Mandatory Reading

The Epstein Class was out in force today, to give lavish obsequies, in the presence of the Prime Minister and apparently on the public tab, to the race-baiter and Gurkha-hater, expenses cheat and electoral fraud, Phil Woolas. Andy Burnham promised to name the tramline from Oldham to Old Trafford "The Woolas Line" after this racist crook, and eulogists included the only British member of Donald Trump's Board of Peace, as well as John Mann, who was utterly and deservedly obscure until he made himself the foghorn of the theatrical outrage when, admittedly inelegantly, Ken Livingstone had dared to mention that of which, this very day in Israel, Ofer Aderet writes:

In May 1941, Eliyahu Golomb, founder and de facto commander of the Haganah, the pre-independence army of the Jews in then-British Mandatory Palestine, spoke in a small forum: "I have information… about suspicion regarding a group of Jews who have connections with the enemy," he said. At the time, during World War II, the enemy he referred to was the Germans. "According to the information, there is a man who contacted the Germans. This man is known; his name is S," he added.

"S" was Avraham "Yair" Stern, leader of Lehi, the pre-state underground militia also known as the Stern Gang. He had split from the Irgun because he believed the struggle against the British should continue even during the war.

"The police are already talking about a Jewish 'fifth column,'" Golomb added, referring to the British police.

Golomb's remarks were recorded in real time in a Haganah intelligence document filed under "Contacts with the Axis." The file was kept in the IDF archives and later transferred to the State Archives. About three years ago, Haaretz requested that it be declassified. It was recently scanned and uploaded.

Reviewing the file provides insight into material collected by the Haganah, and later by the Shin Bet and the IDF, regarding Lehi's attempts to establish ties with the Axis powers, Italy and Germany.

The idea of recruiting Nazi Germany to help liberate Palestine from British rule was conceived by Stern, who advocated uncompromising violent resistance to the British. His position contradicted that of most of the Jewish community, which had suspended its struggle against Britain in favor of fighting Germany.

Fighters of Haganah, the pre-independence army of the Jews in then-British Mandatory Palestine, during a patrol. "The police are already talking about a Jewish 'fifth column,'" said Eliyahu Golomb, founder and de facto commander of the Haganah, referring to the British police.

One document describes Stern's ideology as follows: "With the outbreak of World War II… Stern argued that there is no better time for a war of independence than during wartime. Britain's forces are tied down… and it would be possible to overcome them. The question of orientation seemed simple to him.

"The Jews are a party in the war and therefore cannot be neutral. Britain betrayed the Jewish people and will never allow the establishment of a Jewish state. On the other hand, Germany has no special interest in Palestine, and since the Nazis want to cleanse Europe of Jews, nothing is simpler than transferring them to their own state."

The document further states that Stern believed "it is possible to reach a practical agreement with the Germans… negotiations should be opened, and Jews of Europe should be recruited into a special army that would fight its way to Palestine and conquer it from the British. The Germans, he argued, would agree because it would rid them of the Jews while also removing the British from the Near East."

Another document notes that Stern believed there were two schools of thought in Nazi Germany regarding the Jewish community in Palestine. One advocated closeness with the Arabs and supported the leadership of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Hajj Amin al-Husseini, because it viewed the Jewish community there as "more dangerous than any other Jewish community, since it was endowed with aggressive qualities and a desire for freedom."

The other school of thought, according to Stern, supported strengthening the Jewish settlement by bringing Jews from Europe, believing they would be grateful and would assist Germany.

The file tracking Lehi's contacts with the Axis powers also includes a document written in 1949. Its anonymous author claimed that he clarified with Stern, in real time, the "ideological foundation" of his position. According to the author, Stern said:

"We will manage somehow with the Germans after they conquer the land, just as the Soviets managed with them when necessary."

Additional documents state that Stern aspired "to seize control of all of Eretz Yisrael by force with the help of a foreign power," and that "it is clear he seriously considered becoming a 'Jewish Quisling,' with the aid of a foreign power." The reference is to the Norwegian prime minister who collaborated with the Nazis and whose name became synonymous with treason.

Lubenchik sought "to prove to Axis policymakers that it would be worthwhile to designate Eretz Yisrael as that place of concentration, thereby gaining the friendship of the Hebrew people, who would enlist for this purpose in the war against England."

These plans were not merely theoretical. Historical research documents several attempts by Lehi envoys to contact German officials. One resulted in a document proposing "active partnership" with Germany in the war, based on "shared interests between German policy and Jewish national aspirations." It also suggested that a Jewish state would form an alliance with the German Reich.

These contacts did not succeed, but the Haganah monitored them closely.

The file also records additional remarks by Golomb in 1941 in two closed forums: "There is no doubt there was an attempt to contact the Germans, and it is possible they promised something, perhaps an internal Jewish police force." He added that the British government had obtained material that could be used politically against the Jewish community. "Several Jews were arrested, suspected of connections or attempts to connect with Italians or Germans, most likely with the Germans."

Golomb also referred to an internal Lehi pamphlet explaining the ideology: "Britain is a traitor. Who decided the opposing side must necessarily be against the Jews? In any case, Jews must conduct independent politics and connect with whoever is worthwhile."

At the same meeting, Zalman Shazar, who would later become Minister of Education and President of the State, was also present.

"I spoke with someone who read that pamphlet, and he conveyed its contents to me," he reported. "The Nazis are indeed against the Jews, but their hatred is directed at the Jews of the diaspora. There is no opposition in the Nazi program to a Judenstaat (a Jewish state)."

The file also mentions Naftali Lubenchik, a Lehi member who was sent to meet with German representatives. A document written in 1951 states that he believed "the Axis does not seek the physical destruction of the Jewish people, but rather their expulsion from Europe and their concentration in one place…"

It further states that he sought "to prove to Axis policymakers that it would be worthwhile to designate Eretz Yisrael as that place of concentration, thereby gaining the friendship of the Hebrew people, who would enlist for this purpose in the war against England."

Lubenchik died in 1946 in Eritrea, where he had been exiled by the British. He is commemorated on the Yizkor memorial site as one of Israel's fallen. The site notes that his contacts with the Germans were intended "to save the Jews of Europe and concentrate them territorially in the Land of Israel."

The file also includes statements by two Lehi leaders supporting attempts to establish ties with the Nazis.

Natan Friedman, later known as Natan Yellin-Mor and a future member of the Knesset, wrote in 1943: "Germany has not yet been defeated and may still become our ally."

Israel Eldad who, according to the Lehi memorial website, was "a member of the Lehi central committee and its leading ideologue and public intellectual," was quoted in 1949 as saying: "Yair acted rightly, and he was justified in doing so in seeking an ally against Britain, just as the Soviet Union acted in its own interests when it allied with Nazi Germany in order not to be abandoned by Britain."

Lehi's contacts with the Nazis ultimately came to nothing. Stern himself was killed by the British in 1942, and in the end, as one of the documents in the file states, "nothing came of it."