יומנים > יומן - מלא 23/04/1948

Jerusalem, Friday, Passover Eve The operation in the northern villages [northern Jerusalem] was unsuccessful. Bet Iksa was occupied and destroyed. But in Shu'afat only a few houses were destroyed, and they didn't reach Nebi Samwil and eight men, including the commander, were killed, and they had to retreat. - Afternoon: Yitzhak [Sadeh] came to me with additional gloomy news: Yosef-le [Yosef Tabenkin, commander of Battalion 4, the "Breachers"]-sent help this morning [to Nebi Samwil] in three armored trucks. The armored trucks, with one Davidka [mortar] and all the weapons, fell to the Arabs, 15 men killed, including the commander, Yohai [Bin-Nun. This detail proved to be false-see below]. In addition, he had a spat with Fritz [Eshet]-Fritz fiercely criticized the Palmach for its lack of military comprehension and Yitzhak slapped him in the face…. I called Fritz: He says the losses are greater. Some seventy are missing and the numbers of dead and wounded are unknown. There's a rumor that the Arabs are preparing to storm the Jews tonight-as revenge for the Haifa thing [the occupation of the city]. He, Fritz, doesn't want to criticize Yitzhak S. because he's his commander. I decided to visit Harel Brigade headquarters to look into the situation myself. I found [Yitzhak] Rabin [commander of the Harel Brigade] sleeping and I didn't let anyone wake him up. Itti [Amihai, the brigade's operations officer] told me that no one is unaccounted for except the fifteen who were killed with the armored vehicles. Yohai wasn't killed but wounded. - The staff convened and arrangements were made for an operation during the night if the British leave the Generali [building], as the informers reported. - At eight I went to the [Passover] Seder of the soldiers at [the] Schneller [camp]. - I cabled Yadin to come here by air. The operation to free the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem road and an operation around Tel Aviv have to be looked into. I think it's a bad idea to leave [the] Lod [airfield]-but I can't oppose it from afar, not knowing the forces that we can mobilize.