יומנים > יומן - מלא 25/11/1948

Thursday, November 25, 1948

On the Bedouin in the Negev: The Yiga[e]ls [Yigael Yadin and Yigal Allon], Michael [Hanegbi], [Yosef] Weitz, Ezra [Danin], Shaul [Avigur], Reuven [Shiloah], [Elimelech] Avner, [Ya'akov] Shimoni. The Tiyahah [tribe] who approached us number 5,000, a faction of the Tarabin about 3,000, a small portion of the ''Azazmeh about 1,000. Until about a month ago most of them dwelt among us, and only recently did they move northeast, towards Dhahiriya [in Arab Legion territory]. They want to relocate and to return together. Tarabin are concentrated in a triangle southwest of Beersheva. In the areas that they left a lot of food remains in caches. They're prepared to settle in a location designated for them, will do whatever they're instructed to do, will pay taxes. Why object? - Security reasons. But this can be addressed by concentrating them in a specific district, for example Tel Sharia [Tel Gerar]. They're prepared to assume responsibility for protecting the pipeline [in the Negev], just as the Egyptians instructed the tribes that surrendered to them - to sabotage the pipeline.

       Shimoni asks: 1) What does this mean for security? 2) Does this disrupt the settlement enterprise? 3) If we assume that reducing the number of Arabs is good for us - why the Bedouin? Bedouins cause problems even in peacetime. They smuggle imports, impede the order of things. We'll receive them as allies - where they dwell.

       Yigal Allon - cannot trust the Bedouins in outlying areas [near the border]. They're liable to switch to the enemy side and be against us. If we accept them - their tents should be stationed in our territory, and the men (most of them) should be conscripted to a special unit with Jewish insignia and officers. But [we should] accept only those who have been with us the whole time.

       Weitz - [we] shouldn't look only at these Bedouins - who are only segments of tribes - but at all the Bedouins. They number about 60,000. These Bedouins will allow their tribesmen to infiltrate. Even with respect to these 10,000 - we're a minority [in the Negev]. In Paris they claimed yesterday that the Jews are only 2% [in the Negev]. An agreement with these Bedouins will entail obstacles; we'll have to ensure food, camels, rice for them. We'll have to ensure protection for them. Why should we admit them - and protect them? If we implement a plan for the development of the Negev - they'll interfere. The land is divided and it's private, although there's no cadaster [land mapping and registration]. How do we get rid of them? Do we reach an agreement with them now regarding the land? It would be worthless. The political argument is baseless. They're all clever at pretending.

       Yigael Yadin: If we reach an agreement with them - we won't be able to change it. In the portion where we're certain we're going to settle - Bedouins shouldn't be admitted. He suggests sending them to the western part of the Negev's southern triangle, around Subeita (Safed) (Weitz proposes offering them the area of southern Dawayima [in western Mount Hebron].

       In my view neither the positive political consideration - regarding 10,000 Bedouins who want Israeli rule - nor the negative settlement-based reason is determinative. The British Foreign Office can counter by saying that 10,000 Bedouins who want Israeli rule are offset by 50,000 who do not. And as to the settlement enterprise - 10,000 Bedouins won't disrupt [us], because in any event we won't be able to work the land as Bedouins. We need water and irrigation, and if we obtain them, then there will be space for tens and hundreds of thousands of additional settlers, even if thousands of Bedouins remain among us.

       The decisive factor right now - is the security consideration. Does the settlement of Bedouins among us encumber or facilitate? There is [still] the threat of war with Egypt.

       - [Chaim] Weizmann and his wife lunched at my place. [Levi] Eshkol and [Eliezer] Kaplan and their wives also lunched [with us].

       - In the afternoon State Council.

       - Gershon Zak requests: A) Munya [Mardor] for the Navy, B) $10,000 for 5 "Pigs" [strike-force boats?], C) $90,000 for 3 naval cannons for the three frigates we bought.

       - The following things need to be checked:

       Does the Personnel Department know where the soldier is each and every day?

       What is the capacity of the Dror [light machine gun]?

       What are the garrison battalions doing - and where are they stationed?

       Why are 100 garrison men guarding the Institute and president's residence?

       Who are the top administrators in the Defense Ministry - [in the offices on] Esther HaMalka [Street] and Bet Romano [on the Jaffa - Tel Aviv road], and how many of them are members of Mapai and other parties?

       Is there a fundamental difference between garrison and Hayish [field corps]?

       - A delegation of General Zionists ([Elimelech] Rimalt and [Chaim] Levanon) request that [Dr. Chaim] Teichman [sp.] be engaged; for rehabilitation [they] propose [Simcha] Babah ([Giora] Lubinski [Lotan]'s deputy) and Hannah Levin (a captain in the Personnel Department/3). Why is [Ze'ev] Melyon a staff officer without a command [position]?

       I told them that I will not appoint someone simply because he's a party member. For rehabilitation, appointees should come from all circles - so that people know that they're being cared for. I asked Rimalt to insist on an examination of all my "party-based" appointments in the army or the Defense Ministry.

       - A few days ago [Samuel] Klaus, who was sent by the State Department in Washington to assess whether this is a red [communist] state, came to see me. He asked about the composition of immigrants from Curtain countries [countries beyond the Iron Curtain], and whether there are agents among them, what the relationship is between the government and the labor movement, whether this is a Marxist state, whether there's a war on totalitarian inclinations and a defense of individual liberty, how strong Mapam is and what's its activity among the Arabs of Nazareth.

       I told him that there is a basis for considering Eretz Israel to be a Soviet state: Many people here came from Russia, and they hold important positions here, such as Chaim Weizmann. They have an affinity to Russian literature. Here there's a majority of workers and farmers among the Jews - unlike every Jewish community around the world. There have been [communal] groups here - since before World War I [Degania], there's a trade union that's certainly different from the trade unions in America, there's a workers' hegemony in the Zionist movement, in the state. But the essence of Eretz-Israel Jews - since before the state - is non-dependence (economic, intellectual, political). We don't imitate anyone - but rather go our own way. We aren't similar to Labour in England, the Communists in Russia, or the SD [Social-Democrats] in Germany. Even Mapam is considered dangerous Social-Democrats by the Communists, because Zionism has precedence over their submission to Russia. We will submit neither to America nor to Russia - we will go our own way. If America is prepared to conduct a liberal and progressive policy in the Near East - it will receive backing from us. The difference between us and Bevin lies in his foreign policy, which will alienate Arab nations from progressive democracy around the world.

       - It was cabled that 16 Spits [Spitfire planes] are ready for flight and waiting for [the airfield in] Yugoslavia or Bulgaria to open. The Spits are being readied for cargo loading. They hope that 10 will be ready by December 10.

       - In the evening a second meeting of the State Council - closed-door. I delivered a brief report. The oppositionist coalition - [Ya'akov] Riptin, [Shmuel] Mikunis, [Aryeh] Altman, and [Baruch] Weinstein - were pathetic in their arguments, and even though Riptin finished his speech with a demand that the Council not approve the government's position - at the end of the debate he didn't dare put his proposal to the vote.