Britain's Position in Palestine after the Failure of the London Conference

On the very day that the second round of the London Conference was opened, 27 January 1947, the British District Judge Windham was abducted in Tel-Aviv. This followed the abduction of Major Collins from his flat in Jerusalem a day earlier. Both Britons were taken hostage by Etzel for Dov Gruner, who had been sentenced to death for his part in the attack on the Ramat-Gan police station on 23 April 1946. On 24 January 1947 Gruner’s death sentence was confirmed by the General Officer Commanding in Palestine and Etzel threatened that, if Gruner did die, seven British people would also die. In a strongly worded statement in the House of Commons on 28 January, the Colonial Secretary stated that such actions would not be tolerated. He told the House of the ultimatum given to the leaders of the Yishuv under which, if the two abducted men were not released within 48 hours, Tel-Aviv, Ramat-Gan and Petah-Tiqva would be placed under military control. Making a last appeal to the Yishuv to suppress terrorism, he warned that the present course of events must lead to the placing of the country under full military control. 1 Judge Windham was released on the same evening and Collins late on the following night. As a result of the kidnapping, the British government introduced strict security measures in which British families were evacuated and British residents were concentrated into security zones. The new security measures reflected the fundamental change in Etzel’s strategy towards Britain. In a secret order issued by Etzel headquarters on 10 February 1947 everyone British was considered as an enemy, no matter what position he held. 2 Indeed, HQ British Troops in Palestine warned ‘that no British subject, male or female, can regard him or herself, safe from [Etzel’s] evil plans’. 3