Version 3: Fri, Oct 18, 2024
By
Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Sidney Hook, et.al. -
https://archive.org/details/AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948,
CC0,
Link
Letter written to the New York Times condemning Begin and the Deir Yassin massacre, published Dec 4, 1948. The signature of Albert Einstein is highlighted.
About this post:
Continuing my investigations of Israel, its history and the role it plays as a major source of problems in the Middle East. In an earlier post LLM: Jewish Terrorist Groups we had information on Jewish terrorist groups in the 1940s.
What prompted the current post was the Crocus City Hall attack on March 22, 2024, by an ISIS affiliated group. The MSM reported the attack as though ISIS is an independent and autonomous group. Having on Twitter since 2009 I have come across numerous post that clearly show communication, collaboration and support of ISIS not just from Israel but also US and Turkey.
Using LLM to investigate the Israel/ISIS connection gave limited information, you can see the results below. What follows combines information from various publications, and searches on the Web and my Twitter feed. It turns out the connection between Israel and terrorism goes back well before the 1940s and continues to our day.
And what about the Crocus City Hall attack? My current working hypothesis involves Burisma board member and former CIA officer Joseph Cofer Black. More information in the Burisma section of File: Corruption in Ukraine.
Some Important Dates
- World War I (July 28, 1914 – November 11, 1918)
- Balfour Declaration (1917)
- League of Nations (10 January 1920 - 18 April 1946)
- British Mandate for Palestine (29 September 1923 - 15 May 1948)
- Betar (Revisionist Zionist youth movement 1923)
- Assassination of Jacob Israël de Haan (30 June 1924) - by Haganah
- Haifa massacres (March and July 1938) - 39 dead, 90 injured - by Irgun
- World War II (September 1, 1939 – September 2, 1945)
- Assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo (November 1944) - by Lehi
- United Nations official establishment (October 24, 1945)
- King David Hotel bombing (July 1946) - 91 dead - by Irgun
- Deir Yassin massacre (April 1948) - 100-120 dead - by Menachim Begin with Irgun and Lehi
- Israeli Declaration of Independence (May 14, 1948)
- Assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte (September 1948)
By
אנשי תנועת הנוער בית”ר ורשה 1939 - ארכיון מכון ז’בוטינסקי
http://www.jabotinsky.org/Site/content/t5.asp?Pid=125&Sid=12,
Public Domain,
Link
Zeev Jabotinsky (bottom second from right) meeting with Betar leaders in Warsaw. Bottom left Menachem Begin (probably 1939) - Wikimedia
Jewish Terrorist Groups During the British Mandate
Haganah
Haganah (‘The Defense’ 1920–1948) was the main Zionist paramilitary organization in the British Mandate for Palestine. It formally disbanded in 1948 and merged into the IDF.
Irgun
Irgun Zevai Leumi (‘National Military Organiztion’ 1931-12 January 1949) split from Haganah, eventually merged also into IDF. Irgun was the military sector of Jabotinski’s ‘Revisionist Zionist’ movement
Stern Gang / Lehi
Lehi, acronym for Lohamei Herut Israel (‘Fighters for the Freedom of Israel’ 1940-1948). Founded by Avraham Stern and continued after his killing by the British forces in 1942, led by Yitzhak Shamir.
What did the Jewish Terrorist Groups do?
Essentially we have two types of attacks:
Indiscriminate Attacks
Examples: the grenade attacks in Haifa markets and elsewhere before WWII, the King David Hotel bombing and the Deir Yassin massacre among other instances.
Targeted Assassinations
Examples: the assassinations of Jacob Israël de Haan, Lord Moyne and Count Folke Bernadotte.
The typology breaks down if we contemplate the genocide in Gaza, where whole city blocks were detroyed supposedly to kill some Hamas official.
What happened to the Jewish Terrorist Groups after Independence?
The photograph shows Ze’ev Jabotinsky at a Hatzohar political party conference (likely in Paris, in the second half of the 1920s) - Wikimedia.
.jpg#/media/File:Hatzohar_Conference._1925-1929_(id.15232546).jpg)
By
Unknown author -
via.lib.harvard.edu,
Public Domain,
Link
Hatzohar dissolved after Independence, with Herut taking its place:
A building block of Israel’s political perspective and statehood program, most Zionist terrorist groups transitioned from underground terrorist groups to political mainstreams parties rapidly with the founding of Israel in May, 1948. (Note, however, that some groups continued to operate even after May, 1948, e.g. assassination of Count Bernadotte in September, 1948 as mentioned above.) Menachim Begin transformed the Irgun into a political party called Herut. The Lehi became the Moledet party which today continues to openly advocate the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, territories now occupied by Israel. Paradoxically, terrorist leaders Menachim Begin and Yitzhak Shamir later became Prime Ministers of Israel – their political heirs now forming part of the political establishment of Israel. (CJPME Factsheet 23, 2007)
Netanyahu at the Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem on March 14, 2016 - Source: Times of Israel
Israel with ISIS and Hamas
ISIS
Exclusive: Israel Is Tending to Wounded Syrian Rebels By Colum Lynch - Foreign Policy, June 11, 2014 - Archive
Report: Israel treating al-Qaida fighters wounded in Syria civil war Jerusalem Post, March 13, 2015 - Archive
Israel Reportedly Providing Direct Aid, Funding to Syrian Rebels Haaretz, Jun 19, 2017 - Archive
IDF chief finally acknowledges that Israel supplied weapons to Syrian rebels: In interview with UK’s Sunday Times, outgoing army commander Gadi Eisenkot says Israel gave opposition groups light arms ‘for self-defense’ By Judah Ari Gross - Times of Israel, 14 January 2019 - Archive
ISIS apologizes to Israel
Israel forgives Daesh for attack following ‘apology’ Middle East Monitor - April 29, 2017 - Archive
Isis fighters ‘attacked Israel Defense Forces unit, then apologised’ claims former commander by Chloe Farand - The Independent - y 28 August 2017 - Archive
ISIS and Mossad
Israeli Website Claims ISIS Commander Revealed As Mossad Agent by Whitney Webb - Sep 12, 2017 - Archive
Netayahu and the funding of Hamas
Op-ed: For years, Netanyahu propped up Hamas. Now it’s blown up in our faces By Tal Schneider - 8 October 2023 - Times of Israel - Archive
The premier’s policy of treating the terror group as a partner, at the expense of Abbas and Palestinian statehood, has resulted in wounds that will take Israel years to heal from
Opinion | A Brief History of the Netanyahu-Hamas Alliance by Adam Raz - Haaretz - Oct 20, 2023 - Archived
For 14 years, Netanyahu’s policy was to keep Hamas in power; the pogrom of October 7, 2023, helps the Israeli prime minister preserve his own rule
‘Buying Quiet’: Inside the Israeli Plan That Propped Up Hamas By Mark Mazzetti and Ronen Bergman - NY Times - Dec 10 2023 - Archive
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gambled that a strong Hamas (but not too strong) would keep the peace and reduce pressure for a Palestinian state
Why Netanyahu Bolstered Hamas: The Israeli prime minister followed a decades-old divide-and-rule strategy that fuels endless war by Jeet Heer - The Nation - December 11, 2023 Archive
The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell on Friday openly accused Israel of having financed the Palestinian militant group Hamas by Šejla Ahmatović - Politico - Jan 20, 2024
Hamas was financed by the Israeli government in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority.
Top Secret: In a 2018 letter, Netanyahu asks Qatar to fund Hamas by Nir (Shoko) Cohen - Y Net News - May 5, 2024
In letter seen by handful of people, PM urges Doha to deliver $30 million to Gaza monthly, claiming funding Hamas would preserve regional stability and avert humanitarian crisis
References
Bergman, Ronen (2019) Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel’s Targeted Assassinations - (Penguin 2019) - Online: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/209254/rise-and-kill-first-by-ronen-bergman/. Ronen Bergman is a senior correspondent for military and intelligence affairs for Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
Bronner, Ethan (2018) “Poisoned toothpaste and exploding phones: Israel linked to 2,700 assassination operations in 70 years” - Bloomberg News - Jan 27, 2018 - On;ine: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/poisoned-toothpaste-and-exploding-phones-israel-linked-to-2700-assassination-operations-in-70-years - Archive: https://archive.ph/XPIJg
Chagnollaud, Jean-Paul (2013) “Les assassinats ciblés ou comment détruire un processus politique - Pages 89 à 102 - (”Targeted Assassinations or How to Destroy a Political Process”) - Online: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-confluences-mediterranee-2013-3-page-89?lang=fr
CJPME Factsheet 23 (2007) Jewish Terrorism under the British Mandate by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East - Online: https://www.cjpme.org/fs_023 - Archive: https://archive.ph/BZ1Vs
Cohen, Samy (2008) “Les assassinats ciblés pendant la seconde Intifada : une arme à double tranchant” - Critique internationale, No. 41 (octobre-décembre 2008), pp. 61-80 (20 pages) Published By: Sciences Po University Press - (“Targeted Assinations during the Second Intifada: A double-edged Weapon”) Online: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24565240
Haavara (1941) Haavara Agreement: A scanned copy of the document (dated January 1941) sent by the Stern Gang asking Nazi Germany for alliance between both groups - Online: https://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Palestine-Remembered/Story799.html - Archive: https://archive.ph/MIU7U
Fattori, Francesca et al. (2024) ’One map to visualize 70 years of targeted assassinations by Israel By Francesca Fattori (text), Delphine Papin, Victor Simonnet (maps), Iness Debbouza and Eric Dedier (development) - Le Monde - Online: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/09/27/one-map-to-visualize-70-years-of-targeted-assassinations-by-israel_6727462_4.html - Archive: https://archive.ph/hyAko - Only part of this article is available online, and without the map, however the sources for the graphics are among the references.
O’ Malley, JP (2016) ‘Seeing Begin as the beginning of the end for traditional Zionism: The 40-year-old Jabotinsky resurgence is responsible for marginalizing peace talks, historian Milton Viorst claims in his newest book’ by JP O’ Malley - Times of Israel - 7 July 2016 - Online: https://www.timesofisrael.com/seeing-begin-as-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-traditional-zionism/
Meyssan, Thierry (2024) “The veil is being torn: the hidden truths of Jabotinsky and Netanyahu” - Voltaire Net - 25 Jan 2024 - Online: https://voltairenet.org/article220334.html - Archive: https://archive.ph/HCOsJ
Walton, Calder (2014) “Became British Spies’ Biggest Enemy: In World War II’s aftermath, MI5 turned to fight a new threat. It wasn’t the Soviets. It was bombers from Jerusalem” - Foreign Policy Magazine - January 1, 2014 - Online: https://foreignpolicy.com/2014/01/01/how-zionist-extremism-became-british-spies-biggest-enemy/ - Archive: https://archive.ph/TLCPw - Calder Walton is a historian at the Harvard Kennedy School.
LLM Search
This was the LLM search mentioned earlier that started this post. It does not help much hence the rest of the post.
Has there been any documented attacks by ISIS on Israel? Has there been any cases of ISIS wounded that were hospitalized in Israel?
Mistral.AI
As of now, there have been no officially documented, large-scale attacks by ISIS directly on Israel. There have been instances of rocket fire and other minor attacks from ISIS-affiliated groups in the Sinai and Golan Heights regions, but these incidents have been relatively small and sporadic. It’s important to note that the situation in the Middle East is complex and fluid, and the status of relationships between different groups can change. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, it’s recommended to refer to reliable news sources or official government statements.
Gemini
If you’d like up-to-date information, try using Google Search.
ChatGPT
Yes, there have been documented instances where individuals wounded in conflicts related to ISIS activities near Israel’s borders, particularly in Syria, were treated in Israeli hospitals. Israel has a policy of providing medical treatment to individuals wounded in the Syrian conflict, regardless of their affiliations. This humanitarian effort has included treating civilians, rebels, and others caught in the conflict, and it has been reported that among those treated, there could have been individuals linked to various factions, potentially including those associated with ISIS.
As for direct attacks by ISIS on Israel, while ISIS has expressed hostility towards Israel, the instances of direct confrontations or attacks have been relatively rare. However, there have been claims of responsibility by ISIS for attacks in Israel and along its borders, particularly in areas close to Syria and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, where ISIS-affiliated groups have been more active. These instances have generally been limited and have not amounted to a sustained campaign of attacks against Israel.
Additional Information
Posts on this site of possible interest:
- LLM: Jewish Terrorist Groups an earlier separate page on this blog for the Irgun and Lehi gangs in the 1940s.
- Israel as Defense for the West raises doubts about this line of argument
- LLM: Judaism and Zionism
- LLM: The Philby Plan for Palestine and Israel
- File: West Asia
- File: Corruption in Ukraine
Started: Sat, Mar 23, 2024
![[1]](http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/europe/cyprus_ethnic_1973.jpg){kind=link}
