יומנים > יומן - מלא 28/12/1947

[Sunday,] December 28, 1947

[Yosef] Weitz: Last Monday a technical committee (the engineer Bassin - Technical Department, Akiva [Atzmon], and someone from Solel Boneh) was sent to the Negev to examine fortification issues and organize their implementation. They managed to visit several settlements, returned on Friday, and the budget for fortifications and other expenses to reinforce the Negev has been set - [we] need P£ 270,000 (this also includes P£ 20,000 for guarantors).

       This treatment includes six "old" settlements (Yad Mordechai, Gvar'am, Nir Am, Dorot, Ruhama, Be'erot Yitzhak) and 22 new ones: Sdeh Akiva [Gevim], Shoval, Mishmar HaNegev, Hatzerim, Bet Eshel, Nevatim, Revivim, Hazla [''Alumim], Halutza, Ramat HaNegev, Tze'elim, Urim, Mivtahim, Gvulot, Nirim, Tkuma, Be'eri, Sa'ad, Kefar Darom, Kedma, Gal On.

       Nir Am is the base for all the settlements, and as a transition-point it's under strain right now, so [we] need to build a special camp for passage near the water wells [southeast of the settlement] and open a restaurant for those passing through, to remove the burden from Nir Am.

       Where will we take another 270,000 from? Weitz is suggesting that I provide P£ 25,000, and he'll get the rest from the KKL [budget] for neighborly relations.

       Amihai Kroll [sp.] (the Jewish Agency Settlement Department) - in charge of supplies (his residence is in Rehovot, from now on he'll be in the Negev).

       - Zabrasky reports that in terms of cash he has P£ 103,000. As against the quarter million he received P£ 120,000 from Granovski [Granot] (he's hoping to receive the rest over the course of 10-15 days). He received P£ 300,000 from the UJA (after deducting 75,000 that he transferred to services[)], and he's supposed to receive another P£ 50,000 - apparently only in January from the UJA (from Baharal he received P£ 124,000).

       [Alexander] Yevzerov: In May 1948 the expositions committee [International Bureau of Expositions] will meet in Paris to decide where and when to convene the World Expo (it will not take place before 1951, possibly only in 1954). Every exposition is intended to present something special (Paris - building the colonies, in America - building the new world), we'll present - building a state.

       Is it possible that in May 1948 they'll decide on an Expo in a Jewish state?

       - Probably not, but maybe yes. But [we] should request.

       Who is the requester? - Seemingly private individuals: Yevzerov, Idelson, Shlomo Yoffe [sp.]. But they act as advised by the institutions.

       I was astonished by this welcome and puzzling optimism, and I'll bring the matter before the administration.

       - [Chaim] Hoffmann [Yahil] returned from Germany to clarify the ''aliya plans until May and after May, and the establishment of a staff of emissaries, and to learn about the situation in the country - because in Germany [they're] disconnected. He'll stay about three weeks [and] wait for Kaplan's arrival.

       In the American region of Germany - 100,000 refugees; in the British region - 12,000 + 3,300 "migrants from Europe" (a thousand have already left for the country). In Berlin - 12,000, in Austria 22,000 (total 149,000), in Italy - unknown. [He] estimates 25,000. Over the past four weeks there haven't been any additional refugees in Germany because the Romanian government isn't allowing [them] to leave. They're not coming from any other country, and the situation is static. It would've been possible to receive another 30,000 people, because that number includes "dead sprouts" [people who were still registered at the camps but had already secretly headed south in preparation for clandestine immigration to Eretz Israel].

       There will be American pressure for ''aliya permits to be granted to "displaced persons" and not to Jews from Eastern Europe, and for these reasons the Bricha [the organization that managed the flow of Jewish refugees in Europe] needs to be strengthened.

       The Revisionists retreated a little after November 29, although they didn't participate in the celebration. The American authorities supported them, because they reported on us, [saying] that we're communists. In general the Americans in Germany had an anti-Zionist orientation. The Department of War, in contrast to the State Department [?], supported anti-Zionists - because Russia supports the Arabs. LEHI is pro-Russian. After November 29 they changed their stance. The [Jewish] Agency organized a consular meeting in Berlin. The Russians also came, as did all the other consuls. The Americans only came in Munich.

       The internal situation? Our party and the Revisionists are in the lead. It's hard to determine which of the two is bigger. In Munich [the newspaper] Das Vort ["The Word" in Yiddish] appears - twice weekly. Si'ah Bet [which seceded from Mapai] produces Baafreiung [sp.?] [Freedom] - (weekly), HaMizrachi produces Tzeitung, General Zionists - Stimme, Revisionists - Unzer Welt (all weeklies). The Z.K. [Zentral Komitet - Central Committee of Liberated Jews - European Jewry's representative body] also produces a weekly - Unzer Wog ["Our Way"]. The Z.K.'s composition: 5 of our members [Mapai], 2 Si'ah Bet, 1 Po'alei Zion Left, 1 HaShomer HaTza'ir, 1 P.H.H. [Partizanim, Hayalim, Halutzim - i.e., Partisans, Soldiers, (Zionist) Pioneers] (linked with Si'ah Bet), 2 General Zionists, 2 Mizrachi, 1 Aguda [Agudas Israel]. After HaPo'el HaTza'ir - S.Z. [Socialist Zionists?] united with Si'ah Bet - an important group seceded from them and joined the party [Mapai?] (under [Pesah] Paiketch [sp.? Paketch?]).

       There's a decline in the halutzi [Zionist-pioneering] movement because many have made ''aliya. There are another 1,500 halutzim in training, about 30% our [party] members, the rest - HaShomer HaTza'ir, Beitar, Si'ah Bet (Dror), General Zionists, etc. There are another 6,000-7,000 youths in youth movements (not including "migrants from Europe"). About 20-25% our [party] members, NOHAM [No'ar Halutzi Meuhad - i.e., United Halutzi Youth], the rest [distributed among] all the parties. There's a consolidation in NOHAM, the unification succeeded, they also took in the youths from Romania who arrived divided.

       - Yosef Barpal reports that the two ships [the Pans] - are full - have already left Bulgaria.

       - With Yisrael [Galili]'s consent I decided that Shapira (of the Aliya Department) would receive a corner with eight barracks in the RAF plot [at Camp Yona in Tel Aviv] for refugees - in order to fence off a corner.

       - Yisrael reports that both Yiga/els [Yigael Yadin and Yigal Allon] are overseeing the dispatch of a reserve of 300 [Palmach reservists] to the Negev + 50 men for the Negev Active [command personnel]. The equipment was already sent on Friday.

       Yisrael proposes Eliezer Lazarson [sp.] (liaison officer from Aliya Hadasha) for censorship on behalf of the Haganah.

       - I asked Dr. Pozner to provide SHAI with $ 5,000 (as against their budget) for three vehicles. He'll do this - after they present him with a formal request. He advises buying all the vehicles that Arditi has from him. Mila [Michael Lubarsky-Bar] [sp.] ordered two [armored] vehicles in America, but they won't arrive for two months.

       - In the afternoon A. [Aharon] Remez and [Alex] Ziloni: They estimate the airfield in Tel Aviv [Sde Dov] at 200 meters (up to 750). This will cost P£ 6,000. They'll be able to park twin-engine planes. Need to create another path [runway] - but there are difficulties, and it will cost a lot. There's an RAF airfield in Petah Tikva [Kefar Sirkin] that's been evacuated, but it's close to the border. There's an airfield in Ramat David. The RAF left it, but the army is there. There's an airfield in ''Akir [Tel Nof]. It will be evacuated in mid-January. There are also workshops there. They [the English] are vandalizing new machines. [We're] going to buy some airplanes from them. Near Be'er Tuvia is an abandoned airfield [Beit Daras, Hatzor]. In our [part of the] Negev there are no airfields. One field near Be'erot Yitzhak [Gaza] has been evacuated, and the people of Be'erot Yitzhak were allowed to plow it, but our men gave an order not to plow. In Revivim it's possible to arrange a field for a few hundred liras [P£]. The Palmach is demanding airfields in Bet Eshel and Gvulot. In Revivim they've already leveled 200 meters (will level a thousand). Every day there are flights from Tel Aviv to the Negev, and they land in Nevatim, Bet Eshel, Revivim, Urim, Tkuma. It's hard to reach Nir Am (rough terrain).

       In Jerusalem? - [Yehoshua] Gilutz is handling this. He reports that there's a golf course in Talpiot.

       Helicopters are needed - they can land almost anywhere. Their speed is 140 kilometers per hour. Its height [flying altitude] is 4½ kilometers. In one flight it can cover 500 kilometers and more.

       Was Alon [Yehuda Arazi] told to buy [helicopters]? - No.

       It will be necessary to train pilots, because the training [for helicopter pilots] differs [from the training for pilots]. In America they take six weeks to train a pilot to use a helicopter. The instrument is twice as expensive as a simple airplane. A Tel Aviv man, Shapira, is now in England, working at an English company that produces helicopters.           [Freddy] Fredkins has already bought eight (single-engine) Tiger Moth [planes], 2 Proctor (single-engine, for a pilot and two others), 3 Anson (twin-engine) [cargo plane], 1 Auster (pilot, and two passengers - for reconnaissance). Eizik [Yehoshua Eshel] is currently arranging for an import permit. Fredkins found five pilots in England and is working on getting a visa. In the country we have six airplanes (in service of the A.S. [the Haganah Air Service]) and another five, of which only one is twin-engine ([belonging] to the Aviron airline). Most of them are in Tel Aviv [at Sde Dov], the rest in Lod.

       There are 18 pilots who served in the army (including six with combat experience). Five of them have good civilian [flight] experience. There are another 120 or so men with 20 flight hours. Training is being arranged for 30 of them. There's only one meteorological station, in Lod. Mainly Jews work there, and it provides notifications [weather forecasts]. In England there are more than eighty days [per year] that are unsuitable for flying. Here there are only 12 days (according to the RAF).

       [We] need to maintain 12 pilots, 40 ground crew. A roll call of those who served in the RAF during the war has been arranged. Yitzhak Levi is working on procurement - flight devices, parts, tires. There are Gentile professionals from the RAF who want to stay and work for us.

       At present, 6 people are working at the Air Service staff. [We] need about two hundred workers - the ratio between air and ground personnel is 1:8. There are no aircraft workshops in the country aside from [those belonging] to the RAF, which are steadily being dismantled.

       Is there a liaison with the RAF?

       - M. [Mardor] reports that [we] can obtain 3,570 pipes [rifles], 150 stick [light machine guns], 3 million nails [bullets] for half a million dollars (comes out to P£ 30 [for] each tube with 700 nails).

       - I'm informed by the Staff that from the first until the 26th of this month (inclusive), 13 Jews (not counting 11 Jewish notrim [British-appointed auxiliary police]), 250-300 Arabs, 9 British soldiers, 9 British policeman, 4 unclassified, 1 [Transjordan] Frontier [Force] soldier have been killed (the Arab casualties - per estimation).

       - Vilenchuk, Yosef Rochel [Avidar], Shlomo Gur, J. Ratner, Shevah [Slavin], Eliahu [Sacharoff]: I presented them with Shevah's objection regarding [the production of] machine parts. Vilenchuk believes that Shevah will [should] make the fine devices, [and] the simple parts will be delegated to others for now. J. Ratner believes that everything should be delegated to [Naftali] Schneerson, who's prepared to make the devices over the course of two weeks, and in three weeks he'll provide a sample of 100 mines. Shevah scoffs at both proposals: Speed will result in disappointment; the mines won't work. Four months are needed to make the instruments precise. An expert committee in manufacturing will look into this. Yisrael [Galili] requested that no conclusion be drawn this time. Regarding the caps, Shevah argued that if abroad [i.e., the order of caps from abroad] lets us down - he has the time to make caps himself. With the PIAT he's not familiar (mines expert - Sharoni).

       - An army officer proposed to Sacharoff [Yehezkel Sahar] that the two ships [the Pans] go straight to Cyprus.

       - In the evening I received a report from Zabrasky on income and expenses during October-December. There are a few puzzling things in the report. P£ 129,146 was received from the [Jewish] Agency, 220,000 from KKL, 375,000 from the fundraising campaign, 22,000 from Kofer HaYishuv [the Yishuv's defense fund], in total P£ 816,146. [Baruch] Rabinov [head of the Haganah Finance Department] [Revivim?] received 70,000 + 131,500 + 330,000 (?!), in total P£ 537,500. For Ta'as [home manufacture of weapons] P£ 20,000, for production 14,200, for general services 75,000, for the Negev 40,000, etc. Rabinov [Revivim?] expenditures in October-November (no details from December) upkeep of conscripts 14,200, equipment 11,500, barbed wire 10,500, procurement 20,240, regular budget 5,112 (41,000 + 24,112), gasoline 4,500, barracks 5,400, air transport 2,648, Sec [secessionists?] 15,000.