took part in two raids on the British military resort camp near Netanya, mining operations against British security traffic, the bombing of a road bridge, and in railway sabotage. On May 4, 1947, he took part in the Acre Prison break, an attack against Acre Prison, a British fortress prison in the city of Acre, during which 28 Jewish underground prisoners were freed. Weiss was part of a blocking squad that laid mines to cover the retreat of the attackers and escapees by delaying any British pursuers. However, Weiss was captured, along with Avshalom Haviv, Meir Nakar, Amnon Michaelov, and Nahman Zitterbaum. Trial and execution The five men were tried on capital charges in a military court, though Michaelov and Zitterbaum were too young to be sentenced to death. During their trial, the men refused to participate, disrupted the proceedings, and spent their time joking among themselves and drawing caricatures of members of the court. When given the opportunity to speak in their own defense, each of them gave defiant anti-British speeches. During his speech, Weiss stated: When the three men were sentenced to death, they broke into song, singing Hatikvah. They were taken to Acre Prison. While they were awaiting execution, the Irgun abducted British sergeants Clifford Martin and Mervyn Paice in Netanya and threatened to hang them if Haviv, Weiss, and Nakar were executed. Haviv, Weiss, and Nakar were hanged in Acre Prison in the early morning hours of July 29, 1947, with Weiss being the last one executed. Each of them went to their deaths singing Hatikvah, with the rest of the Jewish prisoners joining in. The next day, they were buried in Safed. Aftermath The Irgun subsequently carried out its threat to hang Sergeants Martin and Paice; the two men were killed and their bodies were hanged from trees and booby-trapped with a mine that injured an officer trying to cut one of them down. This incident shocked and enraged the British authorities and public, and led to violent reprisals by British troops that killed five Jews in Tel Aviv and several days of antisemitic rioting in British cities. However, it also led to the suspension of the death penalty in Palestine, and has been cited as a major catalyst for the eventual British withdrawal from Palestine. Yaakov Weiss is remembered in Israel as one of the 12 Olei Hagardom, Palestinian Jewish fighters who were hanged