Novara Media@novaramedia
Frank Sinatra smuggled an estimated $1m in cash to pay for weapons for a Jewish paramilitary group in Palestine at the height of a Zionist ethnic cleansing campaign, his daughter Nancy has claimed.
The My Way singer met Teddy Kollek, the Washington representative of the Haganah militia, at the infamous Copacabana nightclub in New York City in March 1948.
Since the pair knew that Kollek was under FBI surveillance, Sinatra was able to use him as a decoy to distract the authorities’ attention, while he went and delivered payment to the captain of a boat packed with munitions set for Palestine, Nancy Sinatra revealed on X last week.
The Haganah were the primary underground Zionist militia in British Mandatory Palestine and one of the forerunners of the modern day Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
The group was linked to multiple acts of terrorism, including the 1940 sinking of the SS Patrial, a boat in the port of Haifa containing 1,800 Jewish refugees whom the British authorities were deporting to Mauritius.
The Haganah intended to immobilise the boat to stop the deportations, but instead killed 267 people and injured a further 172 after their bomb ripped the steel frame off one side of the ship.
The group also served as the primary military force behind the displacement of Palestinians, developing Plan Dalet to take control of Mandatory Palestine and playing a significant role in its execution.
The campaign included the siege of Palestinian Arab villages, the bombing of neighbourhoods, forced expulsions, and setting fields and houses on fire.
The “Nakba” - meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic - saw more than 700,000 Palestinians displaced from their homes and an estimated 15,000 killed.
Nancy shared the post about her father’s smuggling on 15 May, a date known as Nakba Day in reference to the mass displacement.
She has previously shared the story on X, describing it in 2023 as her father’s “most gallant and heroic moment”.
Frank Sinatra was known throughout his career as a passionate supporter of Israel and the Zionist cause.
He visited Israel for the first time in 1962, performing seven concerts, including one for Israeli soldiers.
