Yaakov Heruti
Encyclopedia
Yaakov Heruti is an Israeli lawyer and right-wing activist. He was a member of the pre-state militant group Lehi
and the leader of the group Kingdom of Israel
, which bombed the Soviet embassy in Tel Aviv and carried out other acts of political violence in the 1950s. As a Lehi member, Heruti was stationed in Britain and assembled the letter bomb that was sent to Roy Farran
.
. After graduating from the Herzliya Gymnasium he joined the Jewish Settlement Police
. As an adolescent, Heruti's political outlook had been shaped by the writings of Lehi founder Avraham Stern
and the nationalist poetry of Uri Zvi Greenberg
, and he joined Lehi soon after becoming a policeman.
directed him to set up a Lehi cell in the UK. Heruti enrolled at London University law school as a cover and recruited a dozen accomplices from the ranks of right-wing Zionist groups like Betar
and the Hebrew Legion. Lehi's leadership instructed Heruti to kill British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
, General Evelyn Barker
, the former commander of British troops in Palestine, and Roy Farran
, a British soldier who had been tried but acquitted for his role in the alleged murder of a teenage Lehi member. The order to kill Bevin was later rescinded. A letter bomb was sent to Barker's home, but his wife saw it as suspicious and called the police. The bomb sent to Farran's home was opened by his younger brother Rex, who was killed. Heruti left the UK in May 1948.
. In February 1953 the Kingdom of Israel planted a large bomb at the Soviet embassy to protest Soviet antisemitism, injuring three people, one seriously. The group also targeted the Czech embassy and West German officials, among other activities. Heruti and the other members of the group were apprehended in May 1953 and he was sentenced to ten years in prison. However, he and the other Kingdom of Israel members who were convicted had their sentences commuted two years later.
and Tsomet. He coined the name of Rehavam Ze'evi's party Moledet
. As a lawyer he helped settler activists purchase land in the occupied territories, and he remains close to the leadership of Gush Emunim
. In the 1990s and 2000s he was active at the Ariel University Center of Samaria. He supports the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the eventual establishment of a Jewish state "[f]rom the Euphrates to the Nile." Heruti is not religiously observant; his political views are still defined by the work of Stern, Greenberg, and Israel Eldad
.
Lehi (group)
Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...
and the leader of the group Kingdom of Israel
Kingdom of Israel (group)
The Kingdom of Israel , or Tzrifin Underground, was a violent political group active in Israel in the 1950s."Kingdom of Israel," was the name used by the group's members but it was better known to the Israeli public as the "Tzrifin Underground", after the Tzrifin military base, where its members...
, which bombed the Soviet embassy in Tel Aviv and carried out other acts of political violence in the 1950s. As a Lehi member, Heruti was stationed in Britain and assembled the letter bomb that was sent to Roy Farran
Roy Farran
Major Roy Alexander Farran DSO, MC & Two Bars was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist...
.
Early life
Heruti was born in Tel Aviv to Polish-born parents. His father was a supporter of MapaiMapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
. After graduating from the Herzliya Gymnasium he joined the Jewish Settlement Police
Jewish Settlement Police
The Jewish Settlement Police were a division of the Notrim established in Mandatory Palestine in 1936, during the Arab Revolt.-History:...
. As an adolescent, Heruti's political outlook had been shaped by the writings of Lehi founder Avraham Stern
Avraham Stern
Avraham Stern , alias Yair was a Jewish paramilitary leader who founded and led the militant Zionist organization later known as Lehi .-Early life:Stern was born in Suwałki, Poland...
and the nationalist poetry of Uri Zvi Greenberg
Uri Zvi Greenberg
Uri Zvi Grinberg was an acclaimed Israeli poet and journalist who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew.-Biography:Uri Zvi Grinberg was born in Bialikamin, Galicia, then Austria-Hungary, into a prominent Hasidic family. He was raised in Lemberg . Some of his poems in Yiddish and Hebrew were published...
, and he joined Lehi soon after becoming a policeman.
Lehi
Heruti was part of Lehi's technical department and specialized in making bombs. Bell states that he was appointed head of the technical department in 1945. In 1947 Nathan Yellin-MorNathan Yellin-Mor
Nathan Yellin-Mor was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Lehi leader and Israeli politician. In his later years, he became a radical pacifist who supported negotiations with the Palestine Liberation Organization and big concessions in the Israeli-Arab conflict....
directed him to set up a Lehi cell in the UK. Heruti enrolled at London University law school as a cover and recruited a dozen accomplices from the ranks of right-wing Zionist groups like Betar
Betar
The Betar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir Jabotinsky. It has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties of Israel, and was closely affiliated with the pre-Israel Revisionist Zionist splinter group...
and the Hebrew Legion. Lehi's leadership instructed Heruti to kill British Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1945, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government.-Early...
, General Evelyn Barker
Evelyn Barker
General Sir Evelyn Hugh Barker KCB KBE DSO MC was a British Army general in World War II, and commander of British forces in the Mandate Palestine from 1946 to 1947...
, the former commander of British troops in Palestine, and Roy Farran
Roy Farran
Major Roy Alexander Farran DSO, MC & Two Bars was a British-Canadian soldier, politician, farmer, author and journalist...
, a British soldier who had been tried but acquitted for his role in the alleged murder of a teenage Lehi member. The order to kill Bevin was later rescinded. A letter bomb was sent to Barker's home, but his wife saw it as suspicious and called the police. The bomb sent to Farran's home was opened by his younger brother Rex, who was killed. Heruti left the UK in May 1948.
Kingdom of Israel
In the 1950s Heruti lead a small militant group composed primarily of former Lehi members called the Kingdom of IsraelKingdom of Israel (group)
The Kingdom of Israel , or Tzrifin Underground, was a violent political group active in Israel in the 1950s."Kingdom of Israel," was the name used by the group's members but it was better known to the Israeli public as the "Tzrifin Underground", after the Tzrifin military base, where its members...
. In February 1953 the Kingdom of Israel planted a large bomb at the Soviet embassy to protest Soviet antisemitism, injuring three people, one seriously. The group also targeted the Czech embassy and West German officials, among other activities. Heruti and the other members of the group were apprehended in May 1953 and he was sentenced to ten years in prison. However, he and the other Kingdom of Israel members who were convicted had their sentences commuted two years later.
Later activities
Heruti was one of the founders of the right-wing political parties TehiyaTehiya
Tehiya , originally known as Banai , then Tehiya-Bnai , was a small right-wing political party in Israel that existed from 1979 until 1992...
and Tsomet. He coined the name of Rehavam Ze'evi's party Moledet
Moledet
Moledet is a small right-wing political party in Israel. It advocates the notion of encouraging voluntary population transfer of the Arab population of the West Bank. Moledet was founded in 1988 by Rehavam Ze'evi, who headed it until his assassination by members of the PFLP in 2001, after which...
. As a lawyer he helped settler activists purchase land in the occupied territories, and he remains close to the leadership of Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
. In the 1990s and 2000s he was active at the Ariel University Center of Samaria. He supports the expulsion of Arabs from Israel and the eventual establishment of a Jewish state "[f]rom the Euphrates to the Nile." Heruti is not religiously observant; his political views are still defined by the work of Stern, Greenberg, and Israel Eldad
Israel Eldad
Israel Eldad , was a noted Israeli independence fighter and Revisionist Zionist philosopher...
.
External links
- A Date With Bevin 2006 BBC Radio 4 documentary on the plot to kill Bevin