Lehi, often known pejoratively as the Stern Gang, was a Zionist paramilitary militant organization founded by Avraham ("Yair") Stern in Mandatory Palestine. Its avowed aim was to evict the British authorities from Palestine by use of violence, allowing unrestricted immigration of Jews and the formation of a Jewish state. It was initially called the National Military Organization in Israel, upon being founded in August 1940, but was renamed Lehi one month later. The group referred to its members as terrorists and admitted to having carried out terrorist attacks.
Avraham Stern
Lehi commemoration in Petah Tikva. Half-clenched fist, in reference to Psalms 137:5.
The 18 Principles of Rebirth, the ideology of Lehi as laid out by Avraham Stern, notes the need to "solve the problem" of the "alien population".
Wanted Poster of the Palestine Police Force offering rewards for the capture of Stern Gang members: Jaacov Levstein (Eliav), Yitzhak Yezernitzky (Shamir), and Natan Friedman-Yelin
Avraham Stern, alias Yair, was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, called the "Stern Gang" by the British authorities and by the mainstream in the Yishuv Jewish establishment. The group referred to its members as terrorists and admitted to having carried out terrorist attacks.
Stern in 1942
Lehi Museum in Tel Aviv. The room where Abraham Stern, Lehi commander, was shot by a British policeman on 12 February 1942.
Grave of Avraham Stern in the Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery