(A Hebrew acronym for "Lohamei Herut Yisrael" or "Fighters for the Freedom of
Israel") Also known as the Stern Gang, after Lehi's founder Avraham Stern. In 1940, this militant faction broke away from the
Irgun, an underground Jewish paramilitary group. Lehi undertook paramilitary operations against both
Palestinian communities and the British throughout British mandate
Palestine. The group was responsible for the assassination of the British Minister of State for the Colonies, Lord Moyn, as well as the UN Swedish mediator Folke Bernadotte. On April 9, 1948, members of Lehi and the Irgun attacked the Palestinian village of
Deir Yassin, where approximately 100 Palestinians were killed, many of them women and children. The group was disbanded and became part of the
Israeli army in September 1948.
Yitzhak Shamir (later to become Prime Minister of Israel) was one of Lehi's leaders. See "
Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881-2001," Benny Morris, Vintage Books, 2001; and "
Eliahu Amikam, Leader of the Jewish Underground, Dies," Associated Press, Aug 14, 1995.