יומנים > יומן - מלא 07/03/1948

Sunday, March 7, 1948

Yigael [Yadin]: It turns out that the [senior] commanders cannot be removed [from their posts] for the [battalion commanders] school for a month, so instead Stone [Marcus] is arranging a continuing training program in writing. Along with the training personnel, he'll pass through every brigade, stay there 2-3 days, give it the material in writing, and after that they hope to arrange a two-week seminar to complete the training.

       Ehud [Avriel] is requesting an expert in heavy equipment [to be by his side]. Fritz [Eshet] should be sent.

       - In the meantime they're setting up the artillery service. There are 300-400 men. At the moment Liuba Ginsberg is organizing them. He already has a list of 30 key people.

       In the last shipment we received 40 tons of TNT, 850,000 pins, 100,000 detonators. Another shipment is on the way.

       - I telegraphed Stone's list of officers to Arthur [Lourie], in order to mobilize them to get here - to draw on Gorfein [sp.], Tulik [sp.], and others for help.

       - Yehezkel [Sahar]: There are 70 candidates for police officers, 30 will be selected, from the 25-30-year-olds, mid-level [high school] education, health.

       The Staff situation is worrying: Zvi [Ayalon] is a decent man, but he doesn't have the necessary capabilities or knowledge. Yosef Rochel [Avidar] doesn't comprehend the matter [Logistics Department]. We need someone like Erich Moller [ATA Textile Company]. Lehrer [Moshe Zadok] is not suited to [the] Personnel [Department]. Stone should be Ya'akov [Dori]'s deputy. What about Greev [should be: Green]? - Essentially inadequate, flexible and adapts to the circumstances. The only suitable man at the Staff is Yigael [Yadin], and this is also Stone's view - he has knowledge, the capacity for scientific thought.

       - Gad Meknes: The "foreigners" [the Arab Liberation Army under Qawuqji] have strict orders to avoid clashing with the Jews. Bir ''Adas, from which the attack on Magdiel was launched, is now seeking peace.

[Jerusalem]

At 12:30 I set out to Jerusalem by convoy. At 4:45 we arrived safely in Jerusalem. The journey took so long, although we drove through Masmiyya.

       Sasson: For now there's no contact with the king. There's no word from him - even though he was supposed to take him [pick Sasson up] in the evening. Two evenings ago Qawuqji entered the country via Transjordan, and his headquarters is in the Triangle [the Nablus-Jenin-Tulkarm area]. Last Thursday and Friday the League's committee met in Damascus to review the situation in the country. The meeting was supposed to last ten days, with the Mufti participating. Suddenly yesterday they announced that the committee had suspended its work, all those who were supposed to come - won't come, and Qawuqji has entered the country. This happened immediately after the UN resolutions on Friday. Apparently (in Sasson's view) this is intended to pressure the UN over the course of the ten days, and they may be planning actions. Yesterday the Mufti, in Egypt, telephoned Khalidi [sp.] [to say] that he won't be going to Damascus and he suggested that he go. He added: We, the political people, have nothing to do. This has become a matter for military people.

       The Arabs' impression is that for the past three months they've had the upper hand. This is the impression of any Arab newspaper reader. This is also the impression among those directing the actions. There's a plan in the Arabs' action: Bir ''Adas, Rosh Ha'Ayin,

Bet She'an, the Galilee - it's a clear strategy: to cut us off.

       Last Friday Falastin [a nationalist Arab daily] published an "official" announcement by the Arab headquarters [saying] that so far they have no Jewish prisoners, but they are setting up prisoner camps for Jews and will treat them in accordance with international custom. Sasson says that three weeks ago he proposed to Yisrael Galili that prisoner camps for Arabs be set up.

       The dispute with the Arabs - Sasson suddenly says, and Reuven [Shiloah] backs him up - won't be decided solely by force, and we should maintain three points on which we can discuss [reaching] an understanding. Meeting with the Arabs in their own countries is impossible. We should negotiate with Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria in Western [countries]: France, Switzerland, Italy. Arab governments' envoys in Jerusalem cannot present an accurate report to [their] government because they have no contact with Jews: such contact is only possible abroad. France, Turkey, and India would be interested in making peace in the country - because the war here is detrimental to them. He suggests that Eliahu Epstein [Elath] go to India - to Nehru, not to Jinnah [the Muslim leader, governor-general of Pakistan]. Reuven suggests that Elias [Eliahu Sasson] go to Rome or Paris, to make contact with Arabs.

       Have you despaired of your king? - No but he is powerless (Reuven says: I have despaired of the king, because the English have exposed him).

       Reuven: Only in Europe is it possible to spy on Arab countries - we'll find a Frenchman, an Italian who will go there and provide information for us.

       Sasson: We have to ensure that we redeem the Arab prestige, when we deliver them a blow. Neither Creech Jones nor Marshall will make peace between us. We need to send people who will acquire [gain the trust of] Arab envoys who will explain to [their] governments that the global state of affairs [world opinion] is opposed to attacks on Jews.

       [Brigadier] Clayton went to Syria - the English want to make Syria their [base of] support, after they failed in Iraq and Egypt. The situation in the Arab world is tough: England is making Sudan independent; it killed the Imam in Yemen and crowned the wazir [prime minister]; there are riots in Iraq, and England wants to concentrate its Arab interests in Eretz Israel.