יומנים > יומן - מלא 21/03/1948

March 21, 1948 Ya'akov [Dori] is still bedridden and may have to be hospitalized for surgery. I told him that [Yohanan] Ratner refuses to take on the job of stand-in for the Chief of General Staff. I'll try to talk with him again but if I don't succeed I think I'll approach Dan Epstein [Even]. Ya'akov isn't at ease with this suggestion-they won't accept him (because he's a "foreigner"). That isn't reason enough! As for reserve battalions, he thinks that these themselves are strike forces, unlike Haim Laskov, with whom I spoke last night about this question. He's sure that Yigael S. [Yadin] has no political biases and that his eruption on Friday was random. But it must assured that the commanders won't deal in party politics! - Kozlowski [Sapir] and Yosef Rochel [Avidar]: They managed to unload thirteen vehicles from the ship in Haifa. Thirty-seven others are "shackled." The fitness test [i.e., that they are not for military purposes] has been handed to Colonel Grey, the chief of police. - The financial situation is just plain bad: resources are needed for food, equipment, transport, armor, and fortifications. By the end of March, [P£] 170,000 will be needed for transport, 100 for housing, 100 for equipment, 70 for fortification (total 440,000). - Liebenstein [Eliezer Livneh] came to me with a series of proposals and information: as a response to America's treachery, a series of attacks on centers of the invasion should be carried out this week. An operation in the Latin bloc-France, Italy, and the Vatican-is needed. We have joint interests against England and the Arabs. For this purpose, contact with the [French] Maritime and even with Sforza [in Italy], who is not a friend, is necessary. The attacks on the socialist parties in the West-on purely political grounds-have to stop. Contact with [Léon] Blum is needed. A Jewish government [should be] set up-and if they engage with us, they should do so only with a Jewish government as a party to it. To arrange the following services: post, judiciary, income tax. To set up a propaganda apparatus. Lubotzky's [Binyamin Eliav's] group has broken away from LEHI. Liebenstein met with [Natan] Friedman [Yellin-Mor] and Scheib [Yisrael Eldad]. Scheib is deep into Hebrew literature. Friedman's a Bolshevik who thinks squabbling over who gets to rule is all that matters. The LEHI people-so they say-have serious relations with Russia. There were negotiations between Sneh and LEHI. He's more Soviet than Friedman. Sneh's the biggest extremist in Mapam in his Sovietism and his hatred of Mapai. When Lubotzky figured out that LEHI are Soviet-he left them. Liebenstein met with Hebrew communists-[Nissan] Preminger. They are more cautious and smarter than Mapam when it comes to the Soviets. They know the Soviets aren't interested in our being pro-Soviet but in our being neutral. There are serious disagreements between them and the PCP [the Palestine Communist Party, today: Rakah]. They are Zionists and demand that the [Jewish] communists abroad make ''aliya. They demand statehood on its own account, and the PCP just as a tactic and against ''aliya. According to them, Russia did not decide the matter to their disfavor (because they weren't accepted at the London conference). They seem to have breathing room even though they're seen as overly Zionistic. They complain about not having been co-opted onto the government council. Why co-opt the PCP? They've got no relations with LEHI. They want to meet with me. As for the evening newspaper-[Livneh] wants an open, free newspaper. [As for an editor]: [Yitzhak] Loffman [sp?] is tired. Vituperates about Pinchas Lavon's brutality. He has a positive attitude toward the paper. I insist on Shmuel Friedman [Elyashiv]. Herzl Berger will remain at Davar-he'll advise [the evening newspaper] because they refused to let him participate. "They" (who? [Meir] Bogdan and Zalman [Rubashov-Shazar)] see him [Berger], too, as a half-enemy. For the secretariat of the paper I propose Rivka Katznelson, but Ziama [Aran] is opposed. Liebenstein considers Yitzhak Blinko his successor [as editor]. He values Avraham Hirsch [Ofer]. The paper can appear in another two and a half months (!) when there will be a market: P£ 17,000, and altogether 25,000 is needed. - From Alon [Yehuda Arazi] a cable from Rome (sent on March 19, 1948) has arrived: On Sunday (today) my meeting with Itai [Ehud Avriel's alias] and Ben [alias of Munya Mardor] will take place and we will send a joint report. A formal delay has occurred in the northern shipment [via Poland] and I hope it's surmounted during the week. The 25 20 mm cannon will reach us on April 15. Working on shipments via Norman [alias of Hyman Shamir] (air). The odds are good and I'll know clearly before the week is out. I assure you that maximum efforts are being made in all areas by Teddy [Kollek]. He will remain in Europe this week. - Shaul [Avigur] may depart tomorrow. I consulted with Shaul about the Chief of General Staff and other appointments. He does not advise taking Dan [Even]. He's a "Junker" [a "Prussian officer"], he has no esprit de vivre, and he might become someone else's tool. Ratner has a weakness-an inferiority complex, and is not a commander-but together with the other center people he'll make do. I definitely dismiss Yigael [Yadin's] view-that there's no need for a stand-in [for Ya'akov Dori]. I recommend an arrangement with the secessionists. I advise reaching out to Yisrael Galili and to insist vehemently on the appointment of Shlomo R. [Shamir]. He's visiting me at 2:00. I'm dealing with minutiae too much. I have to concentrate on appointing appropriate people and leaving the work in their hands. I also have to consult more with people whom I'll be choosing-before I decide on things. And the vulture is already swooping onto its prey. In the name of the chief secretary they [?] called Leo Cohen [secretary of the Jewish Agency Political Department] today: the Government saw a proposal in the press that the proclamation of a provisional Jewish government is being planned. The Government believes no such step will be taken because then [the Mandate Government] would have to regard it as serious and liable to make the situation, difficult to begin with, even thornier.