יומנים > יומן - מלא 06/09/1948

Monday, September 6, 1948

Yosef Avidar - a survey of procurements and needs. Winter clothes: In England there's an offer of 110,000 used suits [uniforms?], 85 grush each (pants and a jacket), in Belgium 75,000 new suits, P£ 2 each, in Australia 50,000 new, P£ 1.3 each. 4,000 winter coats are being sent from Belgium by ship, P£ 2 each, and there are negotiations for 50,000 coats from Belgium.

       Kozlowski [Pinchas Sapir] requests $1.2 million [for procurement]. Kaplan is prepared to give half a million.

       Vehicles: Negotiations are underway in France for 600 pickup trucks with front-wheel-drive, $ 400,000, possibly pounds will suffice. P£ 30,000 has already been transferred, another 100,000 will be transferred. Lifshitz and Arditi want to buy 1000 vehicles in America - $ 1½ million, with terms of half a million immediately, a million when the vehicles arrive in the country. With assistance from Sam Saks [sp.] they're buying 650 vehicles in Panama, with delivery 1.2 million. Half a million in cash. A million in a year or two. These require repair.

       The Yaakovson-Becker delegation bought: $1.7 million food, 1.3 million summer clothes, 0.17 million miscellaneous, more [leather?] for shoes etc. 0.16 million, delivery 0.6 million. Towards this they obtained 2.5 million in Canada, 1.4 in America.

       There are two ships on the way with food - when they arrive we'll be guaranteed food for three months. There are no wax capes [anti-gas wax capes produced in the interwar period, which provided an alternative to raincoats]. In Australia they're offering 31,000, 30 grush each.

       The delegation in America is requesting another $2.5 million.

       - [Attorney General Avraham] Gorali: It's been proved that there's an [Arab] underground in Jaffa, they transferred weapons from place to place in Jaffa, sent signals seaward, etc. The underground organizers are the Abu-Laban family. Security forces are demanding a trial, the Ministry of Defense [should be: Foreign Ministry] is advising administrative detention. I am of the same view as the Foreign Ministry. Interestingly: Dr. [Yitzhak] Binyamini [of the Revisionists] is their lawyer.

       - I spoke with Ruth Kluger [Aliav] regarding the outcome of the fundraising campaign in Latin America. She sent $ 600,000 from there to New York to the "Mossad" (from Brazil and Argentina) and to Hammer for defense 2,000,000 (?). According to her there's another $ 8-9 million in South American countries. She's going to North and South America for this purpose. I asked that she send me confirmation that Hammer received 2 million for defense, because to date I have no confirmation of this. 

       - I asked [Ze'ev] Sherf what the main issues in the State of Israel are - aside from defense matters. He replied [that there are] three:

       1) The cost of living, which is getting worse.

       2) The government clerical staff - how they're hired, their salaries, their rights. At this time chaos prevails. There's no discipline or order. The government currently employs about 8,000 personnel: 2,000 laborers, 2,000 policemen, 4,000 office workers. According to the guidelines there should be (aside from the Defense Ministry) 5,000 office workers. In practice there are 4,126 employees (as of the end of August), 363 of whom came from national institutions (the Agency, the National Council, the Mobilization Fund), 1,322 from the Mandate government, 298 from the Lishka Klalit [General Bureau?], 16 on secondment, 548 by recommendation (that is, political-party appointees), 24 women soldiers (WC), 68 unclassified.

       3) Jerusalem (this is primarily a war problem).

       - [Yehuda] Ya'ari (of Keren HaYesod) proposes that the government of Israel issue a Rosh Hashanah greeting to the People of Israel [the Jewish people] throughout the Diaspora. He proposes minting a special medallion.

       - Luria and Krongold [sp.], producers of the Eretz-Israeli film [the monthly "Yoman Hadashot" (News Diary)] propose that the government order sixty copies of their monthly film, $ 600 for 12 films, 50 copies, that is $30,000 per year for political centers (capital cities where we have emissaries). Any language in addition to Hebrew and English will cost $750 for each monthly film; they themselves will distribute 200 copies, and according to them 250 copies will sustain them.

       - Staff meeting: The Arabs are active on all fronts and are adding soldiers (the Iraqis doubled their force during the truce, and [now] have 12,000 men, the Egyptians replaced their units, added irregular units and Saudis, the Legion reduced the front and concentrated its force, completed the standard for its units (there were 19 companies, now it has battalions of 700-800, and they're full). The Iraqis also brought a gendarmerie - maybe 2,000 men. They have two large concentrations - in northern Nablus and in Mafraq.

       A second type of reinforcement - local volunteers. The Mufti is making an effort to establish his own units. He had difficulties, but the regular [Arab] army believes it would also be good to have an irregular force.

       The Iraqis are encouraging the Mufti's move. Along the Alexandroni front there are Arab garrison forces. If at the end of the first truce there were about 30,000 [soldiers in] regular forces - now there are 40,000-50,000, excluding additional forces from abroad.

       Second factor - fortifications. In this area there's tremendous activity from the north to the south. They're recruiting locals and building fortifications. In the south it's easy, because they received a lot of material from the English [such as fences and sandbags]. The Iraqis are bringing material from their own country.

       This can be explained in terms of preparations for the winter, or in order to free the army from strongholds.

       Third factor - additional weaponry: new jeeps, additional cannons at all fronts, an increase in air power (in Mafraq there are 20 Iraqi planes), the Fury [type of plane] according to Aharon Remez - good, modern fighter planes. There are reports about new heavy tanks.

       Last night our strongholds in Mi'ar came under fierce attack. Four of our men were killed, a few of our strongholds were captured. Tonight we'll take them back. Jamal Husayni [one of the Mufti's active assistants] came to the country, is in the Negev today. He telegraphed the Mufti that "the Jewish settlements in the south are only defending themselves. If we receive more weapons -we'll succeed where the regular armies didn't."

       Yigael believes the Arabs are planning for war - soon. They may be concerned about the winter. The Iraqis are staying in huts - which won't be viable in winter.

       Yigael believes that the main problem is fortifications. [Shmuel] Ginzburg [sp.] came to replace Yohanan [Ratner, in the General Staff Planning Department]. The lack of fortifications will keep many forces confined. Yigael proposes announcing a week of fortifications [construction].

       I expressed doubt that fortifications are the central issue now. If the war resumes - let's say in the first half of October - maybe we'll be able to move the enemies from their position, or they'll move us. The present frontline doesn't have to become fixed. What's to be gained by having the fortifications directed - if they're directed - towards the current [front]line? Public enlistment in large numbers will also be difficult. There's no tension among the public. They don't appreciate - including in government circles - that the war hasn't at all ended. All of my constant explanations in this regard are not really sinking in. The public is content with the victories, and it assumes that our security and our existence and our victory are guaranteed. We need to find a way to revive preparedness among the public - and also in the army. There were also cases in which the army generated a lack of will among the public, for example through some of the soldiers' conduct in the "Betzer" Operation. There are increasing signs of a reaction against the army. The government, and public opinion, need to be made aware of the severity of the situation - and the Staff needs to participate in this. It's necessary to have a meeting with the press - not for publication, and with the government, with Staff participation. The main need right now is a heavy equipment. There's not much chance of obtaining tanks, and therefore we should seek anti-tank weapons and increase in-country production. We should also push for the purchase of fighter planes and cannons in large numbers and quickly.

       Ya'akov also expressed his dissatisfaction with the army's conduct on a number of occasions.