Eliyahu Hakim ( he, אליהו חכים; January 2, 1925 – March 22, 1945) was a
Lehi member, known for taking part in the 1944 assassination of
Lord Moyne
Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944), was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assass ...
, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East.
Biography
Born in
Beirut
Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...
,
Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon to a
Lebanese-Jewish family, Hakim moved to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
with his family when he was seven. He grew up in the port city of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
.
As a teenager, he joined Lehi, and then volunteered for the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. Posted to Cairo, Hakim deserted in order to continue his anti-British activities on behalf of Lehi.
As a member of Lehi, he participated in an assassination attempt against
Harold MacMichael
Sir Harold Alfred MacMichael (15 October 1882 – 19 September 1969) was a British colonial administrator who served as High Commissioner for Palestine.
Early service
Educated at Bedford School, MacMichael graduated with a first from Magdalene ...
, the British High Commissioner for Palestine, in 1944. His team ambushed MacMichael's car, slightly wounding him and his driver and severely wounding his adjutant, but failing to kill anyone.
Assassination of Lord Moyne
![Eliyahu Hakim's grave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Eliyahu_Hakim%27s_grave.JPG)
On November 6, 1944, Hakim, along with
Eliyahu Bet-Zuri
Eliyahu Bet-Zuri ( he, אליהו בית צורי 10 February 1922 – 22 March 1945) was a member of Lehi, who was executed in Egypt for his part in the assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East.
Biogr ...
carried out the assassination of
Lord Moyne
Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, DSO & Bar, PC (29 March 1880 – 6 November 1944), was an Anglo-Irish politician and businessman. He served as the British minister of state in the Middle East until November 1944, when he was assass ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
Moyne arrived in his car with his army driver, Lance Corporal A. Fuller, his secretary, Dorothy Osmond, and his ADC, Major Andrew Hughes-Onslow. The ADC went to open the front door of the residence and the driver got out to open the door for Moyne. Hakim then pulled the car door open and shot Moyne three times, while Bet-Zuri shot and killed the driver. The two assassins fled on their bicycles, pursued by an Egyptian motorcycle policeman who had been alerted by Major Hughes-Onslow. The two were captured and surrounded by an angry mob until they were extracted by the police. Moyne, seriously wounded, was rushed to hospital and died of his wounds that evening.
Hakim and Bet-Zuri were caught immediately and put on trial before a military court. They were convicted and sentenced to death. Both were hanged in Cairo on 22 March 1945, singing
Hatikvah
Hatikvah ( he, הַתִּקְוָה, haTīqvā, ; ) is the national anthem of the State of Israel. Part of 19th-century Jewish poetry, the theme of the Romantic composition reflects the 2,000-year-old desire of the Jewish people to return t ...
, the Zionist anthem, on the gallows.
Legacy
Hakim and Bet-Zuri's remains were brought to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1975 and reburied on
Mount Herzl
Mount Herzl ( he, הַר הֶרְצְל ''Har Hertsl''), also ''Har ha-Zikaron'' ( lit. "Mount of Remembrance"), is the site of Israel's national cemetery and other memorial and educational facilities, found on the west side of Jerusalem beside ...
with full military honors.
Streets named after Hakim are located in all Israeli main cities:
French Carmel neighborhood of
Haifa
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...
, Northern
Tel-Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
,
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
and
Be'er Sheba.
Footnotes
References
*
Gerold Frank
Gerold Frank (August 2, 1907 – September 17, 1998) was an American writer and ghostwriter. He wrote several celebrity memoirs and was considered a pioneer of the "as told to" form of (auto)biography. His two best-known books, however, are ''Th ...
, ''The Deed: The Assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo'', Simon and Schuster, 1963.
External links
*
*
Dr. Yosef Nedava, "Hakim and Bet-Zuri," on the Daat website (Hebrew)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakim, Eliyahu
1925 births
1945 deaths
Irgun members
Jews in Mandatory Palestine
Lebanese Jews
Lehi (militant group)
Olei Hagardom
People from Beirut
Executed Lebanese people
People executed by Egypt by hanging
Lebanese emigrants to Mandatory Palestine
Burials at Mount Herzl
20th-century executions by Egypt
Executed assassins
1944 murders in Egypt