In July 2006 the British government protested against Israel 's celebration of the anniversary of the King David Hotel bombing , an act of terrorism which killed 91 people of various nationalities , including some civilians . In the literature about the practice and history of terrorism , it has been called one of the most lethal terrorist attacks of the 20th century . However , security analyst Bruce Hoffman wrote of the bombing in his book '' Inside Terrorism '' that " Unlike many terrorist groups today , the Irgun 's strategy by sending warnings to evacuate the hotel was not deliberately to harm civilians . At the same time , though , the claim of Begin and other apologists that warnings were issued can not absolve either the group or its commander for the ninety-one people killed and forty-five others injured ... Indeed , whatever nonlethal intentions the Irgun might or might not have had , the fact remains that a tragedy of almost unparalleled magnitude was inflicted ... so that to this day the bombing remains one of the world 's single most lethal terrorist incidents of the twentieth century . " The Menachem Begin Heritage Center held a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the bombing of the King David Hotel in 1946 by the Irgun . The conference was attended by past and future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former members of Irgun . The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested , saying : " We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism , which led to the loss of many lives , to be commemorated " , and wrote to the Mayor of Jerusalem that such an " act of terror " could not be honoured . The British government also demanded the removal of the plaque , pointing out that the statement on it accusing the British of failing to evacuate the hotel was untrue and " did not absolve those who planted the bomb . " MK Reuven Rivlin ( Likud ) , raised the British protest in the Knesset . The issue had a personal dimension for Tzipi Livni , Israel 's then-foreign minister , as Irgun 's chief operations officer at the time of the bombing was her father , Eitan . To prevent escalation of the diplomatic row , Israel made changes in the plaque 's text , but made greater changes in the English than the Hebrew version . The final English version says , " Warning phone calls has been made to the hotel , The Palestine Post and the French Consulate , urging the hotel 's occupants to leave immediately . The hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded . To the Irgun 's regret , 92 persons were killed . " The death toll given includes Avraham Abramovitz , the Irgun member who was shot during the attack and died later from his wounds , but only the Hebrew version of the sign makes that clear
King David Hotel bombing
King David Hotel bombing
Israel–United Kingdom relations