King David Hotel bombing
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The Hotel after the BombingThe King David Hotel bombing (July 22, 1946) was a bombing attack against the British government of Palestine by members of Irgun — a militant Zionist organization, classified as a terrorist organization both by the British authorities and several Jewish organizations, such as the Jewish Agency, Haganah and Histadrut.
The Irgun, DRESSED AS ARABS, exploded a bomb at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, which had been the base for the British Secretariat, the military command and a branch of the Criminal Investigation Division (police). 91 people were killed, most of them civilians: 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 other. Around 45 people were injured.
The attack was initially ordered by Menachem Begin, the head of the Irgun, who would later become Israeli Prime Minister. The attack was commanded by Yosef Avni and Yisrael Levi.
The attack on the hotel was the deadliest attack against the British in the history of the Mandate. Some claim this act should be considered in light of the escalating violence in the region and the conflict between the three main forces in the region: British, Jewish and Arab. In particular, the attack was made in retaliation for the British mass arrests (Operation Agatha) of June 29 1946, when British troops raided the Jewish Agency and confiscated large quantities of documents, such as information about Jewish Agency operations, including intelligence activities in Arab countries. At about the same time, more than 2,500 Jews from all over Palestine were placed under arrest. A large number of seized documents were taken to the hotel. However, the bomb attack had already been planned.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_David_Hotel_Bombing