by past and future Prime Minister [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] and former members of Irgun.<ref name="spirit">Tom Segev, [http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-spirit-of-the-king-david-hotel-1.193571 "The spirit of the King David Hotel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110165626/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-spirit-of-the-king-david-hotel-1.193571 |date=2010-11-10 }}, ''[[Haaretz]]'', July 23, 2006</ref> The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested that a plaque commemorating the bombing stated "For reasons known only to the British, the hotel was not evacuated."<ref name="spirit"/> Netanyahu, then chairman of [[Likud]] and [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Leader of the Opposition]] in the [[Knesset]], opined that the bombing was a legitimate act with a military target, distinguishing it from an act of terror intended to harm civilians since Irgun sent warnings to evacuate the building.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Nicholas|last=Bethell|title=The Palestine Triangle|publisher=Andre Deutsch|year=1979}}</ref> He said "Imagine that Hamas or Hizbullah would call the military headquarters in Tel Aviv and say, 'We have placed a bomb and we are asking you to evacuate the area.' They don't do that. That is the difference."<ref name=truth>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/Article.aspx?id=29576|title=Reflective truth|newspaper=Jerusalem Post|date=July 27, 2006|first=Eetta|last=Prince-Gibson|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref> The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested, 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", and wrote to the Mayor of [[Jerusalem]] that such an "act of terror" could not be honored. The British government also demanded the removal of the plaque, pointing out that the statement on it accusing the British of failing to evacuate the hotel was untrue and "did not absolve those who planted the bomb."<ref>Ned Parker and [[Stephen Farrell (journalist)|Stephen Farrell]], [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2277717,00.html "British anger at terror celebration"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725004552/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2277717,00.html |date=2008-07-25 }}, ''[[The Times]]'', July 20, 2006</ref> To prevent a diplomatic incident, changes were made in the plaque's text. The final English version says "Warning phone calls have been made to the hotel, The Palestine Post and the French Consulate, urging the hotel's occupants to leave immediately. The hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded. To the Irgun's regret, 92 persons were killed."<ref name=truth/>

==Irgun, Haganah and Lehi attacks==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2015}}
{{Main|List of Irgun attacks|Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War}}
*'''June 30, 1924''' Dutch Jew [[Jacob Israël de Haan]] was assassinated by [[Avraham Tehomi]] on the orders of Haganah leader [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]]<ref name="DeHaan">{{Cite book| author = Shlomo Nakdimon |author2=Shaul Mayzlish  | title =  Deh Han : ha-retsah ha-politi ha-rishon be-Erets Yisraʼel / De Haan: The first political assassination in Palestine | year =1985 | language =he | publisher = Modan Press | location = Tel Aviv | edition=1st | oclc=21528172 }}</ref> for his anti-Zionist political activities and contacts with Arab leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cf.uba.uva.nl/nl/publicaties/treasures/text/t44.html |title=The Rosenthaliana's Jacob Israel de Haan Archive |author=Marijke T.C.Stapert-Eggen |publisher=University of Amsterdam Library |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-date=2011-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526000444/http://cf.uba.uva.nl/nl/publicaties/treasures/text/t44.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*'''1937–1939''' During the later stages of the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Mandatory Palestine]] The Irgun conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinian Arab civilians resulting in the deaths of at least 250. The group also killed a number of Jews it deemed guilty of "treason."<ref>Perliger and Weinberg, 101.</ref><ref>J. Bowyer Bell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=mCfwnAn9uBYC ''Terror out of Zion: the fight for Israeli independence''] (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977). pp.181</ref>
*'''July 15, 1938''' A bomb left in the vegetable market in Jerusalem by the Irgun injured 28.<ref>The TimesSaturday July 17, 1938</ref>
*'''July 25, 1938''' The Irgun threw a bomb into the melon market in Haifa resulting in 49 deaths.<ref>The Times Tuesday July 26, 1938</ref>
*'''November 6, 1944''' Lehi assassinated British minister [[Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne|Lord Moyne]] in [[Cairo]], [[Kingdom of Egypt]]. The action was condemned by the [[Yishuv]] at the time, but the bodies of the assassins were brought home from Egypt in 1975 to a state funeral and burial on [[Mount Herzl]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac07.htm |title=The Hunting Season |access-date=August 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925234922/http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac07.htm |archive-date=September 25, 2013 }} The 'Hunting Season'.</ref>
*'''1944–1945''' The killings of several suspected collaborators with the Haganah and the British mandate government during [[the Hunting Season]].
*'''1946''' Letter bombs sent to British officials, including foreign minister Ernst Bevin, by Lehi.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walton |first1=Calder |title=Coat Bomb and Explosive Prosthesis: British Intel Files Reveal How the Zionist Stern Gang Terrorized London |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-british-intel-files-reveal-how-the-zionist-stern-gang-terrorized-london-1.5627474 |access-date=5 February 2019 |work=Haaretz |date=2 December 2017}}</ref>
*'''July 26, 1946''' The bombing of British administrative headquarters at the [[King David Hotel bombing|King David Hotel]], killing 91 people — 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 others. Around 45 people were injured. In the literature about the [[Terrorism|practice]] and [[history of terrorism]], it has been called one of the most lethal terrorist attacks of the 20th century.<ref name="rapoport2004">Rapoport, D.C., ''The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism'', in Cronin, A. K. & Ludes, J. M. (eds.), ''Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy'', Georgetown University Press, 2004, Washington, DC., pp. 50-51</ref>
*'''1946''' Railways and British military airfields were attacked several times.
*'''October 31, 1946''' The [[1946 British Embassy bombing|bombing by the Irgun of the British Embassy in Rome]]. Nearly half the building was destroyed and 3 people were injured.<ref>{{Cite news|publisher=[[St Petersburg Times]] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19461105&id=vL8wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1E4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7048,7096754 |date=1946-11-05 |access-date=2010-04-08 |title=Jewish Terrorists Admit Bombing Embassy in Rome}}</ref>
*'''April 16, 1947''' An Irgun bomb placed at the Colonial Office in London failed to detonate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Time Bomb Found in London after British hang Gruner as Terrorist in Holy Land|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19470417&id=CzUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0k4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5460,3280823&hl=en|website=Google News|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=17 November 2015|date=Apr 17, 1947}}</ref>  The woman arrested for planting the bomb, alias "Esther," was identified as a Jewess claiming French nationality by the Scotland Yard unit investigating Jewish terrorist activities.  The attack was linked to the 1946 Rome embassy bombing.<ref>{{cite news|title=Police Say Woman Bomb "Planter" Now in Custody|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206021320|work=[[The Age]]|agency=A.A.P.|date=13 June 1947|quote=The woman, who is a Jewess, claims French nationality.  Officers of the special branch of Scotland Yard who have been investigating Jewish terrorist activities are satisfied the man who made the bomb is also under arrest.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=EUROPE-WIDE SEARCH FOR MAN WHO MADE BOMB|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22421445|access-date=26 May 2018|work=[[The Argus (Melbourne)]]|agency=A.A.P|date=19 April 1947|quote=The bomb was of the same type as that used in the explosion at the i British Embassy in Rome last year! and in several other outrages by Jewish terrorists.}}</ref>
* '''14 June 1947''' The [[Reuters]] office in Tel Aviv was raided by "Jewish terrorists."<ref>{{cite news|title=Palestine Threat|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206021320?searchTerm=1946%20embassy%20bomb%20rome%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=|access-date=26 May 2018|work=[[The Age]]|agency=A.A.P.|date=13 June 1947|quote=Jewish terrorists have raided Reuter's Tel Aviv office, where they forced the staff to lie on the floor.}}</ref>
*'''July 25, 1947''' [[The Sergeants affair]]: When death sentences were passed on two Irgun members, the Irgun kidnapped Sgt. Clifford Martin and Sgt. Mervyn Paice and threatened to kill them in retaliation if the sentences were carried out. When the threat was ignored, the hostages were killed. Afterwards, their bodies were taken to an orange grove and left hanging by the neck from trees. An [[improvised explosive device]] was set. This went off when one of the bodies was cut down, seriously wounding a British officer.<ref name=Britainsince1945>Britain Since 1945, David Childs P.34 para 1</ref>
*'''December 1947 – March 1948''' Numerous attacks on Palestinian Arabs in the context of civil war after the vote of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
*'''1947''' Letter bombs sent to the Truman White House by Lehi.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pace |first1=Eric |title=Letter-Bombs Mailed to Truman in 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/02/archives/letterbombs-mailed-to-truman-in-1947-truman-was-sent-bombs-book.html |access-date=5 February 2019 |work=New York Times |date=2 December 1972}}</ref>
*'''January 5–6, 1948''' The [[Semiramis Hotel bombing]], carried out by the Haganah (or, according to some sources, Irgun) resulted in the deaths of 24 to 26 people.
*'''April 1948''' The Deir Yassin massacre carried out by the Irgun and Lehi, killed between 107 and 120 Palestinian villagers,<ref name=numKilled>Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press</ref> the estimate generally accepted by scholars.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Morris | first = Benny | author-link = Benny Morris | title = The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited | year = 2003 | publisher = [[Cambridge University Press]] | location = Cambridge, UK; New York |isbn = 978-0-521-81120-0}}: Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April–June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon, page 238</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Milstein | first = Uri | author-link = Uri Milstein | title = History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision | publisher = University Press of America, Inc. | orig-year = 1987 | year = 1998 |location = Lanhan, Maryland |language=he, en |translator=Alan Sacks |editor=Alan Sacks | isbn = 978-0-7618-1489-4}}: Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre, page 377</ref>
*'''September 17, 1948''' Lehi assassination of the United Nations mediator [[Folke Bernadotte]],<ref name=Independent>{{cite news
  | title =  Israel's forgotten hero: The assassination of Count Bernadotte – and the death of peace
  | first = Donald
  | last = Macintyre
  | newspaper = [[The Independent]]
  | date = 2008-09-18
  | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html
  | access-date = 2008-12-11}}</ref><ref>Sune Persson, Folke Bernadotte and the White Buses, ''Journal of Holocaust Education'', Vol 9, Iss 2–3, 2000, 237–268. Also published in David Cesarani and Paul A. Levine (eds.), ''Bystanders to the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation'' (Routledge, 2002). The precise number is nowhere officially recorded. A count of the first 21,000 included 8,000 Danes and Norwegians, 5,911 Poles, 2,629 French, 1,615 stateless Jews and 1,124 Germans. The total number of Jews was 6,500 to 11,000 depending on definitions. Also see A. Ilan, ''Bernadotte in Palestine, 1948'' (Macmillan, 1989), p37.</ref> whom Lehi accused of a pro-Arab stance during the cease-fire negotiations.

==See also==
{{Portal|Israel}}
*[[Arab–Israeli conflict]]
*[[Criticism of Israel]]
*[[Israeli settler violence]]
*[[Jewish extremist terrorism]]
*[[Kahanism]]
*[[Jewish Defense League]]
*[[Lehava]]
*[[Nationalist terrorism]]
*[[Neo-Zionism]]
*[[Palestinian political violence]]
*[[Jewish fundamentalism]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|title=Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict: Class, State, and Nation in the Age of Globalization|first=Berch|last=Berberoglu|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2006|isbn= 978-0-7425-3544-2}}
*{{Cite book|last=Childs|first=David |title= Britain since 1945|edition=5th }}[https://archive.org/details/britainsince19450000chil/page/34 <!-- quote=british sergeants executed palestine. --> online version at Internet Archive]
*{{Cite book|author=J. Bowyer Bell|title=Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, LEHI, and the Palestine underground, 1929–1949|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1977|isbn=978-0-312-79205-3}}

{{Zionism}}
{{Israeli-Palestinian Conflict}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zionist Political Violence}}
[[Category:Intercommunal conflict in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Zionist political violence| ]]
[[Category:Political violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict| ]]
[[Category:Terrorism in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Judaism and violence]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Mandatory Palestine]]