Stern Biography

Yair was the nom de guerre of Avraham Stern, who in 1940 broke away from the Irgun Tzva'i Le'umi (Etzel), later headed by Menachem Begin, and founded the Lohamei Herut Yisrael (LEHI, the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, derisively called by the British the "Stern Gang"). Stern was a brilliant leader, well-versed in Torah as well as in the classics of Greek and Western philosophy, secular arts and culture, and the sciences. His numerous writings, both prose and poetry, are lucid and inspiring. His poem Unknown Soldierswas adopted by both the Irgun and the LEHI as their anthems. Together with David Raziel he wrote the Irgun textbooks on small-arms and military training. An officer in the Irgun, Yair broke away due to a disagreement over priorities: the Irgun, believed that the fight against the British had to be suspended for the duration of World War Two, since the British army was engaged in defeating the Nazis; the Irgun therefore limited their actions against the British to those organizations and units actively trying to prevent Jewish immigration into the Land of Israel. Stern, by contrast, believed that the British constituted the enemy of the Jewish People no less than the Germans, as they were actively preventing Jewish lives from being saved. The fate of the Jewish People, he argued, would be determined by an independent Jewish State, and the obstacle to that independence was Britain rather than Germany.

In February 1942 (the 25th Shevat), Stern was ambushed by the British in an apartment in the center of Tel Aviv, and shot "while trying to escape." His disciples Nathan Friedman-Yellin (who changed his surname to Yellin-Mor), Israel Scheib (later Professor Israel Eldad), and Yitzchak Izernitzky (better known as former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir) shared command of the LEHI after Stern’s murder. Stern's only son Yair Stern was born a few months after his father was murdered. Yair Stern (the son) is the head of Israel Television, and the former Washington correspondent for Israel Television News.



	HOME Avraham Stern The Ideology of the LEHI by Avraham Stern Unknown Soldiers by Avraham Stern To Those Who Honor the Oath by Avraham Stern Recommended Reading List E-mail: info@saveisrael.com Contact Information: Save Israel 42 East Cityline Ave. Suite 352 Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004			AVRAHAM (YAIR) STERN: Brief Biography Yair was the nom de guerre of Avraham Stern, who in 1940 broke away from the Irgun Tzva'i Le'umi (Etzel), later headed by Menachem Begin, and founded the Lohamei Herut Yisrael (LEHI, the Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, derisively called by the British the "Stern Gang"). Stern was a brilliant leader, well-versed in Torah as well as in the classics of Greek and Western philosophy, secular arts and culture, and the sciences. His numerous writings, both prose and poetry, are lucid and inspiring. His poem Unknown Soldierswas adopted by both the Irgun and the LEHI as their anthems. Together with David Raziel he wrote the Irgun textbooks on small-arms and military training. An officer in the Irgun, Yair broke away due to a disagreement over priorities: the Irgun, believed that the fight against the British had to be suspended for the duration of World War Two, since the British army was engaged in defeating the Nazis; the Irgun therefore limited their actions against the British to those organizations and units actively trying to prevent Jewish immigration into the Land of Israel. Stern, by contrast, believed that the British constituted the enemy of the Jewish People no less than the Germans, as they were actively preventing Jewish lives from being saved. The fate of the Jewish People, he argued, would be determined by an independent Jewish State, and the obstacle to that independence was Britain rather than Germany. In February 1942 (the 25th Shevat), Stern was ambushed by the British in an apartment in the center of Tel Aviv, and shot "while trying to escape." His disciples Nathan Friedman-Yellin (who changed his surname to Yellin-Mor), Israel Scheib (later Professor Israel Eldad), and Yitzchak Izernitzky (better known as former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir) shared command of the LEHI after Stern’s murder. Stern's only son Yair Stern was born a few months after his father was murdered. Yair Stern (the son) is the head of Israel Television, and the former Washington correspondent for Israel Television News.