Eliyahu Hakim
Eliyahu Hakim (Hebrew:אליהו חכים; January 2, 1925 – March 22, 1945) was a Lehi member, known for taking part in the 1944 assassination of Lord Moyne, the British Minister Resident in the Middle East.
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Biography
Born in Beirut, Lebanon to a Lebanese-Jewish family, Hakim moved to Mandatory Palestine with his family when he was seven. He grew up in the port city of Haifa.
As a teenager, he joined Lehi, but then volunteered for the British Army during World War II. Posted to Cairo, Hakim deserted in order to continue his anti-British activities on behalf of Lehi.
As a member of Lehi, he participated in an assassination attempt against Harold MacMichael, the British High Commissioner for Palestine, in 1944. His team ambushed MacMichael's car, slightly wounding him and his driver and severely wounding his adjutant, but failing to kill anyone.
Assassination of Lord Moyne
On November 6, 1944, Hakim, along with Eliyahu Bet-Zuri carried out the assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo.
Moyne arrived in his car with his army driver, Lance Corporal A. Fuller, his secretary, Dorothy Osmond, and his ADC, Major Andrew Hughes-Onslow. The ADC went to open the front door of the residence and the driver got out to open the door for Moyne. Hakim then pulled the car door open and shot Moyne three times, while Bet-Zuri shot and killed the driver. The two assassins fled on their bicycles, pursued by an Egyptian motorcycle policeman who had been alerted by Major Hughes-Onslow. The two were captured and surrounded by an angry mob until they were extracted by the police. Moyne, seriously wounded, was rushed to hospital but died of his wounds that evening.
Hakim and Bet-Zuri were caught immediately and put on trial before a military court. They were convicted and sentenced to death. Both were hanged in Cairo on 22 March 1945, singing Hatikvah, the Zionist anthem, on the gallows.
Legacy
Hakim and Bet-Zuri's remains were brought to Israel in 1975 and reburied on Mount Herzl with full military honors.
A street is named after Hakim in the French Carmel neighborhood of Haifa.[1]
Footnotes
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References
- Gerold Frank, The Deed: The Assassination of Lord Moyne in Cairo, Simon and Schuster, 1963.
External links
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- Dr. Yosef Nedava, "Hakim and Bet-Zuri," on the Daat website (Hebrew)
- Eliyahu Hakim biography on the Etzel website
