יומנים > יומן - מלא 05/06/1948

Saturday, June 5, 1948

Tonight we captured Yavne (there wasn't much resistance) and Qaqun. The work of "mopping up" is still continuing here. No news yet from the other fronts (0830).

       During consultations two days ago with Alexandroni, Dan Epstein [Even] agreed to replace his operations officer (Simcha from Burma, an English Jew). Dan suggests "Rabbit" [Aharon Yariv-Rabinovich] - deputy commander in one of Dan's battalions. Ratner doesn't think he's up to it. Hillel Pfefferman [sp.] (battalion commander) or Tzvika Hurwitz [Gilat] (now with Shlomo) was proposed. Many men in Pfefferman's battalion will be needed for the Training Bureau if we resume courses. The remnants of Zvi German's battalion will be transferred to Yitzhak's brigade (8). Dan is demanding this battalion for himself. He's prepared to hand over Pfefferman's battalion. I tasked Ratner and Yisrael with deciding all these matters.

       - In light of the complaint by Yerkhovsky, captain of the Wedgewood, I consulted with G. Zack regarding the status of ships in the naval service.

       1) Hannah Senesh [cargo ship] - Commander Yisrael Auerbach, platoon commander, worked in Aliyah Bet, does not know how to captain a ship; in Gershon's view this is not necessary as we don't venture far from the shore. His first mate Shaul [Avni, a captain] was an officer on a civilian ship in England and knows how to captain a ship.

       2) Eilat ­- [Eliezer] Chodorov was a captain and commander, took Yoske [Yosef Almog] from Aliyah Bet as an assistant. Paul Shulman [naval commander], who usually prefers a captain over an army commander, suggests removing Chodorov. Even Chodorov himself feels (without admitting it) that this isn't the right place for him because on this ship the main focus is not navigation but military actions, and he wants to work on one of the Pans [the large clandestine immigrant ships]. He disembarked the ship 5 days ago and is in Haifa waiting for the Pans. Yoske was given a navigator as a first mate; the first mate knows more about seamanship than Yoske, but less about warfighting.

       3) HaTikva - The commander is David Maimon, experienced seaman, though uncertified; has naval military experience, from Aliyah Bet; his first mate - a seaman and navigator.

       4) Haganah - Commander Moshe Rabinowitz (Hashomer Hatzair), from Aliyah Bet, not explicitly a seaman, his first mate is Jockey [Elyakim Epstein], a captain. Both of them worked on the ship South Africa, and there too Rabinowitz was the commander.

       5) Wedgewood - The commander is Aryeh ["Kippy"] Kaplan (Gordonia [youth movement]) from Aliyah Bet. Was a deputy commander at the naval base in Haifa. His first mate is Yerkhovsky (IZL), a civilian captain, certified. Paul Shulman believes that he [Aryeh Kaplan] is qualified to be both commander and captain.

       Four of the ships - Wedgewood, Haganah, HaTikva, Eilat - have 20-60 men each. Hannah Senesh - 14, South Africa - 28.

       Paul Shulman is organizing work assignments, orders of battle, personnel processing, ship structure, etc. The naval action yesterday [against Egyptian ships] was conducted by Paul Shulman.

       Samek Poznanski [Shmuel Yannai] (operations officer) and Avraham Zakkai (administrative officer). Shmuel Tankus - director of Training Department.

       I asked Zack if he'd sorted out the issue of the South Africa with [Nahman] Kirschner [sp.]. At first he replied that the matter had been sorted out with Eli Kirschner [Nahman's son]. Then he wavered and promised to find out. This ship is used for training sailors.

       - Weitz brought me a plan for "retroactive transfer" [a population exchange proposal that built on the 1937 Peel Commission report]. According to him, 123,000 Arabs have left 155 villages within the state's territory. 22,000 Arabs have left 35 villages outside the state. Altogether, 145,000 have left 190 villages. 77,000 Arabs have left 5 cities within the state (Haifa, Bet She'an, Tiberias, Safed, Tsemah). 73,000 Arabs have left two cities [that were designated to remain] outside the state (Jaffa and Acre). 40,000 Arabs left Jerusalem; in total, 190,000 Arabs left 8 cities - altogether 335,000 left (of whom 200,000 [left from settlements] in the territory of the state).

       He proposes holding talks with Arab governments regarding assistance in settling these Arabs in Arab countries. This is premature and untimely. However, we should now make sure to process and settle these villages by the time the war ends, and in this regard I propose a committee of three: 1 from the Jewish National Fund, 1 from the Settlement Department, 1 from the Jewish Agency Treasury; their role: to clear out the settlements, process and settle them, and establish a labor brigade for these tasks. This will be carried out not by the government - but with its knowledge, by national institutions.

       Shaul [Avigur] announces the purchase of 12 crawlers [tracked vehicles], each 16 tons, and 10 9-ton crawlers. We'll receive them over the course of 3 weeks; their crating will take another 2-3 weeks.

       [In Qaqun] Alexandroni seized 150 rifles, 5 heavy machine [guns], 3 trucks with food. The situation near Jenin is unchanged. The Arabs report that 1,500 Jews were killed or taken prisoner in Jenin, out of a force of 5,000. Apparently this is their number of casualties.

       Alon [Y. Arazi] reports that yesterday evening a ship departed carrying 10 tanks, each weighing 12 tons, with 37 mm cannons and two [heavy] machine guns.

       Alon is asking that the truce be postponed, because the weapons [on the ship] are visible. I doubt there will be a truce on Monday [June 7]: After Bevin interpreted the resolution as prohibiting army-age immigration - it's impossible that the Arabs would agree to any other interpretation, and Bernadotte won't impose his opinion on them. I doubt the Security Council would impose its position - especially if the State Department supports Bevin's view.

       I visited [Yosef] Sprintzak. His youngest son [David] was flying the plane that fell to sea during our aerial attack on Egyptian ships yesterday. [In the plane] with him was [Mati], Yigael [Sukenik-Yadin]'s younger brother.

       - [Moshe] Shapira came to see me to discuss the work of [Shimon] Wasserman [of the Haganah National Headquarters] and acceptance of clerks [from Hapo'el Hamizrachi]. I told him that Wasserman would carry on with the work he's been doing so far. I didn't discuss the acceptance of clerks, and I'm not prepared to accept clerks on the basis of party membership.