Terrorism in Palestine may bring the country to the brink of civil war, Eliezer Perlsen, the vice-mayor of Tel Aviv warned last night at a meeting of the city’s municipal council. He attacked the Jewish extremists for attempting “to impose their will” on the Jewish community.
The Jewish Agency also assailed extremist activities, while the Haganah warned that it will be compelled to take “practical steps” even if it must resort to arms, should the extremists continue to carry out assassinations such as the killing of Moshe Ben Bezalel, Jewish detective, who was shot dead in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
An Agency spokesman told a press conference today that it had taken measures to put a halt to terrorist activity, but declined to state what these measures were. He pointed out, however, that the root of all the trouble in Palestine was the administration of the country.
Moshe Shertok, Agency political chief, addressing a servicemen’s meeting in Tel Aviv said that the Jewish community must resist the attempt which is being made to represent it as seeking the blood of innocent men. He also called for the immigration of 200,000 displaced Jews and a Jewish state with a Jewish Army.
At the same time, the Irgun distributed pamphlets warning that it will wound 50 British soldiers for every Jew injured by police rioters last Sunday and Monday.
TRAIN SERVICE TO RESUME UNDER ARMY CONTROL; 20,000 SOLDIERS TO GUARD RAILS
British military authorities announced meanwhile that the country’s rail service, which has been suspended since Tuesday will be resumed tomorrow under army control, but only during daylight hours. Twenty thousand troops will be assigned to guard the rails, with check points set up at half-mile intervals. Armored trolleys will inspect the tracks before resumption of service each morning and will precede each train.
This move followed a broadcast by the Irgun last night, in which it stated that the mines it has been using to disrupt the rail network are of a new type developed by “our military experts.” It alleged that the mines were impossible to dismantle.
The broadcast admitted that the Irgun was responsible for the destruction of the income tax office, in which an Arab and a Jewish policeman were killed and three soldiers injured. The Arab died this morning.
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.
