יומנים > יומן - מלא 08/05/1948

Shabbat, May 8, 1948 The disposition of an occupied city (or village) has to be determined: Who governs [it]? Is it a commander or an appointed governor-and appointed by whom? What's his authority over the army? over the inhabitants? their property? What's the army allowed to confiscate? What will become of the Arab Affairs Committee? Do they declare a military zone? What rule applies to it? What rule applies to looters? Is there compensation for looted property? Should we expel Arabs? Prisoners? What rule applies to Arabs who remain? Who guards the place, the army or the police? To whom are they subordinate? Who takes care of indigent Arabs? Who puts up the budget? - Cable [Haim] Pozner to [Mordechai] Zagagi (April 29, 1948): he received another 3 million on his account, gave Alon [Yehuda Arazi] $ 1,250,000, Ehud [Avriel] 900,000, Munya Mardor 250,000. He received $ 80,000 from the appeal in Germany. The revenues from Belgium and Czechoslovakia were fully spent (for what purpose?). In Italy, he will spend 31,315 [thousand?] Italian lira for Alon. The Sea Wolf wants 28 million. He wants to buy 92 million zloty worth of sugar in Poland. - Organizing the Logistics Department: Yosef Rochel [Avidar]. His deputy: Kozlowski [Pinchas Sapir] (for finance, fortifications, armor). Logistics Department staff: [Ephraim] Ben-Artzi-planning and control, supply officer, warehouse officer, and shipments to the units. Services [within the Logistics Department's purview]: equipment and supplies, transport, storage (camps), veterinary service (beasts of burden and of transport). Ben-Artzi-chief of Logistics Department staff. Harry Yaffe-controller of transport, food, controlled equipment; [Max] Schumacher-camps, general equipment; [Herbert] Kaplan-statistics (he worked in the Canadian Army), Harry Yaffe's deputy; Lubitch [Arye Lapid]-Logistics Department staff administration, use of aircraft; Asher'ke [Peled]-armament; David Reif [Raif]-Yosef [Avidar's] adjutant. Inquire with [Yosef] Yaakovson about the fate of the military stocks that we hauled in ten railroad cars and were purchased for P£ 18,000. - A meeting of the Staff departments: the PIATs reached Tsemah late. Yigal Peikowitz [Allon] says the Arab forces are prevailing. There are around 3,000 armed Arabs, 700 foreigners. He wants flamethrowers. Therefore, the attack on Tsemah was postponed. We decided not to use flamethrowers now (before May 16). From Haifa they say that the Colonial Office approached a general in Haifa about the situation in Safed; if the situation resembles [that in] Haifa [where the Jews are prevailing], he will be asked to mediate. The general approached [the attorney Ya'akov] Salomon [and asked] what the situation is. Yigael [Yadin] told him-unchanged. Yigael [Yadin] asks whether there are smoke bombs. It isn't clear to Yosef [Avidar]-he will look into it. Bet Mahsir wasn't attacked tonight because they couldn't bring in the "Davids" from Ma'ale HaHamisha and they're apprehensive about sustaining casualties without "Davids" because in Katamon the Davidka drove the Arabs way. These delays are dangerous (they pin forces down for nothing; Jerusalem is cut off and may be attacked). Yigael promises that he's pressing the commanders but they're apprehensive. (There are also delays in setting up the convoy. [Look into it] after the meeting.) Yigael demands the establishment of a reserve brigade right now-two battalions and an armored [battalion]: two thousand men. (Take a trained company from each brigade except Jerusalem-meaning from Alexandroni, Givati, Tel Aviv, or Haifa.) A commander and a staff are needed. I will consult with Ya'akov [Dori] and a commander and a staff will be determined. Zvi [Ayalon] asked about civil defense. In his opinion, it should be organized not by the "Organization" but by a civilian authority. It needs a national staff. He proposes [Mordechai] Nimtsa-Bi. Yigal disagrees-in his opinion, the Staff should organize it. I proposed that the Staff should do it for the time being and that Nimtsa-Bi be appointed; after the yod-gimmel [the government] gets organized and undertakes to provide this service-we'll transfer it to the yod-gimmel. Nimtsa-Bi is named chief of Civil Defense Department, answering to the Chief of General Staff. Once the yod-gimmel puts this service in order-we'll transfer this department to its authority. Zvi remarks: What's the regime now that Jaffa has been conquered? I said the yod-gimmel has tabled a motion about the regime-and for the time being the commander will deal with conquest and not with setting up government. I instructed Zvi to prepare a legislative proposal and an arrangement. I'll present it to Rosenblüth [Pinchas Rosen], [Bechor] Sheetrit, and Gad [Meknes] for perusal. Yosef [Avidar] asks about clothing. Now 25,000 men have full uniforms. We have 28,000 men apart from around 3,500 daily people (who are not liable to induction). If the orders come through-we'll have uniforms for 30,000 men. According to the induction orders, 10,000 more will join (including girls). Yosef demands the authority to order enough to make up the whole shortfall to 30,000 plus 10,000 men and 5,000 women. [Yosef] Yaakovson was authorized to expropriate houses and warehouses. [Israel] Rokach [Mayor of Tel Aviv] is getting in the way. I state that Rokach isn't authorized to revoke authorization. Eliahu [Ben-Hur] wants a special meeting to meet training needs. We concluded that Yigael [Yadin], Yosef [Avidar], and Eliahu will meet on the 4th to settle the problems. Families aren't being paid and social workers' methods are being used to check out the situation, thus insulting the families. I instructed Yosef Yizraeli, Baruch [Rabinov], and Shkolnik [Eshkol] to look into it. Eliahu [Ben-Hur] is complaining about the Jerusalem District commander, who is refusing to send people to courses in demolition, platoon commander, machine gun, light weaponry, battalion commander. Yigael [Yadin] suggests that people not be removed [from Jerusalem]. I will ask David [Shaltiel] for his opinion. Lehrer [Moshe Zadok]: there are no drivers. Egged and Darom-Yehuda are providing 30 drivers. Dan has 120 who are liable to induction. Lehrer summoned them to intake-they will serve a week at least. - Hai [Yissacharov] advises in Rutenberg's name that he met with "the King" [Abdallah] in Amman yesterday. In his opinion, he [the King] would like to meet with Golda [Meir] and that she should be sent over at once [from Jerusalem] to Haifa for this purpose. [From Haifa, she could go to Naharayim for the meeting with Abdallah.] I ordered arrangements for an aircraft on this account. But by an act of the devil-or of sabotage-the plane broke down, although this morning someone was flown in from Jerusalem against my orders. I set out with Yigael [Yadin] to the artillery camp in Herzliya on the coast [at the Sidna Ali Mosque]. The training lasts only six days; some of the artillery men are from the Brigade but others are raw recruits who were inducted only two or three weeks ago. Each cannon has a five-person team: a commander, three workers, one in reserve. They fired training rounds and live rounds. The first time they fired a live round-they knocked the target (a giant barrel) down. It's unbelievable that these were six-day-old artillerymen…. They will be sent to Western Galilee and the Negev. Liuba Ginsberg trained them. Their commander will be Rapoport [Admon], who served in the Brigade and is now in Alexandroni. When we came, we found an inscription on every tent, barracks, and car: "We want a furlough!" I recommended, together with the commander, a one-day furlough. I parted with them by saying a few brief words about our victories thus far. This shouldn't delude us into thinking that the matter is easy because we may be facing the gravest and most dangerous test of all and the finest weaponry that we have, for the time being, has been entrusted to them. The artillery men will not win without other units-but they are an immensely valuable force and will be worthy of their role in bringing on the final victory: independence and peace! - Afternoon: a talk with Ya'akov [Dori]. He favors setting up the new brigade with Shlomo [Shamir] as the commander. Yigael promised us that they will give the brigade men this time and that "Boaz" [Zvi Ayalon] will make the appointment public. I consulted about a duties for Yitzhak Sadeh; it seems to the three of us that [his duties] should be in the Negev-to progress from Nir-Am to Sdom and southward [to the Gulf of Eilat]. - Mordechai Binczewski [Ben-Tsur], who returned from Baghdad two weeks ago, visited me. He had been sent by the Palmach and is now returning to the Palmach in Jerusalem. He proposes strengthening the Haganah [in Iraq] for operations if the Jews [there] are attacked. He believes that the national-loan project can be disseminated among the Jews of Baghdad and that a better way to transfer the money to us can be found. - Maurice Fischer [from Paris] cables that he knows from a French source that the British-Transjordan treaty has a secret clause about an Eretz-Israel crown for Abdallah and that Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt decided that: (1) Abdallah will enter in order to fight against the Jews in Eretz[-Israel], (2) they will murder him, and (3) then they'll establish a Mufti government (one headed by the Mufti] in Eretz[-Israel]. We brought Golda from Jerusalem, where she will go in order to meet with our friend [Abdallah]. We lay down two policies for the time being: (1) any agreement must be based on the UN [resolution] or (2) mutual border adjustments. - As for the [High] Commissioner's invitation to an armistice discuss with the [Jewish] Agency, we decided to answer that we protest his having arranged a cease-fire after a unilateral arrangement with the Arabs ([with] Azzam Pasha in Jericho) and that we will discuss an armistice either directly with the Arabs or with a representative of the UN (the Committee of Consuls). At twelve, a cease-fire was declared in Jerusalem-with no prior arrangement with us.