Elnakam is the “nom de guerre” given to Ezra Yakhin in the LEHI.

Ezra was born in Yaffa in 1928 but his early childhood was spent in the Yemin Moshe section of Jerusalem, opposite the walls of the Old City. It was from there that he and his family was evacuated during the 1929 Arab riots.

His youth was spent in the busy Machane Yehuda Quarter where the seeds of revolution against the British rule were nurtured, eventually bringing him into service in the LEHI, the Jewish Underground.

His first assignment with the LEHI was to distribute and paste up wall posters. He participated in reconnaissance, ambushes and other actions against the British and Arabs. “Elnakam”, as he was known to his comrades was miraculously saved from prison and even from death. He was wounded twice and lost an eye in the attack on the Old City.

This book “Elnakam” was originally written in Hebrew. It has been reprinted several times and is widely used in a number of different educational institutions as an aid in the study of the history of the War of Independence.

Today, Ezra Yakhin lectures extensively in the Underground Movement and the History of Israeli Politics.

He has four children.

December 2002: Ezra with birthright israel Group