יומנים > יומן - מלא 23/11/1948

Tuesday, November 23, 1948

[Gershon] Agronsky [Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief] came. He's returned from London. Spent 10 weeks there. Complains that they "cheated" him. He was certain that this was a new fundraising campaign, when in fact it was the end of the previous campaign: £ 2½ million. He asked the [British] Foreign Office to withdraw some of the money [from the Sterling Bloc] - they replied: We have no reason to help you.

       - Fritz [Eshet] came: Dan [Even] is sick, will apparently need to travel abroad to recuperate [from a lung disease]. He should be sent to Davos [Switzerland]. He'll need to have 3 months of bed rest, and then three months to convalesce. I tasked Nehemiah [Argov] with handling Dan's situation quickly.

       - [Yehiel] Duvdevani: Mapam is ousting our members from Palmach command: The battalion deputy commander in Battalion 3 (Yiftah), Elad Peled, was transferred to an instructors' course (a platoon commanders' course) - to prevent his being a battalion commander during the elections. Harel has started granting leaves to moshav members for sowing [fields] (and not granting them to kibbutz members) - again in order to keep them out of the battalion during election time. They intend to transfer [Moshe] Netzer (he's commander of Battalion 2 - Yiftah).  Yosef Yahalom, a company commander in Harel, was transferred to a training position in a platoon commanders' course, Alexander Nilovitsky [Benia] [sp.], a platoon commander in Harel, was also transferred to a training position. Duvdevani is demanding the insertion of [Mapai] members into each Palmach brigade staff. Three fronts - North, Center, and South - have no [Mapai] members, and the front staffs have become election staffs (really?).

       All the former Palmach members are gathering around Isser Be'eri - according to Duvdevani. ([Shimon] Peres says that he has some of our members: Shaul - an important member of ours. Binyamin Gibli is working with Isser).

       Duvdevani is concerned that our activists in the army will be kicked out [of their positions during election time], or sent to strongholds or [… not completed].

       - I dined with Marie Syrkin. We discussed the philosophy of war and of history.

       - Yosef Avidar is requesting $300-400 thousand per month for spare parts for motor vehicles and tires. We have 6,000 vehicles, which means: he's requesting $50 per vehicle per month. Need to place an order for $1 million immediately! He already spoke about this with Dolik [David Horowitz], who claims that there's no hope of getting this money. Where to purchase? 70% in America, 30% in England. How often are tires replaced? Once every 6-7 months.

       - At 5 Air Force meeting: Monty Green, Hai [Issachar], Hyman Shamir, Eliahu Rutenberg, Shmuel Bendor, Daniel Shimshoni, Dov Kinarti [sp.], Harold Green, Aharon Remez, Al Schwimmer, David Yehuda, Nat Cohen. Schwimmer complained about the treatment of GAHAL [foreign recruitment; should be MAHAL - volunteers from abroad], insisted on "flexibility" with regard to discipline, complained about poor organization. All of his [Schwimmer's] friends objected to his conduct - he himself incited a few GAHAL men to sign an ultimatum.