Gourdji
In Palestine in 1940, Gourdji was involved with LEHI (Fighters for the Liberation of Israel), also known as the Stern Gang, a Jewish terrorist group.
Gourdji was the father of Ari Ben-Menashe. He received a French education at the Alliance School in Baghdad. Before settling in Iran, he traveled extensively, including to India, France, Palestine, and the Soviet Union.1
In Palestine in 1940, Gourdji was involved with LEHI (Fighters for the Liberation of Israel), also known as the Stern Gang, a Jewish terrorist group. He knew Yitzhak Shamir, who was also part of the Stern Gang.1
He established an import-export business in Iran with his brother and later acquired the Mercedes Benz/Bosch car and spare-parts franchise for Iran in the 1950s. Despite his business success, he yearned to move to Israel when the political climate allowed. Gourdji held socialist sympathies and an unusual philosophy for his affluent, capitalist, American-oriented society, which led to him not being fully accepted by the Iraqi-Jewish community in Tehran.1
He supported the Gahal (later the Likud Party), a merger of Menachem Begin's Herut Party and the Israel Liberal Party, due to his view of the Labor Party as self-serving and intertwined with the United States.1
Sources
- Ben-Menashe, Ari. Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network. TrineDay, 1992. ↩
Local network
Gourdji's direct connections. Click any node to navigate, drag to pan, scroll (or pinch) to zoom. + 2‑hop expands the neighborhood one level further.