The Unsolved Mystery of Arlosoroff's Assassination
Who pulled the trigger on that fateful night, and who benefited most from the political upheaval it caused?
The Year: 1933. The Place: Tel Aviv's beachfront. The Situation: A political assassination.
It happened late in the evening on June 16, 1933. Just after 10:15 PM, two shots rang out near the Sheraton Beach in Tel Aviv. An unknown assailant shot Dr. Chaim Arlosoroff, the head of the political department of the Jewish Agency. After a series of medical mishaps, Arlosoroff passed away, leaving behind a mysterious enigma that would captivate the Jewish world for years.
Seventy-five years later, the question "Who killed Arlosoroff?" remains unanswered. Speculations and accusations are rampant, along with a slew of conspiracy theories that simmer just beneath the surface. The list of suspects grows as time goes on. Could the shooters have been members of a right-wing extremist underground? Arab nationalists? Communist operatives? Nazi agents? Was the assassination linked to the secret negotiations Arlosoroff was conducting with representatives of Adolf Hitler, may his name be erased? Or was it an internal hit within the Mapai party, displeased with Arlosoroff's rising influence?
One fact is undisputed: the assassination permanently shifted the balance of power between the left and right in the Jewish settlement. Before the murder, there was a balance between the Mapai from the left and the Jabotinsky camp on the right. The assassin's bullet and the ensuing media frenzy crushed the right wing, relegating it to political exile for nearly 50 years. "The assassination of Arlosoroff transcended the mere act of harming one individual," explains historian Professor Zeev Tzahor. "It became a defining moment in Zionist history." Arlosoroff, fully conscious after being shot, told those around him, "I will explain everything later." Yet, he died before he could shed any light, turning the incident into a mystery.
A year after the assassination, two Arab criminals confessed, but Mapai leaders insisted on blaming their political adversaries. Three prominent right-wing figures - Tzvi Rosenblatt, Avraham Stavsky, and Abba Achimeir - were put on trial. Stavsky was convicted and sentenced to death.
A public committee including rabbis and community figures formed to save Stavsky's life, with Rabbi Natan Milikovsky (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's grandfather) rallying support alongside Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook, of blessed memory. The left-wing press vilified Rabbi Kook for declaring Stavsky "innocent and pure."
The Supreme Court overturned Stavsky's conviction, but even then, the left would not let him be. Thugs disrupted a synagogue service where he intended to give thanks, preventing the ceremony.
"Over the years, various theories have emerged about unknown entities allegedly involved in Arlosoroff's assassination," notes Professor Tzahor. Some speculation points to Nazi intelligence agents acting under direct orders from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Others believe communist elements orchestrated the assassination. The emotions surrounding this affair are so intense that in 1982, before retiring from politics, Menachem Begin requested a state commission to investigate the incident.
Ironically, Stavsky's story had a bitter end. After his release from British prison, he joined the Irgun's activities overseas. He returned to Israel aboard the arms ship 'Altalena.' Stavsky met his end from bullets fired by fellow Jews, close to the very spot where Arlosoroff was shot 15 years earlier.
