יומנים > יומן - מלא 04/06/1948
Friday, June 4, 1948
News from the front: Golani [actually - the northern front headquarters] (03.1010) attack on Jenin [went] according to plan. Our forces control the strongholds east and southwest of the city. Our forces are also holding the hill ridges north of the city. The enemy is demonstrating fierce opposition, using all weapons including cannons. (03.2400) [The front commander] decided to retreat at dawn from the yard [should be: city] and its strongholds, and to hide in the fields and hills 2½ km north of the city. Defensive arrangements are underway in Arranah, Jalamah, Muqeibla (the village and army camp), and Zar'in. (04.0515) The evacuation of Jenin will be completed at dawn.
Yigael [Yadin] also told me verbally: Last night he spoke with Zelicki [M. Carmel]: Unless Tulkarm is shelled and conquered, he won't be able to hold onto Jenin because the pressure is constantly increasing and many have been injured. In order to hold onto the city, he'll have to accept more heavy losses, and if this is not worth it - he must retreat. There are 150 injured, killed, and missing. Yigael agreed to a retreat.
Alexandroni came yesterday and explained that he doesn't have enough fighting forces for a shelling of Tulkarm [and an attack against it]. But he did agree to shell Tulkarm tonight, and the shelling took place. Tulkarm was also successfully bombed from the air. Massive fires were visible. Ashdod was also successfully bombed - many fires broke out in the [Egyptian] column. Nablus was successfully bombarded tonight.
Yesterday Yigael visited Givati. Egyptian radio reported on a heavy attack against them [in Isdud] and that 80 of their men were killed. Two of their commanders were killed.
Yigael decided that Yiftah won't go south, but rather to Latrun. Prolov [Y. Peri]'s battalion, 250 men, will return to Givati to compensate for the losses it had in recent days.
Givati was tasked with conquering Yavne tonight - but Prolov didn't arrive in time. Nahum Sarig was tasked with conquering Iraq-Suweidan tonight (Friday night). In the meantime the Egyptians entered Beit Jubrin and appointed governors, and they're clashing with Abdallah's forces.
Tonight Alexandroni will shell [attack] Qaqun if they can't [go to] Tulkarm.
Yesterday the forces under Nahum [from the Negev Brigade] had already entered Ashdod but they were forced to retreat to Nitzanim under pressure. IZL units were pinned down some distance from Ashdod. Givati units came from the north. It was a face-to-face battle. On our side there are 42 killed and missing, 10 injured. During the night [our forces] laid mines against the Egyptian column. A few of their vehicles hit the mines and were also shelled by our cannons (in Negba one of our men exploded seven Egyptian armored vehicles using one PIAT, but they sent a tank and extracted them from the settlements). 20 Egyptian armored vehicles came within our line of fire in Gvar'am, and the column was subjected to shelling, bombing, and our infantry. It sought assistance from the Egyptian headquarters.
The Yiftah battalions are heading to [the] Jerusalem [road] tomorrow to conquer Latrun. I also instructed them to conquer Al-Qubab, [and] for some reason Yigael doesn't appreciate the value of this conquest. But I tasked him with planning the conquest - and he promised to do it.
Yigael also doesn't appreciate the Lod-Ramle front - and is not interested in the Tel Aviv brigade [the Kiriati Brigade], which is not headed by anyone belonging to O. P. ["our people" - one of us].
Our air fleet's activities yesterday: At 1900 [hours] a Messerschmitt attacked an enemy plane over Jaffa. The plane, ablaze, fell near Nebi Rubin. A second enemy plane was hit by our fire near Rehovot and descended (or fell) in Arab territory (the enemy planes were Dakotas).
At 2040-2145 a Rapid of ours attacked Ashdod, dropped 300 kg, 18 incendiary bombs. The bombs were dropped on the city center and the outskirts and on the road east of the city. And a Bonanza attacked again 2055-2145, dropped 50 kg, 12 incendiary bombs. A large fire was visible from Yavne. Again, a Fairchild 2100-2215, dropped 100 kg, 6 incendiary bombs. They couldn't identify the target and the bombs were dropped into the sea. A Rapid brought equipment 0108 to Sdom. An Auster [aircraft] transported equipment to Jerusalem 0515-0715. A Rapid bombed Tulkarm (300 kg, 12 incendiary bombs) 0537-0630, explosions and fire were visible. 0540-0625 a Bonanza bombed Nablus, 125 kg, 12 incendiary bombs, all on target. A Fairchild (0545-0645) over Tulkarm, 100 kg, 6 incendiary bombs, on target; a Rapid over Nablus 0550-0650, 300 kg, 12 incendiary bombs, on target.
A Commando plane reached Ekron (2311 [hours]) with equipment for Messerschmitts.
- Reuven [Shiloah] and Moshe [Sharett] reported on the talks with Bernadotte yesterday. No truce before Monday [June 7] - at a special government meeting in the afternoon.
The truce won't begin before Monday - if it begins then. Our terms regarding immigration - it's hard to believe that the Arabs will agree to them, and without agreement it's hard to see Bernadotte imposing his opinion on them, since his role is primarily to achieve peace rather than a truce, and he won't want the Arabs to view him from the outset as an enemy, or as a friend of the Jews. In any case, we must exploit this time - if at all possible - to obliterate Lod and Ramle, or at least one of them - Lod.
I called for Kiriati [Michael Ben-Gal]. He only has about 800 fighters. Amos [Ben-Gurion]'s battalion hasn't been formed yet. I asked him to task his operations officer - Alex Tchernowitz [Tsur] - with preparing a plan of action against Lod. The IZL cannot be trusted in my view.
Gibbs took an hour of my time in the afternoon - on the state's plan. He was especially interested in whether we would expand and what our place in the Middle East would be. I said that Eretz Israel is situated first of all in the center of the Jewish world rather than the Middle East.
In the meantime we heard the thunder of cannons at sea - there was a clash between three or four enemy ships and two ships and planes of ours. One plane was apparently lost. The ships were not harmed.
Kiriati [Michael Ben-Gal] and Alex Tchernowitz are certain that it's possible to carry out the operation against Lod and Ramle and to conquer Lod, if provided with additional support [auxiliary] weapons and 3 battalions ready for action and another reserve battalion. Two battalions for diversionary maneuvers in Ramle, Wilhelma, the airfield [Lod], train station, bombardment for the sake of "softening." Towards this end Kiriati requires two batteries of cannons (that is, 12 cannons[)], since he has 4 - 8 more are needed, he's prepared to [make do with] 4 more, and more 120 mm mortars. Kiriati has two battalions, manpower - 600 men, commanders [Shmaya] Bekenstein ("not a bad battalion") and Moshe Wajman ([the commander] who was in Jaffa). Amos [Ben-Gurion]'s battalion exists in name only; it has no men. The IZL also has two companies, which aren't important - its [Kiriati's] weapons: 4 cannons, two 6" mortars, three 120 mm mortars, five 3" mortars, 4 PIATs, 1,500 rifles.
At 9 p.m. we learned from an Egyptian broadcast that a plane of ours had hit an Egyptian ship, and a second ship was positioned next to it. A third had returned to base.
Gershon [Zack, head of the naval service] is calling for 4 anti-air cannons, 6 heavy machine [gun]s for two Corvettes stationed in Tel Aviv.