יומנים > יומן - מלא 14/07/1948

Wednesday, July 14, 1948

Staff meeting - on the problem of the south and the Jerusalem line [route] (last night we again captured two 6-Pounders [anti-tank cannons] from the Egyptians).

         Yigal Allon favors continuing [the operation along] the Jerusalem line and opposes having Yiftah go south. Moshe Zadok favors the south - even if we don't save Jerusalem.

         Fritz [Shalom Eshet] agrees with Yigal [Allon] - need to continue the successful line. Suggests sending artillerymen and airplanes to the south.

         Yosef Avidar: If there are only a few days left until the truce, keep Yiftah on the Jerusalem line; if there's more time - send Yiftah south.

         Zvi Ayalon favors completing the Latrun and Jerusalem operation.

         I concluded that there's no way out [no way to prevail] if we remain within the narrow sphere of the Jerusalem line and the south. We must find additional forces from outside. We mustn't endanger the conquest of Latrun and liberation of Jerusalem, nor can we allow the Egyptians to cut off the south. Additional force for the south cannot come from the Jerusalem line or at its expense.

         It was agreed that we would conscript students from the platoon commander courses and return them to their battalions, conscript the Navy, the Transport Corps, the Staff personnel and send them south. Also Moshe Dayan's incursion force [the 89th Battalion of the 8th Brigade].

         - Yosef Yaakovson came to see me. He's leaving with [Ephraim] Ben-Artzi to visit America. He wants a letter to [Haim] Pozner [Jewish Agency treasurer in Europe] [instructing him] to release funds to buy food in Europe. I objected to this because the money there is designated for weapons.

         In his place expropriations will be handled by [Adv.] Akiva Persitz. [Aryeh] Weinberg will handle in-country purchases. David Lifschitz will handle food supplies for the army. Yaakovson asked for letters of recommendation for America. I said that he and [Aharon] Becker were to act on the basis of Teddy Kollek's advice and with his knowledge.

         - Venia [Ze'ev Hadari (Pomerantz)], who returned from Paris a while ago, came to see me. [French Foreign Minister Georges] Bidault had assisted the Altalena, as did the British agents, with the aim of thwarting the government of Israel.

         The [Jewish Agency's] ''Aliya Department in Europe - is empty. The Mossad [le-''Aliya Bet] is shrinking, and there's no one to handle ''Aliya. On the 18th of the month a ship with 1,800 people will depart Yugoslavia (Fiume [Port]). [The transport fee for] each passenger is $ 50.

         He spent one day in Jerusalem - discovered a spirit of Jewish fraternity that had never existed before. The organization in the city is excellent; good spirits.

         - [Gershon] Zak informs me that the order transferring seamen to the navy was never implemented. Today a ship of immigrants arrived - with 550 people, few of them young. A tanker is due to arrive - and it will engage [need to be escorted by] "the fleet" for about two days.

         I wanted a few ships to head to the north - to instill some fear in Lebanon.

         - I set out for Lod, more accurately to the airport. With 3 of Yitzhak [Sadeh]'s armored [vehicles] we passed Salameh, Kafr ''Ana, Yehudiyya, [and] Wilhelma. The tremendous deeds carried out in the few days following the truce are almost impossible to believe. The airport - who knows whether in 10 years the government of Israel could have built such an airport - is in our hands. It's almost complete. I saw the two heavy tanks - Cromwells - that we inherited from the English on their last day in the country. They conquered the airport.

         At five I returned to the Kirya [government offices] and participated in the government meeting.