יומנים > יומן - מלא 29/09/1948

[Wednesday,] September 29, 1948

A delegation from the [Jewish] Agency (Hermann [Haim] Cohen, Yitzhak Werfel [Raphael], [Levi] Eshkol), government committee: Dolik [Horowitz], [Ya'akov Shimshon] Shapira. (There's a separate record of the minutes).

       - I told Baruch Rosenthal [Tal] to have the classification committee start working. I also gave instructions in writing.

       - Benny Dunkelman [commander of the 7th Brigade] insists that the force against Egypt should be concentrated and the Negev should be liberated, otherwise we'll lose the Negev. He's right, but it's necessary that a majority of the government understands this.

       - At twelve [a] Staff [discussion]: The Egyptians have become "active" in southern Jerusalem, attacked a stronghold of ours in Deir Aban [south of Hartuv, near Bet Shemesh], wounded a few. Leave [time off] has been canceled until next Monday. The question is what to do over our holidays. Grant leave or not?

       [We're] starting to raise the fitness level of garrison [soldiers]. A committee of five (2 Training Department, 1 Operations Department, 1 Signal, 1 Engineering) are visiting the strongholds and issuing instructions. A Hayish battalion will replace a garrison battalion for 10 days - and garrison will train and improve in the meantime. I explained [to the Staff] the political problems inherent in the military situation now - an attack on Latrun and a general attack, why in my opinion A) it's possible, B) - not at this time.

       Ya'akov [Dori] conveys the wishes of front commanders to expand the staffs' standard [number of personnel] and assume responsibility for training. I objected to the expansion. For now the fronts need to remain a temporary arrangement, solely operational; [we must] do everything to increase the army's fitness for battle, [and] not anything else. We are - possibly - approaching the end, whether by political arrangement or through brief battles that will resume. If the end comes - we'll dismantle a large majority of the army. The new army will be based on an entirely different basis, not on the basis of four fronts.

       Haim [Laskov] is in favor of training by the Training Department - in a national center, and only the combat experience of the final week [of training] needs to be coordinated and implemented in the fronts and the brigades, on-site.

       - [Yitzhak] Ben-Zvi and [Haim] Salomon: The security situation in Jerusalem is worrying. In the north [of the city] - [the neighborhood of] Sanhedria, and others, were vacated for fear of bombardments, houses were damaged. In the south too there are empty areas. There's shelling in Abu Tor and by the Egyptians in the south. [They're] demanding additional forces and a good command. Fortifications are required - on Shmuel HaNavi Road (north) and maybe in the south too. Salomon thinks that the situation was better in Shaltiel's time - there were no bombardments, relations with the UN were better. [They're] raising the question of the cemetery in Sanhedria - currently it's inaccessible.  The question is: whether it's possible to provide cover [to the cemetery] or have the UN safeguard it.

       - In the afternoon government meeting.

       - In the evening I prepared a review of the Palmach and instructions to the chief of staff.