Avraham Stern: The Radical Zionist Who Sought a Nazi Alliance Against the British Empire

Wars & Conflicts · Published 15 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Avraham Stern was a militant Zionist who broke from the mainstream to wage an uncompromising war against British rule in Palestine. His radicalism led him to attempt a military alliance with Nazi Germany, ultimately ending in a controversial death at the hands of British police in 1942.

Born in 1907 in Suwałki, Poland, Avraham Stern immigrated to Mandatory Palestine in 1925. A brilliant student of Classics at Hebrew University, he became deeply involved in the Zionist underground. He initially joined the Irgun, a paramilitary group formed to take a more active military stance than the Haganah. However, when the Irgun adopted a policy of supporting the British against Nazi Germany during World War II, Stern broke away to form his own movement in August 1940. Known as Lehi—an acronym for Fighters for the Freedom of Israel—the group was pejoratively dubbed the 'Stern Gang' by its opponents.

Stern’s ideology was defined by a total rejection of British colonial rule, which he viewed as 'foreign rule' regardless of its policies. His radicalism extended to desperate geopolitical maneuvers; in 1941, he twice attempted to negotiate a military alliance with Nazi Germany, offering to fight on Germany’s side in exchange for support for a Jewish state and mass immigration. These efforts were widely condemned by other Zionist leaders, such as Ze'ev Jabotinsky, who sought a British victory over the Nazis. Lehi’s publications also espoused extreme nationalist views, including the advocacy for the mass expulsion or annihilation of Arabs in Palestine.

By 1942, Stern was a fugitive living in hiding. On February 12, 1942, British detectives discovered him in a Tel Aviv apartment. The circumstances of his death remain a subject of intense historical dispute. The official police report claimed he was shot while attempting to escape through a window. However, other witnesses, including policeman Bernard Stamp, later alleged that Assistant Superintendent Geoffrey J. Morton had murdered an unarmed Stern in cold blood. Despite his controversial legacy, Stern remains a figure of intense interest, with his life commemorated through memorials, a postage stamp, and even a town named in his honor.

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