Since the bombing, much controversy has ensued over the issues of when warnings were sent and how the British authorities responded.
Irgun representatives have always stated that the warning was given well in advance of the explosion, so that adequate time was available to evacuate the hotel.
Menachem Begin, for example, wrote that the telephone message was delivered 25–27 minutes before the explosion.
It is often stated that the British authorities have always denied that a warning was sent.
However, what the British Government said, five months after the bombing, once the subsequent inquest and all the inquiries had been completed, was not that no warning had been sent, but that no such warning had been received by anyone at the Secretariat "in an official position with any power to take action."

American author Thurston Clarke's analysis of the bombing gave timings for calls and for the explosion, which he said took place at 12:37.
He stated that as part of the Irgun plan, a sixteen-year-old recruit, Adina Hay (alias Tehia), was to make three warning calls before the attack.
At 12:22 the first call was made, in both Hebrew and English, to a telephone operator on the hotel's switchboard (the Secretariat and the military each had their own, separate, telephone exchanges).
It was ignored.
At 12:27, the second warning call was made to the French Consulate adjacent to the hotel to the north-east.
This second call was taken seriously, and staff went through the building opening windows and closing curtains to lessen the impact of the blast.
At 12:31 a third and final warning call to the Palestine Post newspaper was made.
The telephone operator called the Palestine Police CID to report the message.
She then called the hotel switchboard.
The hotel operator reported the threat to one of the hotel managers.
This warning resulted in the discovery of the milk cans in the basement, but by then it was too late.

Begin claimed in his memoirs that the British had deliberately not evacuated so that they could vilify the Jewish militant groups.
Since the bombing, much controversy has ensued over the issues of when warnings were sent and how the British authorities responded. Irgun representatives have always stated that the warning was given well in advance of the explosion, so that adequate time was available to evacuate the hotel. Menachem Begin, for example, wrote that the telephone message was delivered 25–27 minutes before the explosion. It is often stated that the British authorities have always denied that a warning was sent. However, what the British Government said, five months after the bombing, once the subsequent inquest and all the inquiries had been completed, was not that no warning had been sent, but that no such warning had been received by anyone at the Secretariat "in an official position with any power to take action."
American author Thurston Clarke's analysis of the bombing gave timings for calls and for the explosion, which he said took place at 12:37. He stated that as part of the Irgun plan, a sixteen-year-old recruit, Adina Hay (alias Tehia), was to make three warning calls before the attack. At 12:22 the first call was made, in both Hebrew and English, to a telephone operator on the hotel's switchboard (the Secretariat and the military each had their own, separate, telephone exchanges). It was ignored. At 12:27, the second warning call was made to the French Consulate adjacent to the hotel to the north-east. This second call was taken seriously, and staff went through the building opening windows and closing curtains to lessen the impact of the blast. At 12:31 a third and final warning call to the Palestine Post newspaper was made. The telephone operator called the Palestine Police CID to report the message. She then called the hotel switchboard. The hotel operator reported the threat to one of the hotel managers. This warning resulted in the discovery of the milk cans in the basement, but by then it was too late.
Begin claimed in his memoirs that the British had deliberately not evacuated so that they could vilify the Jewish militant groups.
King David Hotel bombing