Col. André Serot

André Sérot (1896-1948), a Colonel in the French Armee de l'Air, was serving with UN forces in Palestine in 1948, where he commanded a detachment of French peacekeepers. On September 17, 1948 he was traveling by car in Jerusalem, accompanying Folke Bernadotte, the United Nations Mediator for Palestine. Both were unarmed, as were their bodyguards and Israeli Army liaisons, as Bernadotte wanted to project a peaceful, non-combative image. Sérot and Bernadotte were shot and killed by members of Hazit Hamoledeth ("Homeland Front", a Stern Gang splinter group) who were wearing Israeli army uniforms. The murders led to the discrediting and disbandment of the Stern Gang, but the murderer, Yehoshua Cohen, was never brought to trial.

• Adapted from Wikipedia, André Serot, retrieved Nov. 11, 2012.