יומנים > יומן - מלא 09/01/1949

Sunday, January 9, 1949

I returned to the hill [the General Staff in Ramat Gan]. I found Yigael [Yadin] and Reuven [Shiloah] here. Yigael thinks, on the basis of reports from Iraq and Transjordan, that there appears to be an Anglo-Iraqi – Transjordanian plan to conquer the Negev. Why then did Egypt pull out of the game? It cannot be presumed – if it is true – that this was put together over the past two days. Reuven thinks that the Egyptians refused to invite the English [per the 1936 Anglo-Egyptian Treaty], and under American pressure agreed to an armistice, and England is pursuing efforts with Transjordan and Iraq. On the date of [January?] 08 [at] 1343, Bevin instructed his representatives in the cities of Amman, Cairo, Baghdad, Beirut, Damascus, Jeddah, and Washington: Owing to premature publicity it has been necessary to issue statement this morning. You should communicate text to Gov. to which you are accredited. Signed – Bevin.

       We also seized a cable from the Iraqi government to their commander in the country stating as follows: Please establish contact with the Transjordanian authorities, and especially with General Glubb, to inform him that His Excellency Nuri Pasha Sa’id wants to receive the following information: 1) full details about the Jewish forces on the Bethlehem front and in the vicinity of Beit-Jubrin, Abna (?) [should be: Idhna], Dawayima, and Qubayba and the forces around Faluja and Beersheva. 2) also details about the Jewish forces that attacked the Egyptian forces and their present positions. 3) full details about the route leading to [should be: from] al-Husub [military position] 173024 to Beersheva, and its ability to accommodate mobilized vehicles, and details about everything along this route, that is, details about Jewish settlements, Arab villages, water, and wells. 4) whether there is a road from Amman or elsewhere in Transjordan suited for vehicles that leads to ‘Ein Husub. Please provide details about this road and possibilities for transiting it.

       Aside from the British force in ‘Aqaba, the British Navy has been ordered to stop freedom [of movement? Or suspend vacation?] and to carry out maneuvers. The British Air Force has also been reinforced. Marriot [the British consul in Haifa] advised the British in the State of Israel to leave.

       There’s a cable from Bunche [saying] that he cannot come to talks in Rhodes, unless we release the strongholds, which according to the Egyptians and two UN observers we seized after the truce, in Egyptian territory.

       Whatever England’s intentions – demonstration, threat, or a wish to engage in war – we have no interest in provocation involving Egypt and America right now. Clearly Egypt is not currently working hand-in-hand with England, and it is very, very important for us to keep it in this state and to enter into talks with it and to maintain the truce, to unravel the Arab front and to weaken England’s influence in the East, and also not to push America away too much and [to refrain from] bolstering Bevin’s accusation in Washington.

       – A message arrived from Moshe Dayan (090915): “Wilhelm [Abdallah al-Tall] made contact and conveyed that the Iraqis claim that we caused the actions near Tira [and Ramat HaKovesh], and in any event they have no intention of starting a war. The king and his advisors want to review the outcomes of our latest talk. Therefore we set the next meeting for January 14 at the same location. The king agrees to release all the Jewish POWs from Mafraq in exchange for Egyptians that we send back, but he’ll give his final answer at the next meeting.”

       – In the afternoon I visited Rabbi Fishman [Maimon]. He’s sitting Shiva over the death of his younger brother. Rabbi [Isaac Meir] Levin, he told me, wants to return to government meetings, but cannot do so alone. He complained about [Moshe] Shapira presenting the proposal on pork [prohibiting its import] against their opinion. Rabbi Fishman also thinks that it’s necessary to return to the Executive meetings.

       – Government meeting.

       – In the evening I shortened the platform [for the Constituent Assembly].

       – [Prof.] Sukenik came to see me, again on the matter of [Gad] Frumkin. He suggests a committee of inquiry with Zalman [Shazar], Rabbi Berlin [Bar-Ilan], and Yehuda Kaufman [Even Shmuel]. This proposal doesn’t appeal to me 1) because they’re not situated in one place, 2) Kaufman isn’t suited to this issue. He suggested Dov Yosef instead of Zalman, and he’ll bring me another suggestion instead of Kaufman.

[Following the removal of the Israeli blockade in the early morning of January 10, the cease-fire on the Egyptian front effectively began. On January 12, two delegations – Egyptian and Israeli – arrived in Rhodes, and on the following day, January 13, armistice negotiations commenced.]