The Assassination of Hayim Arlosoroff
(June 1933)
The assassination of Hayim Arlosoroff in June of 1933 brought out
deep-seated animosities between political groups in the yishuv. Arlosoroff
had just returned from Germany, where he had been negotiating with the Nazis
for increased emigration. These agreements between the Zionist leadership
in the yishuv and the Nazi German government were known as the Ha'avara
(transfer) agreements, and were the subject of intense controversy. After
returning from these negotiations, tensions in the yishuv were high.
However high tensions were, the assassination was a shock to the community,
who was stunned that Jews would murder another Jew for political purposes.
After offering a reward for information leading to an arrest, the Palestine
Police Force accused three suspects of involvement in the murder. Two,
Abraham Stavsky and Zvi Rosenblatt, were prosecuted for committing the act,
while the third, Abba Ahimeir, was charged with incitement to murder.
All three suspects were active among Revisionists; Ahimeir headed a
particularly extremist element with the party. His anti-Labor movement
rhetoric was often focused on the official Zionist leadership, of which
Arlosoroff was a rising star. lack of evidence, however, led to his
acquittal on May 16, 1934.
Another theory to explain the murder had been advanced by the defense.
British Jewish defense attorney Horace Samuel claimed that two Arabs had
committed the crime for sexual, not political, reasons. One of the two
Arabs, already in prison for a separate murder, confessed. Later the
confession was retracted, and instead the Arab accused Stavsky and
Rosenblatt of bribing him to confess.
Of the two original suspects in the actual killing, Rosenblatt was
acquitted of all charges due to lack of corroboration. Abraham Stavsky,
however, was found guilty and sentenced to the death penalty. The decision
was appealed, and only shortly after the verdict had been pronounced, it was
overturned by the all-British Palestine Court of Appeals. Stavsky was
released like the others, for lack of corroborative evidence.
The controversy over the assassination continues until this day. Different
theories hold the British or the Nazis responsible. In 1982, Menachem Begin established a committee to reopen the case, but no new evidence was found.
Sources: The Jewish Agency for Israel and The World Zionist Organization |