---
category: Paramilitary
end: 1948
location: Palestine
start: 1940
summary: LEHI (Lohamei Herut Israel), also known as the Stern Gang, was a Jewish paramilitary
  organization founded by Avraham Stern and later led by Yitzhak Shamir that conducted
  assassinations and bombings against British Mandate authorities and Arab targets
  in Palestine.
tags:
- Organization
- Paramilitary
- Israel
- Terrorism
---

[LEHI](/organizations/lehi/) (Lohamei Herut Israel, Hebrew for Fighters for the Liberation of [Israel](/places/israel/)), also known as the [Stern Gang](/organizations/stern-gang/), was a Jewish terrorist group. It was founded by [David Stern](/people/david-stern/) and later led by [Yitzhak Shamir](/people/yitzhak-shamir/).[^1]

[Gourdji](/people/gourdji/), the father of [Ari Ben-Menashe](/people/ari-ben-menashe/), was involved with [LEHI](/organizations/lehi/) in [Palestine](/places/palestine/) during 1940. Although the organization had a reputation as right-wing, many of its members were formerly part of the communist movement. [LEHI](/organizations/lehi/) was virulently anti-British, and [Yitzhak Shamir](/people/yitzhak-shamir/) was even willing to negotiate with the [Nazis](/places/nazi-germany/) for Jewish lives, offering to fight alongside German troops against the British if the Germans would allow interned Jews to emigrate to [Palestine](/places/palestine/).[^1]

[LEHI](/organizations/lehi/) members were persecuted and hunted down, even by other Jews in [Palestine](/places/palestine/), due to opposition from the British, [U.S.](/places/united-states/) governments, and the Jewish labor movement. Most individuals affiliated with the [Stern Gang](/organizations/stern-gang/) were not welcomed in the State of [Israel](/places/israel/) after its establishment. [Yitzhak Shamir](/people/yitzhak-shamir/) was an exception, becoming a prominent figure in [Mossad](/organizations/mossad/).[^1]

[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network*. TrineDay, 1992.