Yehoshua Zettler

Yehoshua Zettler was born in 1917 in Kfar Saba

Zettler was born in Kfar Saba on July 15, 1917. His father, Ben-Zion Zettler, was one of the first 4 settlers of the village. His family home was largely destroyed in Arab riots in 1921 and later rebuilt. He studied at the Geula school in Tel Aviv.

He joined the Haganah at 14, moved to the Irgun, and followed Avraham Stern to Lehi in 1940. His underground name was Meir. He took part in a bank robbery in 1940, was caught in 1941 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

After a prison fight in Jerusalem he was moved to Acre Prison. He escaped in the Acre Prison break on May 4, 1947, and returned to Lehi. During the 1948 war he commanded Lehi fighters in Jerusalem, including at Deir Yassin, where Irgun and Lehi forces killed at least 107 Arab villagers.

He conceived and planned the killing of Count Folke Bernadotte on September 17, 1948, and chose the team that carried it out. The attackers were not caught at the time.

After the war he opened a gas station and garage in Jaffa and left public life. His memoirs were published in 2007. He died on May 20, 2009, and was buried in Yarkon Cemetery.