It has been 75 years since the paramilitary Zionist group Lehi, led by Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, assassinated the UN diplomat Folke Bernadotte while pursuing his official duties in Jerusalem.
Bernadotte was travelling with his aid, Colonel Andre Serot, and other UN personnel when their convoy was ambushed by four members of the paramilitary Zionist group Lehi, known as the stern gang.
This horrific incident came after Bernadotte proposed a plan to the UN General Assembly on September 16th, 1948, affirming Israel’s right to exist, in the meantime, he advocated that Palestinians, who were forcefully expelled from their lands during the Nakba, should be permitted to return to their lands and reclaim their property; otherwise, they should be financially compensated.
His remarkable plan outwardly bothered the Stern Gang and sparked fears amongst Zionist militants that the UN General Assembly would essentially approve and implement it.
Attempting to prevent this approval, the Stern gang took decisive action to get rid of the UN mediator.
Four Lehi terrorists ambushed Bernadotte’s motorcade in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighbourhood just a day after the proposal’s submission, firing six rounds at the UN mediator and another 18 at his aid Colonel Andre Serot, sitting next to him. Serot was killed immediately, while Bernadotte was rushed to hospital and died shortly after.
Following the incident, the then-Israeli government declared Lehi a terrorist group, arresting around 200 members and convicted some of the leadership.
Prior to the first Israeli elections in January 1949, no members or leaders were charged with involvement in the assassination. Some months later, the government provided a cover for the Stern Gang’s involvement in the crime.
Nine years later in 1977, it was the first public admission of the Stern Gang’s involvement in Bernadotte’s assassination.
Despite that, leaders of Lehi climbed the political ladder in Israeli politics, taking up prominent roles such as Yitzhak Shamir becoming the future Israeli prime minister, Yehoshua Cohen – the actual killer of Bernadotte – becoming the bodyguard of Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, and Natan Yellin-Mor becoming a future member of the Israeli Knesset.
Between the past and present, nothing has changed in Israeli criminal policies. In the current time, Palestinians are being assassinated, assaulted and kicked out of their towns by the same perpetrators.
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