Irgun and Lehi internment in Africa
Encyclopedia
From 1944 to 1948, Irgun
and Lehi
men being held without trial at the Latroun concentration camp were deported by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities to internment camps in Africa
, located in Sembel
(near Asmara
, Eritrea
), Carthago, Sudan, and Gilgil
(north of Nairobi
, Kenya
). The deportees were returned in July 1948, only after the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
, John Shaw
. After several successful escapes from the Latroun camp, the chance of them recurring in Africa seemed smaller. The British also believed the deportation to have a strong deterring element. The proponents of the decision did not believe it to be a substitute for the political solution of dividing the land, but hoped it would weaken the underground forces and allow the moderate Jewish forces to promote a compromising solution.
The undergrounds reacted strongly and denounced the deportation as a Nazi act, and intended to carry out a fight to return them. In fact, the assassination of Lord Moyne by Lehi men brought about "The Hunting Season
". The Yishuv
institutions' protest was feeble, if at all. This raised suspicions among the detainees that the Jewish Agency might be involved in the deportation plans.
, appealed to the Supreme Court
which accepted their claims in part, noting that the rendition was unauthorized, but that the arrest was nevertheless legitimate, since it was enforced by a warrant from the Eritrean government. Despite the legal setback, it was a moral victory which led the local newspapers to disfavor the deportation. Most of the detainees were not tried and were interned by the power of the emergency regulations, according to which they could be arrested based on mere suspicion, a fact that was criticized in the internal British correspondence as well.
.
The conditions were worse in the Carthago camp, to which they were taken in early 1945, mostly due to the heat and lack of water. Yishuv officials who tried to intercede on behalf of the detainees were told that the complaints were completely made up. The detainees stayed there for nine months, and then taken back to Sembel.
Things were not much better in the third camp, the one in Gilgil, where they were held from March 1947. Formerly a military prison, the place contained dark and suffocating cells and was full of mosquitos and sewage water. A mutinous act by the detainees, in which they demolished a wall to cover the drainage finally convinced the camp commander to improve their conditions.
The British encouraged extensive educational activity, including language classes by detainee Uzzi Ornan
. Others, including Meir Shamgar
and Shmuel Tamir
, studied law through correspondence with British universities.
The Yishuv was infuriated, and demanded the appointment of an inquiry committee, but the British army insisted that the guards behaved correctly. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
was eventually sent to the camp as moderator, and his activity was more satisfactory to the British than the detainees.
The second attempt, in March 1945, at Carthago, consisted of a run to the hills by three Lehi men, but without a plan they were caught in no time.
The third attempt, in September 1945, was carefully planned. Three men, including Yitzhak Shamir
and Yaakov Meridor
, who was so eager to escape he did not try to use his senior position in the Irgun to become a leader in the camp, tried to hide in water tanks and bribe the Sudanese driver transporting them. They traveled across Sudan, using fabricated British Intelligence certificates. The certificates finally aroused the suspicion of a train conductor in Khartoum, who called the security service, which caught them six days after their escape.
, disguised as Arab women. There, they were arrested and placed in Ethiopian prisons. The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie was pressured by the British as well as Jews, and eventually agreed to turn them in, perhaps in exchange for an imprisoned family member. A third escapee stayed in Eritrea and was caught. The fourth escapee, Eliyahu Lankin
, who further utilized local Jews, was jailed in Addis Ababa
, but was released thanks to interceding with the emperor. In early 1947 he became the only escapee to arrive in Europe before 1948.
The fifth attempt, in July 1946 in Asmara, was a mass one. Two deep tunnels were dug. 54 out of 150 detainees who were to escape were divided into two groups, one to be headed by Meridor and the other by Shlomo Lev-Ami. The first was to wander to Ethiopia using carefully made British uniform costumes. The other was to hide in Asmara. The first group was soon caught. They kept their promise and did not resist. The second group managed to hide for a longer while. Five of them, including Shamgar, tried to hide in an oil tanker but were caught. The British managed to trace a few more of them through the Jewish community, but some remained at large.
The sixth attempt, in September 1946 in Sembel, once again included Meridor and another Irgun man, was made by breaking holes in the ceilings. Meridor and his comrade escaped and met with the remaining escapees from the fifth attempt. They were all eventually caught by the British intelligence.
After over a month in hiding they arrived, after many hardships, in Addis Ababa. Two of them, Shamir and Ben-Eliezer, turned to Djibouti
, with the help of a local Rabbi. On arrival, they were anticipated by British policemen, but the French were reluctant to turn them in, and they used fabricated South American certificates to demand their release. They were eventually transferred to France
, using the Irgun's excellent contacts with French government officials, and were released in early May 1948.
The other three were returned to the camp in August 1947, after a long hiding period in Addis Ababa and just before boarding a plane chartered by Irgun supporters to get them to Paris
.
's support was tepid.
Once again it was led by Meridor and involved digging a tunnel. Using improvised printing machines and the Larousse
Encyclopedia, El Salvador
and Honduras
passports were forged, complete with replications of their symbols. The stamps were manufactured from erasers. The plan also involved the support of two Rabbis, detainee David Kahane, and the Johannesburg
Rabbi, Levi Rabinowitz, who smuggled in vital information.
Having crawled to the other side of the fence, a ride was there to take them to the Uganda
. From there, they made it to Belgian Congo
. From that point on, the flight to Brussels
went smoothly, and by early April the six Irgun men were free.
Another escape attempt was planned, but was thwarted once the success of the previous one was published. Unaware of the fact that the escapees were already safely in Europe, the British authorities raided Kenya.
Even after the declaration of independence, the British still postponed the detainees' return, despite their protests. The reason given was the need for keeping the truce rules, which included banning the entrance of young men eligible for military service. An additional difficulty arose from the need to get them across the Suez Canal
via Egypt
, which would have no reason to allow this. Another factor that might have affected the decision was a pro-Arab line of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
. Oppositely, the governor of Kenya was afraid of riots and put pressure on the British authorities to get them out of the country.
Eventually, it was Folke Bernadotte
who decreed that their return would not violate the truce. Despite the Altalena affair
, the Jewish authorities expressed an unequivocal support of their return, although Moshe Sharett
did not rule out the option of arresting them immediately on arrival, fearing that they might subvert the government.
The final decision was made following a question by Samuel Segal. On July 9, the ship boarding the detainees set sail to Israel and arrived three days later. They were not greeted by any formal ceremony and quickly took part in the 1948 Israeli-Arab War.
Before departure, the detainees were asked by the camp commander Colonel Rice to reveal the location of the tunnel through with the seven detainees including Shamir had escaped. Schmuel Tamir agreed to tell Rice the location of the tunnel, but only after returning to Israel, as the detainees were not sure that they really would reach Israel after being let go, and foresaw a risk of once again ending up in the prison camp. After arrival in Israel, Schmuel Tamir kept his promise and sent a letter to Rice, telling him the location of the tunnel.
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
and Lehi
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...
men being held without trial at the Latroun concentration camp were deported by the British Mandate of Palestine authorities to internment camps in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, located in Sembel
Sembel
Sembel was the site of a village near Asmara, however it is now a suburb of Asmara, Eritrea to the south. Immediately after the Eritrean War of Independence a large Government subsidized housing project was constructed. During its construction and that of a nearby Intercontinental Hotel evidence of...
(near Asmara
Asmara
Asmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 579,000 people...
, Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
), Carthago, Sudan, and Gilgil
Gilgil
Gilgil, Kenya is a town in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya. The town is located between Naivasha and Nakuru and along the Nairobi - Nakuru highway. Gilgil has a population of 18,805 . Gilgil is also the centre of the Gilgil division in Nakuru District.- History :During the 1920s - 1940s, some...
(north of Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
). The deportees were returned in July 1948, only after the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
The deportation
The decision
The decision to deport the underground members to Africa was made by the British following the radicalization of their activities and the recommendation of the chief secretary, substitute of the High CommissionerHigh Commissioner
High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...
, John Shaw
John Shaw
John Shaw was a Captain in the early years of the United States Navy.-Biography:He was born at Mountmellick, County Laois, Ireland, in 1773, and moved to the United States in 1790, where he settled in Philadelphia, and entered the merchant marine.Appointed Lieutenant in the United States Navy on 3...
. After several successful escapes from the Latroun camp, the chance of them recurring in Africa seemed smaller. The British also believed the deportation to have a strong deterring element. The proponents of the decision did not believe it to be a substitute for the political solution of dividing the land, but hoped it would weaken the underground forces and allow the moderate Jewish forces to promote a compromising solution.
The execution
"Operation Snowball" was executed in one day, October 19, 1944, with speed and surprise. The detainees in Latroun were put on board airplanes. The first wave included 251 detainees and eventually a total of 439 men, approximately half of the underground detainees, were deported. According to estimations, approximately 60 percent of them were Irgun men, 30 percent were Lehi members and the rest neutral.The undergrounds reacted strongly and denounced the deportation as a Nazi act, and intended to carry out a fight to return them. In fact, the assassination of Lord Moyne by Lehi men brought about "The Hunting Season
The Hunting Season
The Hunting Season or The Saison was the name given to the Haganah's suppression of the Irgun's insurgency against the government of the British Mandate in Palestine.-Background:...
". The Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
institutions' protest was feeble, if at all. This raised suspicions among the detainees that the Jewish Agency might be involved in the deportation plans.
The legal struggle
Irgun men, headed by Aryeh Ben-EliezerAryeh Ben-Eliezer
Aryeh Ben-Eliezer was a Revisionist Zionist leader, Irgun member and Israeli politician.-Biography:Ben-Eliezer was born in 1913 in Vilnius in the Russian Empire . His family immigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine in 1920, and he attended high schools in Tel Aviv...
, appealed to the Supreme Court
Supreme court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, instance court, judgment court, high court, or apex court...
which accepted their claims in part, noting that the rendition was unauthorized, but that the arrest was nevertheless legitimate, since it was enforced by a warrant from the Eritrean government. Despite the legal setback, it was a moral victory which led the local newspapers to disfavor the deportation. Most of the detainees were not tried and were interned by the power of the emergency regulations, according to which they could be arrested based on mere suspicion, a fact that was criticized in the internal British correspondence as well.
The conditions of internment
The conditions in the Sembel camp were not inferior to the ones in Latroun, despite the lack of many means of convenience, from books to clothes and toothbrushes. For religious, national honor, and provocation reasons, the detainees insisted on receiving kosher food, and eventually kosher meat was brought to them from the Jewish community of KhartoumKhartoum
Khartoum is the capital and largest city of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran"...
.
The conditions were worse in the Carthago camp, to which they were taken in early 1945, mostly due to the heat and lack of water. Yishuv officials who tried to intercede on behalf of the detainees were told that the complaints were completely made up. The detainees stayed there for nine months, and then taken back to Sembel.
The British encouraged extensive educational activity, including language classes by detainee Uzzi Ornan
Uzzi Ornan
Uzzi Ornan is an Israeli linguist and social activist. Ornan is a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, professor of natural languages computing at the Technion and professor emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Ornan was a member of the Israeli Canaanite movement, founded by...
. Others, including Meir Shamgar
Meir Shamgar
Meir Shamgar was President of the Israeli Supreme Court from 1983 until 1995.-Biography:Shamgar was born Meir Sterenberg in the Free City of Danzig to Eliezer and Dina Sterenberg.He emigrated to Palestine in 1939.He was arrested by the British in 1944 for anti-British activity and being...
and Shmuel Tamir
Shmuel Tamir
Shmuel M. Tamir was a prominent Israeli independence fighter, lawyer, Knesset member from 1965 to 1980, and Minister of Justice in the government of Menachem Begin from 1977 until 1980-Irgun:...
, studied law through correspondence with British universities.
The bloody incident
Relations with the command staff were generally good, albeit with one notable exception. On January 17, 1946, in the Sembel camp Sudanese soldiers shot two detainees dead. The incident started when a detainee refused to back off from the fence as ordered, he was shot. The guards delayed his taking to a hospital, and the detainees broke down the gate. The guards opened fire and killed two of them. For reasons that remain unclear, the British refused to transfer the bodies to burial in Eretz Israel, and this only took place after the state of Israel was established.The Yishuv was infuriated, and demanded the appointment of an inquiry committee, but the British army insisted that the guards behaved correctly. Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog
Rabbi Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog , also known as Isaac Herzog, was the first Chief Rabbi of Ireland, his term lasting from 1921 to 1936...
was eventually sent to the camp as moderator, and his activity was more satisfactory to the British than the detainees.
First attempts
The first attempt was made at Sembel in January 1945, when three detainees buried themselves in an athletics field. When the guards left it at night, they came out and went to Asmara. A man from the Jewish community tried to help them, but they were caught at a British checkpoint when they took a bus to the border.The second attempt, in March 1945, at Carthago, consisted of a run to the hills by three Lehi men, but without a plan they were caught in no time.
The third attempt, in September 1945, was carefully planned. Three men, including Yitzhak Shamir
Yitzhak Shamir
' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
and Yaakov Meridor
Yaakov Meridor
Ya'akov Meridor was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun commander and Israeli politician.-Biography:Meridor was born in Poland in 1913, to a family of middle-class merchants. After hearing reports of the first Arab rebellion in Mandate Palestine, he became a member of the Betar Movement in 1930...
, who was so eager to escape he did not try to use his senior position in the Irgun to become a leader in the camp, tried to hide in water tanks and bribe the Sudanese driver transporting them. They traveled across Sudan, using fabricated British Intelligence certificates. The certificates finally aroused the suspicion of a train conductor in Khartoum, who called the security service, which caught them six days after their escape.
Attempts in Asmara
The fourth attempt was made in Sembel in November 1945. It was relatively spontaneous and based mostly on trust put in the assistance of the local Jewish community. Their trust paid off, and two escapees arrived in EthiopiaEthiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, disguised as Arab women. There, they were arrested and placed in Ethiopian prisons. The Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie was pressured by the British as well as Jews, and eventually agreed to turn them in, perhaps in exchange for an imprisoned family member. A third escapee stayed in Eritrea and was caught. The fourth escapee, Eliyahu Lankin
Eliyahu Lankin
Eliyahu Lankin was a Revisionist Zionist activist, Irgun member and an Israeli politician.-Biography:Lankin was born in Gomel, and moved with his family to Manchuria at the age of three in the wake of the October Revolution. He studied at the Russian High School in Harbin. At the age of 16, he...
, who further utilized local Jews, was jailed in Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
, but was released thanks to interceding with the emperor. In early 1947 he became the only escapee to arrive in Europe before 1948.
The fifth attempt, in July 1946 in Asmara, was a mass one. Two deep tunnels were dug. 54 out of 150 detainees who were to escape were divided into two groups, one to be headed by Meridor and the other by Shlomo Lev-Ami. The first was to wander to Ethiopia using carefully made British uniform costumes. The other was to hide in Asmara. The first group was soon caught. They kept their promise and did not resist. The second group managed to hide for a longer while. Five of them, including Shamgar, tried to hide in an oil tanker but were caught. The British managed to trace a few more of them through the Jewish community, but some remained at large.
The sixth attempt, in September 1946 in Sembel, once again included Meridor and another Irgun man, was made by breaking holes in the ceilings. Meridor and his comrade escaped and met with the remaining escapees from the fifth attempt. They were all eventually caught by the British intelligence.
The seventh attempt
This attempt, in Sembel, took advantage of the superficial blocking of one of the tunnels dug in the fifth attempt. The detainees dug a short tunnel to bypass the block. Meridor was once again involved, along with four others, including Shamir. Using The Asmaran Jews was no longer an option, but through the camp's Rabbi an Italian Jew, Dr. Giuseppe Levi, was contacted. He assisted them in finding shelter for a fee with an Italian national in Asmara.After over a month in hiding they arrived, after many hardships, in Addis Ababa. Two of them, Shamir and Ben-Eliezer, turned to Djibouti
Djibouti
Djibouti , officially the Republic of Djibouti , is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Eritrea in the north, Ethiopia in the west and south, and Somalia in the southeast. The remainder of the border is formed by the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at the east...
, with the help of a local Rabbi. On arrival, they were anticipated by British policemen, but the French were reluctant to turn them in, and they used fabricated South American certificates to demand their release. They were eventually transferred to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, using the Irgun's excellent contacts with French government officials, and were released in early May 1948.
The other three were returned to the camp in August 1947, after a long hiding period in Addis Ababa and just before boarding a plane chartered by Irgun supporters to get them to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
The eighth attempt
The eighth and last attempt took place in Gilgil in late March 1948. The attempt was controversial, considering the previous failures, and even the Irgun commander Menachem BeginMenachem Begin
' was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944,...
's support was tepid.
Once again it was led by Meridor and involved digging a tunnel. Using improvised printing machines and the Larousse
Larousse
Larousse can refer to:*Éditions Larousse, a French publishing house founded by Pierre Larousse**some of its publications***Grand Larousse encyclopédique***Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology***Larousse Gastronomique***Petit Larousse...
Encyclopedia, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
and Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
passports were forged, complete with replications of their symbols. The stamps were manufactured from erasers. The plan also involved the support of two Rabbis, detainee David Kahane, and the Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...
Rabbi, Levi Rabinowitz, who smuggled in vital information.
Having crawled to the other side of the fence, a ride was there to take them to the Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...
. From there, they made it to Belgian Congo
Belgian Congo
The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...
. From that point on, the flight to Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
went smoothly, and by early April the six Irgun men were free.
Another escape attempt was planned, but was thwarted once the success of the previous one was published. Unaware of the fact that the escapees were already safely in Europe, the British authorities raided Kenya.
Return to Israel
Despite the British intention of leaving Palestine, by the end of 1947 the British were still reluctant to return the detainees. The authorities were concerned that they might attack the British from behind, assuming that the British might go back on their word once the violent struggle were over.Even after the declaration of independence, the British still postponed the detainees' return, despite their protests. The reason given was the need for keeping the truce rules, which included banning the entrance of young men eligible for military service. An additional difficulty arose from the need to get them across the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
via Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, which would have no reason to allow this. Another factor that might have affected the decision was a pro-Arab line of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
. Oppositely, the governor of Kenya was afraid of riots and put pressure on the British authorities to get them out of the country.
Eventually, it was Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte
Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg was a Swedish diplomat and nobleman noted for his negotiation of the release of about 31,000 prisoners from German concentration camps during World War II, including 450 Danish Jews from Theresienstadt released on 14 April 1945...
who decreed that their return would not violate the truce. Despite the Altalena affair
Altalena Affair
The Altalena Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly formed Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun, a right-wing Jewish paramilitary group...
, the Jewish authorities expressed an unequivocal support of their return, although Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...
did not rule out the option of arresting them immediately on arrival, fearing that they might subvert the government.
The final decision was made following a question by Samuel Segal. On July 9, the ship boarding the detainees set sail to Israel and arrived three days later. They were not greeted by any formal ceremony and quickly took part in the 1948 Israeli-Arab War.
Before departure, the detainees were asked by the camp commander Colonel Rice to reveal the location of the tunnel through with the seven detainees including Shamir had escaped. Schmuel Tamir agreed to tell Rice the location of the tunnel, but only after returning to Israel, as the detainees were not sure that they really would reach Israel after being let go, and foresaw a risk of once again ending up in the prison camp. After arrival in Israel, Schmuel Tamir kept his promise and sent a letter to Rice, telling him the location of the tunnel.