Jewish Resistance Movement Militant Activities in British Palestine - MI5 and SIS Files - Download

Jewish Resistance Movement Militant Activities in British Palestine - MI5 and Secret Intelligence Service Files 

936 pages of British MI5 files covering activity of underground Jewish resistance groups in British Mandate Palestine until the end of the Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine, known in the United Kingdom as the Palestine Emergency,  when the British forces’ inability stop the insurgency turned British public opinion against the deployment in Palestine, leading to Britain's withdrawal. Covers Zionist paramilitary organizations such as the Stern Gang (Lehi), Irgun Tzvai Leumi (Etzel,  IZL), and Haganah.

The files primarily date from 1944 to 1949, titled by the MI5, "JEWISH TERRORIST ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST." They mostly cover activity during the time of The Jewish Resistance Movement (Hebrew Rebellion Movement, United Resistance Movement), from 1945 to 1946 when there was an alliance of the Zionist paramilitary organizations Haganah, Irgun and Lehi. The Movement was established in October 1945 by the Jewish Agency and operated for some ten months, until August 1946. The alliance coordinated acts of sabotage and violent attacks against the British authorities. Militant resistance to British rule continued after the alliance dissolved.

“The British didn’t have an end game," according to  Saul Zadka, author of “Blood in Zion: How the Jewish Guerrillas drove the British Out of Palestine,” "they didn’t know what to do, and the insurgents’ operations affected the morale of the armed forces very badly. The British papers were saying, ‘If you can’t control Palestine, just get out.’ And it was very expensive to keep 100,000 soldiers there. So overall, holding onto Palestine was not worth it. The cost was too high.”

The state of Israel was proclaimed on 14 May 1948. The following day, the last remaining British troops withdrew, and the first Arab-Israeli war began.

The files show how British agents tried to contain the threat of militant activities and keep the groups from launching attacks in Europe and Britain.

Highlights include:

The files cover a 1 a.m. call to British military security forces warning that Stern Group assassins planned to kill the commander of British forces in Palestine, General Evelyn Barker, that morning.

Exchanges between British intelligence and the FBI about the activities of "Jewish commandos" in New York City.

The files contain an official "top secret" request for "special attention security check of all Jews travelling to the U.K." because of the security threat posed by the Stern Gang.

 Various documents concerning the killing of  Lord Moyne. Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne,  was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assassinated by  members of the Stern Gang (Lehi).