NCJ Number
125953
Journal
Terrorism Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: (1989) Pages: 199-212
Date Published
1989
Length
13 pages
Annotation
Underground movements in a struggle for political independence experience processes of crystallization as well as schism. Many times, severe struggles develop in these groups and focus on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology.
Abstract
The success of these movements in achieving their explicit goals depends on their ability to develop an effective mechanism(s) for inner conflict(s) resolution(s). Such inner conflicts and tensions can change, in the most profound way, the way an underground movement functions, its ability to attract and recruit new members, and its survivability. Lehi was one of the three preState Jewish underground groups in Palestine (the two others were the Hagana and Etzel), struggling against the British and the Arabs with the explicit goal of establishing a new Jewish State. Lehi was established in the summer of 1940 and, in the autumn and winter of 1942, was already in an advanced stage of disintegration due to the British success in arresting and killing most of its members and leadership. In the summer of 1942, two leaders of Lehi -- Itzhak Yazernitsky-Shamir and Eliahu Giladi -- escaped from the British detention camp in Mazra and revived Lehi. During 1942, a severe conflict developed between these two leaders, focusing on issues of leadership, operations, and ideology. Consequently, Shamir instructed his men to kill Giladi, who was assassinated in the summer of 1943. This paper traces the development of this conflict in a political and historical context and examines the consequences of the assassination. The main conclusion is that the death of Giladi had a major impact on the reemerging Lehi. 73 notes. (Author abstract)