יומנים > יומן - מלא 16/12/1947

[Tuesday,] December 16, 1947

The Negev is being handled by: [Haim] Halperin [of the Agricultural Center] - supplies; reserve supplies for a month for 50 men at each settlement, aside from the current reserves (water reserves? fuel?). [Appropriation of] vehicles is being handled by Gorochowsky [Shraga Goren] in Tel Aviv, Berl Repetur in Haifa (dozens of Solel Boneh vehicles). Boganov [Israel Barnea] will appropriate 20 vehicles in garages. Instruments [weapons] are being handled by Yosef [Avidar]: he'll send 100 rifles, 100 Stens, 12 [light] machine guns, 6 mine detectors, 10 small mortars [2"], 3 large [mortars] [3"], 2 [heavy] machine [gun]s. Will be sent tomorrow.

       On Thursday (today is Tuesday) a medical center will be sent: a hospital for Nir-Am, a sickroom for [Kibbutz] Gvulot. Two days ago 100 men were sent [to the Negev]. Over the course of two days another 150 men will be sent (370 from the [Palmach] Brigade have been there for a while, so the number will reach 620 men. Fortifications are being handled by Hillel Cohen and the engineer Eliezer Bodankin).

       - [Ephraim] Ben-Artzi is prepared to enlist - needs a release from Lifshitz [director of the Safed Development Company, where he worked]. He'll work in the division of armament, personnel and logistics, and transport.

       - With Zabrasky we clarified the financial situation. The running costs for December have been paid, and he has: from the UJA [P£] 31 [thousand], 4 in the account, will receive another 75 from the UJA, from Kofer HaYishuv 12, from South Africa 25, from KKL 250, from Kaplan 150 - total [P£] 522 [thousand]. Through the end of January, [we'll] require: monthly budget 100, upkeep of 10,000 men - 300, vehicle procurement 30, fuel 30, seacraft 30, airplanes 30, Ta'as 30, production 50, for special fund 15, procurement 50, equipment 75, services 15, fortifications 50, healthcare 15 - in total [P£] 820,000.

       Some of the expenses are overstated - the [conscripts] requiring upkeep will be below a thousand for now.

       - [Avraham] Borshi [Broshi] and associates: At Tel Litvinsky [at the time a British base, today Tel HaShomer] there are another 60 rifles, 4 Brens, 30 SMs [submachine guns], 5 light cannons. 3-4 soldiers are guarding. Outside there are notrim [British appointed auxiliary policemen]. At Tira [a British base near Haifa] there are 4,000 rifles, 19,000 Stens. No ammunition (that's in Wadi Surar).

       - Ya'akov [Dori] and Feldman [Ya'akov Peled]. On the security of [power] lines. Near Kalkilya there was a problem with the line. They asked for an escort from the army - it took two days. [Avraham] Rutenberg [manager of the Electric Company] wants to request that the Commissioner enlist a [military] company of 100 to protect the line (will that be enough?), with armored vehicles and [heavy] machine guns - one group near Hibat Tzion [in the Sharon Plain], another in Kefar Bilu [east of Rehovot]. The valleys - Safed line won't be protected. These will require another 150 [men]. Ya'akov thinks at least another three companies are needed. Avraham Rutenberg asks whether he can suggest that an English officer head them. I said that if, in light of the Commissioner's arguments against [the request], he sees a need for such a proposal - then he should propose it. 25 men are also needed for Naharayim [the national power station]. Right now the [Transjordan] Frontier Force is guarding [there]. Many are fleeing with their weapons…. Feldman reports on behalf of A. Rutenberg that he wants to help with equipment - and for this reason he wants to meet with me. Please!

       - [Eliyahu] Carmieli from Ginegar. The bloc asked [the district commissioners] to transfer the police stations ["Tegart forts"] in Nahalal, Afula, Bet HaShita, Jisr [al-Mujamieh, near Kibbutz Gesher] to the Jews, on the condition that the service list is filled. The commissioner (whose attitude is generally good) didn't refuse, but said that it won't be soon.

       They requested protection for transport by means of Jewish patrols and armed drivers. He promised to make such a recommendation to the [governmental] defense committee. He requested a liaison person - and Carmieli was chosen. Yesterday Carmieli met with Evans [northern district police superintendent] and requested that the Legion [soldiers] protecting the [oil] pipeline [from Iraq to Haifa] be removed. He mentioned the agitation among Jewish policemen resulting from the fact that there are few Jews at the stations (in Afula there are 9 Jews, 20 English, 40 Arabs). Evans asked whether [the Jews] will take responsibility to ensure no harm befalls the pipeline from Dovrat to Nahalal. Carmieli explained that the Jews need oil. [Evans] asked about ETZEL [whether they will refrain from sabotaging the pipeline]. Carmieli asks whether to answer in the affirmative, because then the Legion will be withdrawn.

       - A shipment arrived from Italy - rifles, Tommy [Guns], ammunition. In ten days another shipment will set out.

       Shlomo Gur: Production hasn't begun yet. He's specifically troubled about [anti-personnel] landmines, which are especially suitable for the Negev.

       - [People's] guard committee meeting. [David Zvi] Pinkas reports that Rokach didn't see Golda. There's another dispute [with the authorities] over Tel Aviv's boundaries (the neighborhoods of Ezra, Volovelsky, and Karton, the neighborhood of Maccabi); Amos [Ben-Gurion] reports that some of [the neighborhood of] Volovelsky remains in Tel Aviv and some in Jaffa.

       To organize the [people's] guard, Pinkas proposes a regional commander, local commanders, defense committee. A local defense committee composed of the mayor, commander, his adjutant… a joint commission. Shapira is opposed to having two committees. Yitzhak Gruenbaum proposes a regional command - comparable to the British region, subordinate to the Chief of National Headquarters. A civilian committee: 4 mayors, 4 [city] commanders, 3 representatives [?] of the institutions (?).

       I summarized [the discussion on a people's guard]: 1) The guard - a brigade of the Organization [the Haganah]. 2) The aim - to act as a special force, the basis of a gendarmerie in the state. 3) Subordinate to the local Haganah commanders. 4) Each municipality has a liaison committee. 5) A supreme civilian institution is to be established, with the authority [to issue] instructions and judicial and legislative [authority].

       Still under review: 1) Whether there will also be a regional commander. 2) The Defense Committee or a joint commission [of the Defense Committee and a civilian institution] decides who the supreme governing power is. It was agreed that we wait for the Defense Committee proposal and if necessary hold a joint meeting with the commission of the Defense Committee.

       Then a long conversation with Yitzhak Gruenbaum on contact between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the danger of the Executive being divided [if Jerusalem is cut off from Tel Aviv], on the sale of plots of land in Haifa [?] and the organization of Jerusalem's municipality.

       - S. [Shlomo] Kaddar [Situation Committee secretary] reports: Negotiations are underway with the army for the purchase of 43 bases, including Camp Sarafand [Tzrifin], Tel Litvinsky, Tel Nof (airfield), and others. All are in the territory of the Jewish state. They [the English] want a committee of three to be appointed - 1 from the army, 1 of our own, and 1 from the technical department [evidently the Public Works Department]. This committee will visit the bases and assess real estate properties. The army will receive 11% of the estimated total. Y. Sacharoff [Yehezkel Sahar] will participate in the committee.

       The Tel Aviv municipality purchased the air fleet's R&R base [Camp Yona - today Tel Aviv's Independence Park] at a cost of P£ 3,850.