יומנים > יומן - מלא 28/06/1948
Monday, June 28, 1948
After considering and reviewing the changes that need to be made in the organization of the Staff and brigades - I still haven't found a solution or arrangement for all the needs.
If Makleff transfers to command at the [Jerusalem] Front, then I don't have a replacement for him at this time (Lehrer [Zadok]?). It's doubtful that Mishal [Shacham] can stay. As a substitute - Dan Laner?
If Shlomo [Shamir] transfers to the Personnel Department [instead of Zadok] and Fritz [Shalom Eshet] to the Training Department and Haim [Laskov] gets Brigade 7, then [we] need a commander for Haim's armored battalion. Perhaps Maxie Kahan from Makleff's brigade?
Should [we] leave James [Ben-Gal] in Tel Aviv - and if not, then where? And who will take his place? What about Lehrer? Should he be given a brigade?
What will David [Shaltiel], who is refusing to assume command in Tel Aviv, do? Is it possible to give [Yisrael] Shchori a brigade in Tel Aviv?
[Yohanan] Ratner is asking to be Inspector General. If it weren't for his weak character he'd be an almost ideal candidate.
- I summoned [Ben] Dunkelman. He praises Yehuda Friedberg [Prihar] as a mortar expert and Hillel Pepperman [sp.]. The first is a mortars instructor, and the second is now an instructor for officers. [Leo] Heaps, a Canadian, was in the Negev - he'd be suitable as a battalion deputy commander. Weiner - an artilleryman. Needs to be appointed to a mortars brigade. Ben-Moshe is an American - involved in producing 8", 12" mortars. Weiner was in the army 21 years, 14 years in artillery corps, a major. Had to train for a 75 mm cannon. Shmulik [Admon] sent him to the armored corps, to Yitzhak Sadeh [8th Brigade], but he's not there. Dunkelman wants to personally handle the English speakers in the army, to be a mortars commander or a brigade commander. He doesn't believe it's possible to fight with zealotry alone - a clearheaded military mind and scientific approach are necessary. We shed a lot of blood for lack of military knowledge.
I summoned Mordechai [Makleff] and Haim Laskov - to hear their opinions regarding the changes that affect them. Makleff has doubts about his succeeding - there's a lot of responsibility [and] he's still inexperienced. But others are also inexperienced. There are three battalions in his brigade - the first two are more or less trained. Battalion A [21] - the commander is Dov Tzesis (will be replaced by Aharon Rabinowitz [Yariv]). It has 520 men. Battalion B [22] - the commander is Avraham Eisenberg [Peled] 530 men, Battalion C [23] - Maxie Kahan, a large portion are new recruits, 550 men.
Haim [Laskov] is concerned about receiving the brigade because there will be no one to handle the armored battalion. The Palmach men who were in it deserted the battalion. His assistant was Baruch Friedman. He knows the job, but doesn't know Hebrew. Maxie Kahan was good for his battalion. Maxie Kahan's deputy, (Zvi) Ben-Ari, can take his place in the battalion in the Galilee. He'd like to get Siyoma [Zalman] Slovins [Slovin], who's currently working at the Electric Company, in charge of the security [personnel].
Haim believes that the Givati planning officer (Yehoshua?) could become Makleff's successor.
Chaim Herzog complains that he is being wasted. He wants to organize an intelligence service, not to serve as an interpreter for UN personnel.
- During a conversation with Rabbi Fishman [Maimon] he presented three conditions for his participation [in the government, after resigning over the Altalena crisis]: 1) Kashrut in the state. He and I are overseeing this. 2) Shabbat in state institutions. The issue of trains, telephone, and the like will be examined. 3) To make the [status of the[ rabbinate equivalent to the [status] of the Muslim courts.
[Chief Rabbis Yitzhak] Herzog and [Ben-Zion] Uziel are also making claims about kashrut. [They're calling for] military rabbis whom they would appoint. Shabbat [to apply to] transport. I said that I am focused only on matters of defense. They will provide me with a memorandum listing their demands.
At the meeting of the seven we considered the ETZEL proposals. We decided to discuss them only after the main points have been clarified, and towards this end [Yitzhak] Gruenbaum, [Yisrael] Galili, and [Levi] Shkolnik [Eshkol] will meet once again with Menachem [Begin].
Nehemiah [Argov] brought Ya'akov [Dori]'s reply: In the south: Eliahu [Ben-Hur], Shimon [Avidan], Yigal [Allon]. Ya'akov wonders why Shimon's brigade has seven battalions. For the Jerusalem front he accepts [Mordechai] Makleff; Dan [Even] remains in his post. He agrees regarding Moshe Dayan in Jerusalem. For the north he proposes Mulah [Cohen] instead of Uri Yafeh. He spoke with Makleff, and Makleff praises Mulah. For the Carmeli Brigade - Dan Laner. Instead of Mishal [Shacham] - Nahum Spiegel [Golan]. For the two Palmach brigades - Yitzhak Rabin and Nahum Sarig. For Brigade "Seven" - Haim [Laskov], "Eight" - Yitzhak [Sadeh]. For Tel Aviv he proposes Shlomo [Shamir] - David Shaltiel doesn't want it. If I insist on Shlomo specifically for the Personnel Department - then he proposes Levi Avrahami for Tel Aviv (they want to take him for the police in the north). He objects to having Lehrer [Moshe Zadok] go to Haifa - [we] need a man with combat experience there. Dan Laner has combat experience. For the General Staff: Yigael [Yadin] - Operations. [Ephraim] Ben-Artzi - temporarily [for the Logistics Department], Zvi [Ayalon will remain] in his current post. Fritz [Shalom Eshet] for Training is good, but he believes that Lehrer is better, because in two weeks Fritz would be breaking chairs and fighting with everyone. Lehrer would be better.