MI5 files: Lehi planned to assassinate Churchill
Britain's Security Service uncovers files suggesting Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, who was hanged for murdering Lord Moyne, plotted to kill British prime minister, Foreign Secretary Bevin in 1944
According to the files, Eliyahu Bet-Zuri, who was executed in 1945 for assassinating Lord Moyne, suggested sending agents to London to murder the British prime minister in order to force the British out of Palestine.
MI5 – Britain's national security intelligence agency - was concerned that Jewish extremists might try to assassinate other leading British politicians such as foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, the Telegraph reported.
Major James Robertson, from the agency's Middle East section, said threats made by Bet-Zuri in November 1944 were disclosed by another member of the Lehi, also known as the "Stern Gang."
The suspect revealed: "As soon as he (Bet-Zuri) returned to Stern Group headquarters he proposed to suggest a plan for the assassination of highly placed British political personalities, including Mr Churchill, for which purpose emissaries should be sent to London."
Robertson nevertheless noted: "The above information does not, as you will see, amount to very much."
Bet-Zuri and Eliyahu Hakim assassinated Lord Moyne, the UK's minister resident in the Middle East and a close friend of Churchill in 1944. They were both hanged in April 1945.
According to the files, attempts to target British officials continued after the World War II in order to put pressure on the UK to create a Jewish state.
In February 1946 the British defense security officer in Israel sent a secret coded telegram back to London revealing intelligence from "reliable sources" about a plot to kill British ministers, The Telegraph reported.
"Stern Group are training members to go to England to assassinate members of His Majesty's Government, especially Mr Bevin... Stern further reported to be receiving practical sympathy from important Jews (in) Palestine," the telegram stated.
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