The Hebrew press appeared this morning with no reference to the Voice of Israel broadcast yesterday which charged that a British secret plan to smash the Jewish resistance movement and imprison thousands of Jewish leaders had been uncovered by the Haganah. The Palestine censor forbids mention of any “illegal” organization.
British military headquarters in Palestine today refused to comment on the existence of the plan. Immediately after the Haganah broadcast special precautions were taken by the police and military and all Jewish travelers were stopped and searched on roads, trains, and motor vehicles.
The families of Joseph Simkhon and Itzchak Azbel, the two Jewish youths who were sentenced to death last week by a British military court here for participating in a raid on a military camp at Sarafand, today announced that they will appeal to the highest military authorities for commendation of the sentences, since the prosecution admitted that neither of the condemned youths discharged weapons during the raid.
Azbel arrived in Palestine three years ago to join his brother, the only surviving member of his family. His father was killed in the Warsaw ghetto, while his mother and sister are “missing.”
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.