Dozens of people gathered at Mount Herzl cemetery to mark 101 years since the fall of Avshalom Feinberg, one of the founders and leaders of the NILI, a Jewish espionage organization that assisted the British in ousting the Ottoman rule from the Land of Israel.
There is currently no official state ceremony memorializing the NILI or its members.
Feinberg was killed in 1917 while enroute to Egypt with fellow NILI member Yosef Lishansky to make contact with the British. In 1967 following the Six Day War, Feinberg’s remains were found in the Sinai under a lone palm tree that sprouted from date seeds in his pocket, and were brought to Mount Herzl.
The annual memorial event, organized by the Zionist organization Im Tirtzu, was held this past Thursday for the seventh consecutive year and featured speeches from former Stern Group member Ezra Yachin, philosopher Dr. Gustavo Perednik and researcher of Israeli history Elida Bar Shaul.
Yael Pedhatzur, Feinberg’s niece, spoke about Feinberg’s faith and unwavering commitment to the Jewish People: “One of the things that I grew up hearing about Avshalom was his deep connection to our history and the Bible,” said Pedhatzur.
Im Tirtzu Chairman, Matan Peleg, spoke at the event: “In order to continue advancing and strengthening Zionism, it is important to return to our roots and remember those who were instrumental in bringing about the establishment of the Jewish state.”
“Im Tirtzu is proud to organize this important event, and call on the government to begin holding an official state ceremony befitting of those brave pioneers like the members of the NILI who helped establish Israel”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Eytan Meir)
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One Response
Were these people shomer mitsvos? If not, why should we care? Jews were on both sides of World War I, and it is debateable if the outcome was in our interests (since the result of a victory by the Central Powers probably would have left Eretz Yisrael open to frum Jews while preventing both the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Holocaust). Given the “line ups” in World War I (France, Imperial Russia and Britain vs Imperial Germany, Austro-Hungarian Empire and Ottoman Empire”), there wasn’t a clear “good guy” or “bad guy” from our perspective.