In 1948 , '' The New York Times '' published a letter signed by a number of prominent Jewish figures including Hannah Arendt , Albert Einstein , Sidney Hook , and Rabbi Jessurun Cardozo , which described Irgun as " a terrorist , right-wing , chauvinist organization in Palestine " . The letter went on to state that Irgun and the Stern gang " inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community . Teachers were beaten up for speaking against them , adults were shot for not letting their children join them . By gangster methods , beatings , window-smashing , and widespread robberies , the terrorists intimidated the population and exacted a heavy tribute . " Soon after World War II , Winston Churchill said " we should never have stopped immigration before the war " , but that the Irgun were " the vilest gangsters " and that he would " never forgive the Irgun terrorists . " In 2006 , Simon McDonald , the British ambassador in Tel Aviv , and John Jenkins , the Consul-General in Jerusalem , wrote in response to a pro-Irgun commemoration of the King David Hotel bombing : " We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism , which led to the loss of many lives , to be commemorated . " They also called for the removal of plaques at the site which presented as a fact that the deaths were due to the British ignoring warning calls . The plaques , in their original version , read : Warning phone calls had been made urging the hotel 's occupants to leave immediately . For reasons known only to the British the hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded , and to the Irgun 's regret and dismay 91 persons were killed
King David Hotel bombing
King David Hotel bombing
Irgun