Operation Agatha
Operation Agatha (Saturday, June 29, 1946), sometimes called Black Sabbath (Hebrew: השבת השחורה) or Black Saturday because it began on the Jewish sabbath, was a police and military operation conducted by the British authorities in Mandatory Palestine. Soldiers and police searched for arms and made arrests in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and several dozen settlements; the Jewish Agency was raided. The total number of British security forces involved is variously reported as 10,000, 17,000,[1] and 25,000. About 2,700 individuals were arrested, among them future Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett. The officially given purpose of the operation was to end "the state of anarchy" then existing in Palestine. Other objectives included obtaining documentary proof of Jewish Agency approval of sabotage operations by the Palmach and of an alliance between the Haganah and the more violent Lehi (Stern Gang) and Irgun, destroying the Haganah's military power, boosting army morale and preventing a coup d'état being mounted by the Lehi and Irgun.[2]
Operation Agatha
Operational
British Mandate authorities
Arrest Zionist underground members
Saturday, June 29, 1946
Success
Background[edit]
On June 16, 1946, the "Night of the Bridges" had the Palmach blow up eight road and rail bridges linking Palestine to neighbouring countries. On June 17, the Lehi attacked railway workshops in Haifa. Shortly afterwards, the Irgun kidnapped six British officers. One officer subsequently escaped, and two were released. The Irgun announced that the remaining officers would be released only in exchange for the commutation of death sentences for two Irgun members.[3]
The British Army had for months wanted to take military action against the Zionist underground organizations, but it had been blocked by High Commissioner Alan Cunningham, who was also particularly opposed to military action being taken against the Jewish Agency. Cunningham changed his mind after the "Night of the Bridges" and flew to London to meet the British Cabinet and army chief Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in London. Montgomery formulated the plan for Operation Agatha. With reluctance, Cunningham accepted it in the hope that with the more militant Zionists restrained, the way would be open to reaching a political settlement with the more moderate and pro-British leaders such as Chaim Weizmann. During the operation, a radio broadcast had Cunningham say, "[The arrests] are not directed against the Jewish community as a whole but solely against those few who are taking an active part in the present campaign of violence and those who are responsible for instigating and directing it..."[2]
The Chief of the Secretariat, Sir John Shaw, outlined the official objective of the operation at a press conference in Jerusalem: "Large-scale operations have been authorized to end the state of anarchy existing in Palestine and to enable law-abiding citizens to pursue their normal occupations without fear of kidnapping, murder, or being blown up". Shaw believed that the British should end the existing situation by partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab states and then leaving or by dismantling the Jewish Agency, which claimed administrative authority but secretly supported acts by the underground Zionist military organizations and governed without the authority. Thus, Shaw approved of the operation.[2]
Several other objectives underlay the official one such as to obtain documentary proof of the Jewish Agency's approval of sabotage operations by the Palmach and an alliance between the Haganah and the more violent Lehi (Stern Gang) and Irgun in carrying out violent acts. Another was to forestall a coup d'etat. In June, members of the Jewish Agency's Executive and the Haganah High Command had met with delegates of the Irgun and Lehi at which the latter, according to intelligence, had stated its intention of asking the Yishuv to participate in a coup "for the proclamation of a future Jewish State and the interruption of all relations with the existing Palestine Administration". In the wake of the "Night of the Bridges", another objective was to break the military power of the Haganah. Since the Haganah had appeared to be acting in co-operation with the Lehi and Irgun, the British authorities believed mistakenly that breaking its military power was also necessary because the Haganah might co-operate with the prospective Irgun and Lehi coup. Lastly, Montgomery had stated that the operation was required to boost army morale.[2]