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By Root 1582 0

for the culprits. By the end of the day both of the organizations had identified the six “Arabs” as British soldiers. They were further able to trace the action directly to Arnold Haven-Hurst, although with no usable proof. Instead of destroying Yishuv leadership, Haven-Hurst’s desperate gamble had a reverse effect. It united the Jews of Palestine in a way they had never before been united and it drove together the two armed forces, the Haganah and Maccabees. The Haganah had obtained a copy of the “Haven-Hurst Report.” With the evidence behind the bombings they knew the general was out to destroy them if they had not known it before. Avidan dispatched Zev Gilboa to Jerusalem to seek out Bar Israel to arrange a meeting between himself and the Maccabee commanders. The procedure was almost unique: the only precedent had been at the beginning of World War II when Avidan asked Akiva to abstain from terror for the duration.

The meeting was held at one o’clock in the morning in an open field on the road from Jerusalem on the site of what was once the Tenth Roman Legion camp. There were four men present: Akiva and Ben Moshe for the Maccabees, Avidan for the Haganah, with Zev Gilboa representing the Haganah’s striking arm, the Palmach. There were no handshakes or amenities between the two organizations’ representatives. They stood facing each other in the darkness, filled with mutual distrust. The late-night air was cold despite the coming of summer.

“I have asked this meeting with you to see if there is some basis for closer co-operation between our forces,” Avidan said.

“You mean you want us to come under your jurisdiction?” Ben Moshe asked suspiciously.

“I have long given up the idea of trying to control your group,” Avidan said. “I merely think the times call for a maximum effort. You have strength inside the three cities and are able to operate with a greater degree of freedom than we can.”

“So that’s it,” Akiva snapped. “You want us to do your dirty work.”

“Hear him out, Akiva,” his field commander said.

“I don’t like the whole idea. I didn’t approve of this meeting, Ben Moshe. These people have betrayed us in the past and they’ll do it again.”

Avidan’s bald head turned crimson under the old man’s words. “I choose to listen to your insults tonight, Akiva, because there is too much at stake. I count on the fact that despite our differences you are a Jew and you love Eretz Israel.” He handed a copy of the “Haven-Hurst Report” to Akiva.

The old man gave it to Ben Moshe, who turned his flashlight on the paper.

“Fourteen years ago I said the British were our enemy. You didn’t believe me then,” Akiva whispered.

“I won’t argue politics with you. Will you or won’t you work with us?” Avidan demanded.

“We will try it out,” Ben Moshe said.

After the meeting liaison groups went to work to plot out a joint Haganah-Maccabee action. Two weeks after the explosions the British received their answer for the destruction of the Zion Settlement Society building and the attempted destruction of the Yishuv Central.

In one night the Haganah completely wrecked the railroad system, stopping all rail traffic to and from Palestine.

The next night the Maccabees broke into six British embassies and consulates in Mediterranean countries and destroyed records used in the fight against Aliyah Bet.

The Palmach branch of the Haganah wrecked the Mosul oil pipelines in fifteen places.

With this done, the final measure was plotted by the Maccabees—the elimination of General Sir Arnold Haven-Hurst. Maccabees observed the Schneller compound twenty-four hours a day. They charted all movement in and out, logged each car and truck, and diagramed the entire compound.

After four days it began to look like an impossible task. Haven-Hurst was locked in the center of a fortress surrounded by thousands of troops. No one but British personnel was allowed anywhere near his quarters. When Haven-Hurst did move out of the compound it was in secrecy and he was guarded by convoys so heavy the Maccabees would lose a hundred men by attacking it.

Then the first flaw