יומנים > יומן - מלא 19/05/1948

[Wednesday,] May 19, 1948

Singer [of the Potash Company], who returned yesterday, came to see me and gave me the letter that they sent two days ago to [Jordanian Prime Minister] Tawfiq Pasha about transferring the area of concession to Abdallah. [The letter was written] with the consent of Rudy [Amnon Zair]: Our people can stay, but without weapons. Only policemen under Abdallah's supervision will be able to stay.

       I told Singer that they have no authority to transfer state land to a foreign government, and they must tell us immediately [officially] what they did, and then we will officially inform them that we do not recognize the arrangement, and that we reserve all our rights in the area for the State of Israel.

       Yigael [Yadin] believes that there's no need to fight in the north [of the Dead Sea area]. There are no fighters and no weapons [there]. Everything should be transferred to the south - the men and the weapons, to Sdom. There is no Arab force in the area of concession, and we should confine them if they come to fight.

       In Jerusalem our [Palmach] troops broke through Zion Gate to the Old City. Except for Augusta Victoria, all of the new city is in our hands. The Legion is starting to surround Jerusalem from the north. From Hebron [they're] proceeding to Beit Jubrin. There are Arab concentrations there.

       The convoy [from Jerusalem] did not leave tonight. They weren't ready technically.

       I suggested that we mobilize Shlomo's force [Shlomo Shamir, of the 7th Brigade] as soon as possible. Shlomo, Yitzhak [Sadeh], and I will plan the operation. We have to hurry up and defeat the "Two Generals" that are threatening Jerusalem: hunger and the Legion.

       The country should be viewed as three sections - north, center, and south (including the territory of the Givati and Negev [brigades]), and command headquarters with extensive authorities should be appointed to oversee them. Rifles and fighters should be wrested from every possible place. There must be no fighter or rifle anywhere that is not available for military action. All we need is high-level coordination that will focus on the essence, rather than all the details.

       Golani did not properly assess the situation in the Jordan Valley, and someone like Motke Makleff should be mobilized.

       - I summoned Kiriati [Michael "James" Ben-Gal] to clarify how many surplus rifles are in his position. He has 370 English and Canadian rifles, and 170 German ones.

       How many fighters are there (men who received minimal training)? About 2,000 recruits, mostly untrained. The average [battalion] has 100 trained men, 150 new recruits.

       - We decided to replace Moshe Montag [Mann - Golani commander] with Moshe Zelicki [Carmel], to put Makleff in charge of Carmeli, to invite Montag to the main headquarters for special assignments (coordination).

       - I summoned Krelenboim [Yosef Almogi] from Haifa to inquire about recruiting workers for the port, the railroad, refineries, airfield, etc. I instructed Krelenboim to tell Abba [Khoushy] to set up another naval base in Acre - for any problems that might occur - and I tasked Krelenboim and Lehrer with formulating an "agreement" on the organization of labor brigades in Haifa and to submit it for my approval.

       So far 1,170 workers aged 26-35 (who have children) have been recruited into a labor brigade. 800 were sent to the port. This is not enough. Another 400 will be recruited for this purpose - that will suffice. Former soldiers are to be sent to the army, unless they hold key positions on a farm. 150 workers were sent to the railroad. The Haifa-Hadera railway line is operational. Yesterday [Haifa Bay] got an airfield. There are 500 people working in the refineries, not in production. Dix (the manager) hopes to resume production in 2-3 weeks.

       New immigrants are being lodged in Arab homes. Children [evacuated] from the Jordan Valley were lodged in hotels [motels]. Acre was conquered, [those] in the citadel fled. Only Christian families remain in the city. [We're] searching for weapons and finding only a few. The [British] army did not intervene - this is still outside its purview.

       Acre has a pier, a dock, and fishing boats.

       The matter of confiscations has been systematized in Haifa. [Naftali] Lifschitz is in charge of this.

       - Ephraim Vizhnesky cabled that all of the Western Galilee has been liberated and occupied, and he expresses gratitude and appreciation on behalf of the Committee for the Western Galilee Settlements' Bloc.

       - 1:30 p.m. [Aryeh] Bahir came from Haifa. At 6 a.m. he'd arrived in Haifa (left Afikim at 3). At 9:30 p.m. contact had been established with all the farms. Things were quiet. Our automobiles traveled along an inner route to Afikim. They built a reserve bridge over the Jordan (where?) - opposite Lake Kinneret. A Palmach company arrived from the Galilee. At midnight we launched our counter-attack - with the aim of repelling the enemy and recapturing the police [station] in Tsemah.

       Elik Shomroni, who left Afikim for Haifa during the night, reported: [Kibbutz] Massada residents left the place and went to Afkikim; Sha'ar HaGolan residents left and went to Bet Zera - [both] without orders or instructions. They claim that there are only 18 rifles and they cannot hold on. The commander told them to return; don't know whether they did.

       - Government meeting in the afternoon, State Council in the evening.

       - At night a meeting with the [General] Staff. Turns out that this morning's decisions [about replacing the Golani and Carmeli commanders] were not implemented. Zvi [Ayalon] received an instruction from Yisrael [Galili] that was taken to mean that first Moshe Zelicki [Carmel] should be summoned for a talk. I insisted that the order be sent immediately, and Zvi sent it.

       I asked whether we can immediately rush assistance to Jerusalem - men, vehicles, weapons? Toward this end, if necessary, to cancel preparations for the establishment of Shlomo's brigade - and to send men to Jerusalem immediately. Also to send two cannons. Yigael said that the cannons [a battery of 65 mm cannons - "Napoleonchiks"] have already been sent to the Jordan Valley. Later it turned out that they hadn't been sent yet, but in any case they could not have reached Jerusalem until tomorrow night, and meanwhile they could carry out an important action in the Jordan Valley. Regarding men - they claimed that there are no trained men. I ordered that Shlomo's men be transferred from Tel Litvinsky [Tel HaShomer] to Hulda - to be closer to the site of action. They said there are no weapons.

       I asked about two [anti-aircraft] cannons for the ship [to protect the ma'apilim] - Yigael said that only the Sieff Institute [in Rehovot] has some. I told him to take them.