ABSTRACT
The Irgun suspected that the Arabs, with British complicity, wanted to drive a column from Jaffa to Jerusalem, cutting off the Negev, splitting the Jewish territory and heralding the end of any Jewish state. When David Shaltiel heard that the Irgun and LEHI intended to attack Deir Yassin, he felt that for the moment he would have to swallow his loathing for the thugs and criminal dissidents. In March 1947, another effort was made when an Irgun legation in the diaspora was set up in Paris with representatives of the Betar executive, the world executive of the Revisionist party, and the Irgun under Hillel Kook, who used the name Peter Bergson. By early 1948 the Irgun had accumulated substantial resources in the diaspora. The high command in Palestine also asked the diaspora headquarters to formulate ideas on the future of the Irgun and proposals for operations before and after the establishment of the Jewish state on May 15.
