יומנים > יומן - מלא 30/11/1948
Tuesday, November 30, 1948
I devoted the entire morning to visiting the CF [chemicals factories of Ta'as (home manufacture of weapons)] facilities and the "assembly" center of "foreign production" [assembly of weapons parts ordered from foreign weapons manufacturers]. CF has existed for about a year, and from the old Ta'as it inherited a small chemicals laboratory and a small production facility, as well as a group of workers who, during the underground years, acquired scientific and practical expertise in explosive materials. Now it's reached 12 facilities in which P£ 235,000 has been invested this year (through October 31), the scope of production has reached P£ 273,000 (started expanding in the spring). They produce explosive materials, explosive parts, and filling (cheddite, TEN [tetraeritrit nitrate?], mercury fulminate, lead acid). Two months ago they stopped producing the cheddite, after we started receiving TNT cheaply and in large quantities. By the time they stopped they'd produced 165 tons of cheddite.
TEN is manufactured in a temporary facility, so far 27 tons of T[EN]. A permanent facility is being established for the production of 30 tons of TEN per month - which will also meet a demand for 1,000 tons of TNT (a ton of TEN provides for the use of 30 tons of TNT)[.] The production of TEN (and TNT) requires large quantities of nitric acid, which isn't produced in the country yet. Mercury fulminate and lead acid are the explosive materials needed for the production of caps and detonators. Production has reached 125 kg of mercury and 120 kg of lead acid.
Blasting explosive materials [?] (gunpowder, cordite, etc.) aren't being produced in-country yet. Explosive parts (caps, deto[nators], and accelerators [?]) have been made in large quantities: 9 million caps, 60,000 deto[nators], and the same number of accelerators [?].
The CF has filled 20,000 mines of various types, more than 50,000 shells, about 23,000 aerial bombs, 120,000 Molotov cocktails, 43,000 smoke grenades, etc.
The CF's facilities: 1) Ashd [?] - Produces calcium chlorate and perchlomate [perchlorate?]. 2) Galilee - Carmel - calcium chlorate and cheddite. 3) HaMalbin [?] - calcium chlorate. 4) Kefar Yosef - TEN. 5) Eliahu - TEN (a new factory being built). 6) Himtzun [?] // Oxidation [?] - Nitric acid. 7) Hochma [?] - hexachlorophene (to fill smoke bombs). 8) Bemifnat [?] - caps, deto[nators], accelerators [?], mercury fulminate, acid lead. 9) Osem - cheddite, bomb filling, shells, mines, etc. 10) Hadar - bomb filling, shells, mines, etc. 11) Tzur - bomb filling, etc. 12) Central laboratory - explosive materials and smokeless powder research and development.
From the Defense Ministry they received P£ 539,348, from a customer [?] P£ 2,017, debts 30,234 - total P£ 576,599.
They invested 226,000 in production facilities, 9,135 in the central laboratory, total 235,135, production expenses 273,694, research expenses 6,530, total 280,224. Materials warehouse 61,240, overall total 576,599 (as of October 31, 1948).
- In the afternoon political committee at the Defense Ministry. Questions and answers (peace talks, the situation in Paris [at the UN], Faluja, Dayan's and [Abdallah al-]Tall's talks, war and peace, Russia's position, etc.).
- At the [Mapai] Central Committee meeting I presented an overview of the military and political situation.
- I received an expenses and payments statement from [Avraham] Zabar [Zabrasky] for October 1, 1947, to November 1, 1948 - P£ 32,989,275 was spent and there are debts up to 4½ million. Of this, upkeep and equipment (including food and clothing, salaries, personal expenses, personal and technical equipment, etc.) totaled P£ 15,979,915, payments to soldiers' families 5,212,000, Air Force (aside from procurements abroad) 543,614, Navy 505,316, Engineering Corps 21,770, M.S. [medical service] 188,971, transport and rental vehicles 2,112,461, fuel 1,050,350, housing 819,348, fortifications 2,522,972, in-country procurement 229,417, industry 963,588, foreign weapons manufacturing 1,207,357, chemicals factories 567,611, science and the RPCD [Research and Production Coordination Department] 145,651, signal 191,454, SHAI [Intelligence Service] 228,874, MAHAL [volunteers from abroad] 36,916, recruitment center 80,984, Defense Ministry 22,158, Negev 90,600, situation committee 109,075, miscellaneous 98,966.