The Jews of Palestine were warned today by the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Council that “disaster” may face the entire Jewish community “if the small groups defying the Yishuv’s authority continue to perpetrate terrorist outrages in town and country.”
The warning was issued in the form of a statement following a joint meeting of the temporary executives of the Agency and Council. Pointing out that organized Jewry of Palestine “never besmirched the banner of Zionism by murdering innocent British soldiers and policemen,” the statement condemned the “small minority of the community” which is using terror as a political weapon.
“The Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Council consider it their duty to draw urgent attention of the Jews of Palestine to the great danger and disaster threatening the entire Yishuv if the outrages of these isolated groups do not cease immediately. Bloodshed must stop,” the statement said.
A Jewish Agency spokesman stressed the fact that the situation during the last 24 hours has become “delicate and dangerous.” He emphasized that the temporary executive of the Jewish Agency is now considering a number of measures to combat terrorism, but added that these measures cannot be revealed since their effectiveness depends on secrecy.
The Jewish National Council of Palestine today also issued a statement denouncing the Hebrew Committee of National Liberation in America and stressing that this organization in no way represents the Jews of Palestine. “Let not the American public be deceived by the grandiloquent claims of this group,” the statement said.
GOVT. SPOKESMAN REPORTS ON ARMS AND AMMUNITION SEIZED DURING YEAR
A spokesman for the Palestine Government, addressing a press conference today, said that enough small arms and ammunition to equip 8,000 men on a “wartime” scale of fifty rounds per man have been seized by the British Army in raids on Jewish underground arms dumps during the last twelve months. The arms haul included 121 mortars found in Jewish secret caches, he declared, adding that this is enough to equip fifteen battalions.
Troops and police also found 4,600 bombs, 412 rifles, 319 pistols, 15 machine guns and 79 tommy-guns, the official revealed. In Arab districts the authorities unearthed 92 rifles, 223 pistols and ten bombs, he reported.
ONE BRITISH SOLDIER KILLED, TWO WOUNDED IN TWO LANDMINE EXPLOSIONS
One British soldier was killed and two injured today in two separate explosions in Palestine. The fatality occurred on the Mt. Carmel Road in Haifa, when the jeep which the soldier was driving was destroyed. The wounding of the other two soldiers and the destruction of their jeep took place north of Tel Aviv near the village of Gan Menashe.
Several armed men entered the Hadassah hospital in Tel Aviv this afternoon with a severely wounded man. They asked that he be operated upon, but the man died before the physicians could operate. His name is not known.
A government communique issued today corrects earlier reports that Akiba Weinstein, who was wounded during an attempted holdup in Tel Aviv yesterday, was kidnapped from the Hadassah hospital there. Apparently, the kidnappers rescued a member of their group, while Weinstein, who is reported to have been an innocent bystander, was taken to a military hospital in Jaffa, where he is being held for questioning.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
