יומנים > יומן - מלא 30/06/1948
Wednesday, June 30, 1948
Rabbi [Meir] Berlin [Bar-Ilan] came to see me. Since he knows that I admire Rabbi Fishman [Maimon], he proposes three things that would return Fishman to the government: 1) Matters of kashrut would be handled by me and him together. 2) A committee comprising Rabbi Berlin, [Peretz] Bernstein, and one of our men [Mapai] would present a proposal to equalize the rabbinate's [status] with that of the Muslim judiciary. 3) An agreement has already been reached with [Pinchas] Rosenblüth [Rosen] to have an assistant in his ministry [Ministry of Justice] who knows Jewish law.
Rabbi Berlin spoke with me about issues involving Jerusalem and suggested having a mutually agreed-upon administration. I said that there's a need for three - and only three - authorities: municipality, command, and governor. Rabbi Berlin suggests that alongside the government there would be a mutually agreed-upon council, composed of I. B. Z. [Izhak Ben-Zvi] and [Daniel] Auster, Rabbi Berlin, Sankewitz [sp.] of the Aguda [Agudas Israel], a Mapai member, [and] [Avraham] Elmalich, a Yemenite, from D [David Shaltiel's command, presumably].
- I summoned Yigael [Yadin] to discuss appointments and changes to the Staff: I explained that now, with an army having been formed, the Staff composition is strange: It is "Judenrein" - it doesn't have a single soldier [i.e., the department heads do not include any "professional" soldiers who served as officers in the British army - as if having done so disqualifies them]. This must be changed. And for this reason I've included Shlomo [Shamir], Fritz [Shalom Eshet], [and] [Ephraim] Ben-Artzi. Yigael particularly objected to giving a command post to [Zvi Ayalon] but without persuasive reasons opposed [Ephraim Ben-Artzi], who is indeed skilled and knowledgeable, but cunning, ambitious, a bad man who deviously undermines those he doesn't want.
When we examined the brigade appointments, I accepted one of his proposals: appointing [Haim] Laskov to Haifa [the Western Galilee], and [Ben] Dunkelman to Brigade Zayin [the 7th Brigade] instead of Shlomo [Shamir].
I prepared a list of the appointments and sent it to Zvi [Ayalon].
Yigael is concerned about separating the mortars from the cannons. Agrees that [Yehuda] Friedberg [Prihar] is a good commander for mortars, but in order to have the unit annexed to artillery.
- [Judge Shlomo] Lowenberg discovered article 111(1) in the regulations of September 27, 1945, official bulletin number 1442, supplement number 2, page 1083, which authorizes any officer to arrest someone for an unspecified amount of time, without providing any cause.
- I discussed the state of the artillery corps with [Shmuel] Rappaport [Admon].
Four 6" mortars were sent to Jerusalem; 4 have been there for some time. One 75 mm cannon was also sent (the experts found only one suitable position for this cannon in Jerusalem[)]. One howitzer was also sent (it has an 8 kg shell. The 75 mm shell is 4 kg. The shell for a 6" mortar - 23 kg. Its range is 3 km). Jerusalem also has two 120 mm mortars.
The number of artillerymen is now 2,133. The number of instruments: 11 120 mm cannons (?) [mortars], 48 65 mm C. [cannons], 10 75 mm C., 24 of 20 mm. The manpower is barely enough for these instruments. 150 men are attending the schools. An officers' course lasts 2½ months. For an artilleryman [at the rank of] private, 5 days suffice. There are an additional 86 instruments abroad; these will require another 1,050 men. The desired age is 17-22. But these instruments won't suffice, and more need to be bought: 50 field cannons (75 mm), 100 (20 mm) anti-aircraft, 40 40 mm anti-aircraft, 10 heavy [cannon]s - 105 mm, 16 anti-tank. These will necessitate 3,000 additional men. Each 6" mortar requires 6 men.
- Abba [Khoushy] phoned me from Haifa: At 12:30 the last of the English will leave Haifa. All the British barricades have been removed. At 2:30 our navy will enter the port.
I decided to go to Haifa.
I reached Haifa at 6:15 - straight to the celebration at the port.
Ya'akov [Dori] is recovering. He looks good. He's pleased with the appointments. I suggested the name Sela for him. He didn't really take to it.
- [Yosef] Almogi and Abba [Khoushy]: The MLB [military labor brigade] has 2,200 [men]. At the port 750 (about 600 non-conscripted workers), at the railway 232, at the postal service 212, in the army 150 (in the Logistics Department), in housing (establishing camps) 150, at the training school 100 (turnover is every 4 days), in services about 400.
The productivity of the workers at the port has increased. The ships would not have been repaired without MLB. Lehrer [Zadok] was here and received 500 men for combat [units] in exchange for 500 (only sons [sons who are the only child of their parents] and others) for work to be assigned by the Personnel Department. The formation of the MLB was a unanimous decision of the Haifa Workers' Council.
In Haifa there are 5,000 workers of draft age, healthy, fit for battle, only released [from military service] for the economy [i.e., needed for the port's operation]. Almogi suggests enlisting them all in the MLB - and then they can be replaced with women and sent into battle.
There are 150 bureaucrats (!) working at the abandoned property office in Haifa, most are subject to draft duty (!). Almogi believes that if all the engaged workers of draft age are enlisted in the MLB, then it will be possible to release 2,000 men for the army over the course of a few weeks.
They also aren't leaving [Haifa to work on] fortifications - even though there's a military order. If they were organized into military labor brigades, the necessary numbers of men could be sent to Nahalal and other places.
The upkeep of a thousand MLB men at our camps will cost us P£ 15,000 per month. To date MLB men have received one day of training per week. The MLB has received only 100 rifles to date.
[Jacob] Lublini is complaining that he too has not received rifles for the garrison force. He has 800 conscripts - about 100 for the Staff from among 35 [-year-olds]. 150 girls. He has 320 rifles, 9 [light] machine guns. The artilleryman who was here insisted on 30 heavy machine [gun]s for Haifa's defense. Haifa and its subdistrict require 3 battalions (1 for the subdistrict, 2 for the city of Haifa). There are enough 36-40-year-old men in Haifa for 3 battalions.
Lublini requests 5 tons of explosives in order to pave a new road [in the city] - the market [in Lower Haifa] has to be destroyed. Yohanan [Ratner] has the entire plan.
- [Haifa Mayor] Shabtai Levy received a letter from [British Consul-General] Cyril Marriott officially stating that we'll be able to bring the Cyprus immigrants - 14,000 out of 25,000, that is, all those who are not draft age. They insist that the Pans [the clandestine immigrant ships Atzma'ut and Kibbutz Galuyot] depart immediately to bring them.