יומנים > יומן - מלא 20/03/1949
Sunday, March 20, 1949
The reasons for Abdallah's hesitations about taking the Iraqi positions in the Triangle: The English informed the Transjordanian government that [England] would not fulfill its obligations [under their defense treaty] with respect to territories outside of Transjordan. Following this announcement the prime minister of Transjordan announced that the government of Transjordan would suspend negotiations on the Triangle if England and America don't provide assurances that the Jews won't invade the Triangle.
- The Citrus Council demands: 5 shillings per crate premium from the government (4 million crates - P£ 1 million). A loan of P£ 30 per dunam for 50,000 dunams is P£ 1,475,000. On this matter delegation of orchardists and the Ministry of Agriculture came to see me this morning: Haim Halperin, I. Rokach, Eisenberg, Hirsch (Ministry of Agriculture), Dr. Arnon (Citrus Council secretary), Horin. Regarding the American loan and the special loan they pretty much reached a compromise with the finance minister, but Kaplan refuses to pay the premium. Without this many of the orchards won't work. Rokach is certain the yield can be increased to 100 crates per dunam, if they introduce mechanization and improvement. One row should be uprooted and a tractor allowed to plow.
I told them that I cannot serve as a board of appeals for Finance [Ministry] decisions, but I promise that rehabilitation of the citrus sector is a fundamental aspect of the government plan. I asked them for verified information about means of increasing yield and its possibilities. Marketing, reducing production costs, requirements for upgrading the equipment.
Haim Halperin proposes two loans instead of a premium: P£ 20 per dunam for five years with interest, a loan of P£ 10 per dunam without interest over a long period of time.
Rokach thinks that there are marketing possibilities for 15 million crates.
- Moshe Dayan, [Yehoshafat] Harkabi (they saw the King yesterday), [Yigael] Yadin, [Walter] Eytan, Ya'akov [Dori] came. The king agreed to sign [an agreement regarding border] lines that would give us the strongholds on both sides of Wadi ''Ara, and in the "Tichon" [the Sharon Plain] we would take the line along the hills, but without Qalqilya and Tulkarm, so that there wouldn't be too many refugees. But implementation would only take place over the course of four or six months.
He wants the two of us to resolve the matter of Jerusalem, without outside intervention. He complained about [Eliahu] Sasson and [Moshe] Dayan persuading him to receive the Triangle, and he traveled to Iraq to receive the Triangle, and now they're obstructing him.
Abdallah Tall will fly to Beirut today to see the Transjordanian prime minister, who's there now, to receive instructions from him for Glubb (because the delegation is military), and Glubb will instruct the delegation in Rhodes to sign [an agreement on] the lines as stipulated by the king.
Tall will return from Beirut today. Tomorrow at 6 p.m. Dayan will meet with Tall and inform him whether Glubb issued the instructions.
Yadin sees a problem of formality in signing such an agreement, because Transjordan is not in the Triangle, and we haven't recognized its right to be there, and how can we sign [an agreement on] lines with it? This formality problem doesn't worry me. The main thing is: 1) a clear indication of the lines on both sides of Wadi ''Ara and the "Tichon." 2) a shorter time span, not 4 months but a few weeks.
- Government meeting. In the morning and the afternoon.
- In the evening a meeting of the coalition parties. Productive and important. Parliamentary rule and the collective responsibility of the government are taking shape. The government proposals were accepted with one amendment - positive. Instead of seven - eight committees, each with 15 members; this means the coalition won't lose the votes of the government members and the presidency - and a number of members will be on both committees. There will also be a Knesset committee and from time to time ad hoc committees. The opposition will receive the chairmanship of three committees.