יומנים > יומן - מלא 31/12/1948
Friday, December 31, 1948
Defense Committee, letters.
In the afternoon I went to Tiberias.
Upon returning [to the hotel] from the Tiberias hot springs, I was informed that Moshe [Sharett] had asked that I telephone him. I was put in touch, and as far as I was able to discern from his cryptic remarks, it turns out that J.M. [James McDonald] had received a dispatch to tell us that the English have a contract with Egypt, and will have to implement the contract - that is, to provide military assistance - if we remain on Egyptian territory. When J.M. heard that I'm in Tiberias, he wanted to come here, but Moshe dissuaded him. [M. Sharett] asked whether to issue an immediate order to return to our territory. I told him to ask Yigal [Allon] whether returning immediately wouldn't undermine our plans to capture Gaza. He replied that he'd already spoken with Yigael [Yadin] and Ya'akov [Dori] and they think that it's possible. The last part of the conversation was conducted with Reuven [Shiloah] because Moshe had trouble hearing. Reuven is going to come here tonight or tomorrow morning with a copy of the memorandum.
Reuven telephoned again: He'd conveyed my message to Yigal [Allon?], who said that pulling out wouldn't prevent the action but would weaken it, and he added that the memorandum is cause for serious concern. I told him that the instructions stand, and I added that he should tell Yigal [Allon?] that before leaving El-''Arish - if they reached El-''Arish - they should destroy every means of transportation. I asked that he come tonight and he promised to be here at 10 p.m. (it's now 5:30 p.m.). - 45 minutes later Ya'akov [Dori] telephoned. He wanted to know explicitly what the instructions are. I said: - to return, to sabotage everything before leaving, to continue and to intensify the action against Gaza-Rafiah and against the [Faluja] "pocket." It wasn't clear to him from Reuven's remarks whether we're continuing on our border.
- Reuven telephoned again [to say] that J.M. wants to see me tonight and is heading out for Tiberias. I told him: Let him come!
- Shortly before 11, J.M. arrived with Knox, and relayed the memorandum in the following words:
"I am instructed by the president to see you and to inform you of the following:
My government has received an authentic report stating that Armed Forces of Israel have invaded Egyptian territory, not as an accidental maneuver but a deliberately planned military operation. My government was officially notified by the British government that it regards the situation with grave concern, and that unless Israeli forces withdraw from Egyptian territory, the British government will be bound, by virtue of their 1936 treaty with Egypt, to take action to fulfill their obligations under the treaty. The British government did, however, state that if the government of Israel accepts the decisions of the UN Security Council and acts upon them, then the British government has no desire to get into conflict with the government of Israel. The United States government, as the first government to recognize Israel and because it supports Israel's application for admission to the [United] Nations as a "peace-loving state," wants to draw the attention of the Israeli government, with deep concern and exhibiting thereby is consistent friendship, to the grave possibility that the Provisional Government of Israel might jeopardize the peace of the Middle East through ill-advised action, and also cause reconsideration of its application for membership in the UN, and of necessity a reconsideration of relations between the United States and Israel.The policy of the United States, as the government of Israel knows, has been based on the government of Israel's assurance of peaceful intent.
[As] proof of the Provisional Government of Israel's peaceful intentions and to avoid an enlargement of the conflict, it appears to be a minimum requirement that Israel[''s] forces withdraw immediately from the territory of Egypt. The United States representative in Transjordan sent reports to his government indicating that the government of Transjordan was informed by the government of Israel that the time for negotiations on an armistice has passed, that the government of Israel is currently only interested in negotiating peace and that it indicated (hinted) that the only choice is between peace and war. If it turns out that this threatening attitude has been adopted, then his government would have to review its attitude towards Israel. As long as a complete statement from the government of Israel in response to the foregoing is pending, nothing is being said to the press."I told J.M. that it is true that, with the liberation of our Negev, our forces crossed the border for the purpose of a maneuver, but they have already received an order to return. And the reports that his government received claiming that this was deliberate are incorrect.
Likewise there is no truth in the reports from their representative in Transjordan. The opposite is true: We are conducting friendly negotiations with a representative of the king of Transjordan regarding an armistice that should lead to peace.
It is surprising that the representative, according to the memorandum, saw no need to check with the government of Transjordan as to whether his report was correct, when he could easily have done so.
And as to the notification from the British government - if the contract obligated it to take action under these circumstances - then it bears responsibility for the Egyptian invasion.
As to the second part of its notification - it has made itself a representative of the UN when it isn't one, and regarding [Security Council] decisions we are in touch with UN representatives, and we do not think that England has a separate mandate to ensure the implementation of UN decisions.
We value America's friendship, which began even before the founding of the state, and there is no cause for concern that we will violate the peace.
Peace is our foremost vital interest - both with the world and with the Near East, and it is not we who violated the peace in the country.
Privately I told J.M. that I'm surprised by the harsh tone. Is it necessary for a friendly superpower to use this tone with a small, weak nation?
Knox promised to telegraph the reply tonight after returning to Tel Aviv (he stayed here until 1 a.m.).
J.M. also said he was astonished by the tone and thinks that there was probably a lot of pressure on the president. It's clear that this memorandum was dictated by England.
- Before J.M., [Moshe] Carmel and [Mordechai] Maklef came to see me. There's a lot of infiltration in villages and they're prepared to mobilize an entire battalion - [in order] to send the infiltrators back or concentrate them in a few villages.
- Yigal Allon came to Tel Aviv - he stated that he needs an entire day at minimum (two days is better) to retreat. Moshe [Sharett] agreed to a day.