The blast that still echoes: The King David Hotel bombing, 80 years on

The bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem occurred on July 22, 1946, 80 years ago, and remains a significant, though often overlooked, event in pre-state Israeli history. The attack was carried out by the Irgun, a Jewish underground organization, as part of the United Hebrew Resistance Movement's efforts to pressure the British to revoke the White Paper, which limited Jewish immigration to Palestine. The hotel housed the British Mandate Secretariat and military headquarters.

• The Irgun planted seven milk churns filled with explosives in the hotel's basement.
• Warnings were issued by an Irgun courier to the hotel, the French Consulate, and The Palestine Post between 12:22 p.m. and 12:31 p.m., urging evacuation.
• Despite the warnings, the bombs detonated at 12:37 p.m., collapsing the hotel's southern wing and killing 91 people, including 41 Arabs, 28 Britons, and 17 Jews.
• The attack caused significant division among Jewish leadership, with figures like Chaim Weizmann withdrawing support, while David Ben-Gurion, though condemning it publicly, may have seen it as advancing the goal of British withdrawal.

Menachem Begin, head of the Irgun, expressed deep sorrow over the casualties, stating, "For some reason the hotel was not evacuated, even though from the moment when the warnings had been received there was plenty of time for every living soul to saunter out."