יומנים > יומן - מלא 19/08/1948
Thursday, August 19, 1948
Meeting with the Aguda [Agudas Israel] - [Rabbi] I.M. Levin and [Meir] Loewenstein - regarding the terms of conscription for religious women.
- At ten a [Jewish] Agency Executive meeting. Continuation of the debate on the role of Zionism [the Zionist movement]. Rose Halprin [Hadassah president in the US] claims: The Zionists cannot be limited to fundraising (for some time now they haven't done even that, aside from Hadassah).
[Shlomo Zalman] Shragai argues that there's a country-based [Zionist] Organization - but no global management, and no order in matters of ''aliya (in London they refuse to give a visa to someone with capital, elsewhere they demand P£ 60 collateral from a Jewish tourist). [Berl] Locker thinks that only Zionists, rather than the state, can motivate Jews to make ''aliya (but how can Zionist leaders motivate ''aliya - when they themselves don't make ''aliya?). The saying - "Zionism - a state in the making" does not suit large Zionist organizations.
[Yitzhak] Gruenbaum explains the principles of Zionism and disputes Jamal [al-Husayni], who said that the Arabs will fight the Zionists as they fought the Crusaders. The Zionist Organization after statehood - is the same as before statehood. B.G.'s idea of granting a "charter" to the Zionist Organization on behalf of the state is not enough, because the Zionist Organization will also promote settlement in the Arab state [that Gruenbaum assumed would be established per the UN Partition resolution], where the State of Israel does not have jurisdiction. Within the state, the Zionist Organization will be subject to the laws of Israel.
Yesterday at the Executive meeting I laid out the following hypotheses: The establishment of the state is a stage in the actualization of Zionism. The state is sovereign - it is not subordinate to anything but its own governance. This sovereignty is limited by the boundaries of the state. One of the State of Israel's main objectives is the actualization of Zionism. This is not possible without the participation of the Jewish people. The Jewish state grants governing rights to the Jewish Agency - as the representative of the Jewish people for the actualization of Zionism. The end of the Mandate did not terminate this right of representation. The main rights are: the right to settle [to purchase and expropriate lands per the laws of the state], the right to organize ''aliya, the right to take international loans and to receive bequests and benefactions and the like, legal standing for its administration. The Agency is open to any Jew and any Jewish body in the world that wants to join. The Agency handles any matter relating to the return to Zion - it does not handle current affairs in the Golah [place of exile, i.e. Diaspora]; these are the affairs of Diaspora Jews. The present [Zionist] General Council [to be convened on August 22] handles the needs of the hour: support for defense - the war has not yet ended and past victories are not decisive - for ''aliya, and for settlement. Reorganization of the Jewish [Agency] - only at the Congress that will convene after the war has ended.
Gruenbaum opposes opening the gates of Zionism to any Jew - without a Shekel [the annual dues paid for the right to vote in Jewish Congresses], because it's possible that the Zionist Organization will need to fight, and will require Shekel-based discipline [i.e., the organizational discipline of an elected, policymaking representative body]. He opposes the name "Agency."
Kolodny [Moshe Kol] and [Zvi] Herman support my position that the General Council should not handle the ideological "confusion" - but rather the needs of the hour: defense, ''aliya, and settlement.
- En route to the country [artillery]: (from Mexico) 23 75 mm field C. [cannons]; 2 75 mm mountain G. [guns].
- Bought and not yet sent: 32 75 mm C. (in France), 18 75 mm C. (in Switzerland). 15 20 mm Isotta Fraschini (Alon, Italy), 12 120 mm mortars (France).
- Negotiations underway for: 31 20 mm anti-aircraft and anti-tank Madsen C. for ships (Finland), 50 120 mm mortars (Finland), 20 47 mm anti-tank C. (France), 6 naval C. 120x49 (Alon, Italy), 6 naval C. 76 x 48 (Alon, Italy), 30 naval C. 76 x 40 (Italy, Avni).
Vehicles: 18 half-tracks arrived in the country this week and were unloaded, also 9 armored vehicles (scout cars [for reconnaissance]), 2 half-tracks, 50 jeeps. 36 16-ton tanks with 37 mm C. - in Mexico. Negotiations are underway in Czechoslovakia for 12 16-ton tanks with 75 mm C., $360,000 each, also 10 10-ton tanks, with 37 mm C.
Small arms: 10000 rifles were bought, not yet sent, 500 T.G. [Tommy gun] machine guns were bought, not yet sent, 500 Browning machine guns on their way to the country from Mexico, 9 [heavy] machine guns on their way to the country, 64 Vickers machine [gun]s on their way to the country; 10,000 bayonets arrived in Tel Aviv today; 200 B.Z. [Besa?] 37 were bought in Czechoslovakia.
15 million German bullets arrived in the country today, 15 million bullets were bought and not yet sent, 10 million 3006 bullets are on their way to the country from Mexico.
Aircraft: We have 13 Austers, 2 Taylorcraft, 2 R.W.D., 1 Seabee [?], 3 Bonanza, 2 Fairchild, 4 Rapid, 2 [?], 1 Norseman, 3 Dakota, 1 DC-5, 3 - B-17, 13 Messerschmitt, 1 Spitfire, 1 Mosquito - total 52.
Cargo aircraft: 4 - C-46, 2 Skymaster DC-4, C-46 Commando plane being detained in Rome with the cargo. 2 C-46 Commando planes are under repair in Etsiyyon.
Equipment purchased from April through mid-July: machines 37 [ZB-37 machine guns?] - 588 [light] machine guns 634 - 4994; German rifles 29321, bullets for these 50,334,840, Hotchkiss twin barrel machine [gun]s 13.2 - 15, bullets for these - 30,786; Chauchat machine guns 200, bullets for these 3,225,220, French bullets 8 mm 1,333,130, 65 mm cannon 51, shell[s] 28107 + 30536 shrapnel, 75 mm cannon - 10, shells for these 9624, 20 mm Hispano - 24, shells for these 137842, 120 mm mortars - 12, shells for these 8154, 36 mm shells - 8604.
During the truce [the following] airplanes arrived here: 4 Beaufighters, 3 Norsemans, 2 - P-51, 2 observation aircraft (18 motors for airplanes).
On offer for purchase: 50 Spit[fires] in Czechoslovakia, $ 30,000 each, 10 Knives [Messerschmitts], 2 Dakotas in Italy, both of them P£ 25,000, 16 Spit in England, 4 Beaufighter in England, 3 Mosquito in England.
In-country procurement from October 1947 to July 1, 1948.
1 mortar 3", 7 mortar 2", 2 PIAT, 60 PIAT springs, 1 black machine [Schwarzlose machine gun?], 5 [Besa?] machine [guns], 6 Breda machine [guns], 93 English Browning, 1 RKM machine gun, 2 Lewis machine guns,1 15 [light] machine gun, 2 German [light] machine gun[s]. 211 Bren, 89 Sten SMG [submachine guns], 14 SMG, 135 American SMG 45, 5 Italian SMG, 5 mini, 8 SMG 3 [?], 2 Schmeisser, 11 S., 14 SMG S., 287 English rifles, 32 various rifles, 957 pistols, 20 flares, 93 3" shells, 379 2" shells, 590 PIAT shells, 84 shell[s for] S. sub[machine gun?], and more bullets, etc.
- Courses (August 19, 1948): 44 trainee snipers, 35 saboteur sergeants, 51 3" mortar officers, 48 small-arms training instructors, 22 topography instructors. Total 200. - 160 physical training service.
At the end of August additional courses will be prepared: 60 heavy machine gun officers, 35 combat saboteur sergeants, 32 intelligence officers, 360 infantry officers, 40 administration officers - total 527 trainees.
General status [of forces] on August 12, 1948:
Standard
Shortfall
Staffs, brigades, and battalions
29,975
(Of these 2212 female recruits)
36,540
6,003
Garrison force
11,281
815
19,231
7,950
Air Force
3,862
485
4,000
96
Navy
1,845
160
2,500
436
Other corps
4,162
120
8,500
4,258
Services, camps
17,559
2,555
18,000
18,743
Intake
2,800
23[3?]
Training camps
733
313
MLB [Military Labor Brigade]
2,223
1,594
Total
74,450
6,940
August budget (excluding procurement abroad) P£ 5,338,000:
Upkeep of forces 1,906,000 (apparatus salaries 1320 [career] personnel 58,000, 70,000 recruits in camps 210,000, 2000 recruits outside of camps 140,000, 8000 garrison force (P£ 35 each) 290,000, military leaves 63,000, laundry[,] repairs etc. 105,000, medical care 49,000, culture 14,000, food and clothing (80,000 men, 10.5 each) 840,000, special expenses of units 14,700) - soldier's family 1,000,000 approximately, food and personal equipment 494,000, medical service 100,000 approximately, transport 150,000, fuel 150,000, fortification service - repayment of debts 250,000, fortification service - new projects 100,000, housing on account of previous jobs 150,000, housing - new projects 75,000, engineering corps 5000, signal 25,000, rental vehicles 200,000, Navy 100,000, Air Force 125,000, foreign weapons manufacturing and chemicals factories 250,000, Ta'as [home manufacture of weapons] 150,000, math[ematics?] and science 25,000, recruitment center 20,000, [armored half-tracks?] 8000, debts etc. 55,000.
- In the evening continuation of the [Jewish Agency] Executive meeting. [Dr. Emanuel] Neumann and [Rabbi Abba Hillel] Silver want to transfer the center of the Zionist Organization [from Jerusalem to New York]. Eretz Israel already has a state, and there's no need to strengthen it. Leaders need to remain in their own countries: [Selig] Brodetsky in England, Neumann and Silver in America - so argues Silver. Neumann mainly insists on the need for the government members to withdraw from the Executive. It is inconceivable, in Neumann's view, that the Zionist Organization would receive instructions from the government of Israel. That would be a Zionist Comintern [Communist International]. He also insists on establishing a center abroad: organization, propaganda, fundraising campaigns, political hasbara [explanation, public relations], in the country - settlement, finances.