By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent8:04PM BST 03 Apr 2011 Eliyahu Bet-Zuri suggested sending agents of the Stern Gang, a terrorist group dedicated to forcing the British out of Palestine, to London to kill the prime minister. MI5 was concerned that Jewish extremists might try to assassinate other leading British politicians, in particular the post-war foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, files released to the National Archives reveal. 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 Stern Gang who was arrested in April 1945. 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." Bet-Zuri was hanged in 1945 for murdering Lord Moyne, the UK's minister resident in the Middle East and a close friend of Churchill, in Cairo in November 1944. After the Second World War there was a sharp rise in Zionist terrorism in Palestine, which was still administered by Britain, in an attempt to put pressure on Clement Attlee's Labour government to create a Jewish state. In February 1946 the British defence security officer in Palestine sent a secret coded telegram back to London revealing intelligence from "reliable sources" about a plot to kill British ministers. He wrote: "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. A steady flow of recruits for Stern being received in this connection." In June that year Maj Robertson told Scotland Yard's Special Branch of reports that a recent surge in terrorist activity in Palestine was partly down to a speech made by Bevin in Bournemouth. He wrote: "This speech is stated to have caused considerable bitterness among the Jewish community in Palestine. A typical Jewish 'man in the street', for example, described the speech as the most anti-Semitic ever delivered by a British statesman." Fears were heightened in July 1946 when Jewish resistance group Irgun bombed the King David Hotel, the main British administrative centre in Jerusalem, killing 91 people. The next day MI5 raised concerns about the possibility of Bevin being murdered if he went ahead with plans to visit Egypt to sign a treaty. A memo noted: "There would obviously be considerable danger of an attempt on his life, either by parties opposed to the treaty or by the Irgun or Stern... "The fact was that if a fanatic intended to carry out an assassination and was prepared to disregard his own safety there would be very little that he could not do." And a secret telegram sent to MI5 from Security Intelligence Middle East warned: "Likelihood of terrorist attack on foreign secretary during proposed visit to Egypt is almost household word in Middle East." http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...rorist-plotted-to-kill-Winston-Churchill.html
A Jewish extremist who murdered a British government minister during the Second World War also proposed assassinating Winston Churchill, MI5 records show. Eliyahu Bet-Zuri suggested sending agents of the Stern Gang, a Zionist paramilitary group devoted to forcing the British out of Palestine, to London to kill the then-prime minister. Bet-Zuri was hanged in 1945 for murdering Lord Moyne, the UK's minister resident in the Middle East and a close friend of Churchill, in Cairo in November 1944. Eliyahu Bet-Zuri (right) suggested sending agents of the Stern Gang, a Zionist paramilitary group devoted to forcing the British out of Palestine, to London to kill Churchill. Bet-Zuri was hanged in 1945 for murdering Lord Moyne, a close friend of Churchill, in Cairo in 1944 MI5 was deeply concerned that Jewish terrorists might try to assassinate other leading British politicians, in particular the post-war foreign secretary Ernest Bevin, files released by the National Archives reveal. 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 Stern Gang who was arrested in April 1945. 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.' But Maj Robertson noted: 'The above information does not, as you will see, amount to very much. 'It does, however, I think justify us in assuming that the danger of attempts on the lives of important people here is still one which we must reckon carefully.' After the Second World War there was a sharp rise in Zionist terrorism in Palestine, which was still administered by Britain, in an attempt to put pressure on Clement Attlee's Labour government to create a Jewish state. After World War II there was a sharp rise in Zionist terrorism in Palestine, which was still administered by Britain, in an attempt to put pressure on Clement Attlee's Labour government to create a Jewish state In February 1946 the UK's defence security officer in Palestine sent a secret encoded telegram back to London revealing intelligence from "reliable sources" about a plot to kill British ministers. He wrote: '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. A steady flow of recruits for Stern being received in this connection.' In June that year Maj Robertson told Scotland Yard's Special Branch of reports that a recent surge in terrorist activity in Palestine was partly down to a speech made by Bevin in Bournemouth. He wrote: 'This speech is stated to have caused considerable bitterness among the Jewish community in Palestine. A typical Jewish 'man in the street', for example, described the speech as the most anti-Semitic ever delivered by a British statesman.' Fears were heightened in July 1946 when Jewish resistance group Irgun bombed the King David Hotel, the main British administrative centre in Jerusalem, killing 91 people. The next day MI5 raised concerns about the possibility of Bevin being murdered if he went ahead with plans to visit Egypt to sign a treaty. A memo noted: 'There would obviously be considerable danger of an attempt on his life, either by parties opposed to the treaty or by the Irgun or Stern... 'The fact was that if a fanatic intended to carry out an assassination and was prepared to disregard his own safety there would be very little that he could not do.' And a secret telegram sent to MI5 from Security Intelligence Middle East warned: 'Likelihood of terrorist attack on foreign secretary during proposed visit to Egypt is almost household word in Middle East.' Read more: http://www.dail*****.co.uk/news/art...veal-1944-plot-Stern-Group.html#ixzz1IZsMFMdQ