יומנים > יומן - מלא 16/11/1948
Tuesday, November 16, 1948
I left this morning to visit the weapons depots and after that [Haim] Slavin's production facilities. This took from 9 [a.m.] to 4 p.m.
- On November 13 our ship departed Yugoslavia with 4,000 immigrants.
- [Dr. Ernst David] Bergmann: C.A.P. [explosive material?] wasn't ordered in America. Although Eli Kirschner placed an order, Ben-Artzi canceled it because someone told him that it's not important. If the Science [Corps] is given P£ 5,000 for a facility - they'll prepare 100 kg of C.A.P. [explosive material?] per day for two weeks.
The rocket tests have been satisfactory. 50 rockets have now been ordered for demonstration purposes. Could be ready in a week. The chemical part of the bazooka factories is being established in Haifa. [Prof. Chaim] Pekeris received a few machines for free, and now they're requesting only $20,000 to finish the factory (buying machines that can't be received as a gift).
[Details on the Science Corps activities - Classified]
- Al Schwimmer came to see me. He recruited about 400 pilots for the country, purchased about 40 planes for us. In America he informed the recruits - based on what Shlomo Shamir, Teddy [Kollek], and their friends said - that they'd only receive expenses and no more in the country.
In June there was a big GAHAL [foreign recruitment, though Ben-Gurion often used the term to refer to MAHAL (foreign volunteers to the army) as well] gathering here. Aharon Remez and Shechtman [Hyman Shamir] promised them a more decent wage - in line with the profession. The promise wasn't kept. Many face difficult conditions - lack of suitable housing, etc. About ten days ago they met and made a decision, and signed a written statement demanding that their salary be determined in 4 days, otherwise - they'll go back to their country. [Al] Schwimmer was asked to deliver the signed demand to the Staff, Schwimmer didn't find [Aharon] Remez and gave the document to Hai [Issachar] and Hyman Shechtman [Shamir]. Hai replied - there's no question here, the pay scale is determined by the government - Schwimmer asked for the government's pay scale - and this was conveyed to the pilots. The scale didn't seem it all right to the GAHAL men. To the pay scale [document] was attached (by whom? - the government) a list of terms of service, that is, each man must sign [a statement saying] that he's in the defense forces, and will obey every command, etc.
The men are discontent for two reasons: 1) dissatisfaction with the living conditions, 2) distrust of the high command. And they're disgruntled over the "terms of service" - because they faithfully fulfilled their duties, and now they're being required to state that they'll fulfill their duties. They selected a committee of three: Livingston (radio employee), Kurtz [sp.] (pilot), Munitz [sp.] (pilot). They signed an ultimatum in protest, [demanding] that salary conditions not be linked with terms of service - otherwise they'll refuse to fly. They didn't object to the salary itself but to the annexes with the salary conditions. They met with Aharon Remez. Schwimmer was also present. Aharon replied that the terms were those of the government, and he must implement them - without changes. Remez was annoyed by the ultimatum, threatened a lawsuit, and ordered [them] to leave the room. He didn't want to receive them anymore, and he insisted that unless each of them sign a renunciation of the ultimatum (Schwimmer and his friends realized that they'd made a mistake with the ultimatum, and Kurtz and Munitz [sp.] did in fact fly to Paris with Yigael [despite the strike]), they won't be able to remain in service. Schwimmer thought that this humiliation was unnecessary. The Air [Force?] Council discussed a written renunciation. By a majority of 6 against 5 they decided to insist on this. Livingston didn't sign. He's still young. On that day [authorities] came to the Bristol Hotel to take him and bring him to Haifa in order to deport him from the country. Schwimmer was there - and told Livingston not to go, because the Air Force has a right to expel him, but not to deport him from the country. He and his group do not want to be soldiers any longer, they'll teach the craft to Eretz-Israel men and leave.
I told him that for now I'm discussing this with him unofficially, as one Jew to another. I wouldn't advise that he leave the Air Force before the end of the war. The participation of men from America, Canada, and other countries in our war has value not only in terms of additional manpower - but [also] in the display of solidarity with the Jewish people. Their departure before the end of the war is a moral defeat, for them, for American Jewry, for us. There isn't sufficient reason for this. There are misunderstandings that are almost inevitable in a meeting between two different worlds - American Jewish youth and Eretz-Israeli youth - but their severity should not be overblown. In the army there must be discipline, one or another soldier might not like the commander, but he must obey. Otherwise there's no army. Without knowing all the details, it seems that mistakes were made. Presenting an ultimatum in the army is forbidden. It's possible that we didn't adequately take care of GAHAL - and what's wrong needs to be rectified to the extent possible. Our men here appreciate the activity of the men from America. And I proposed that all the "papers" that encumbered the relations - the ultimatum, the notices of renunciation of the ultimatum, Schwimmer's resignation - be regarded as not having existed (be taken back) and we'll discuss the substance of the matter, on the condition that Al Schwimmer and his friends recognize two basic principles: 1) they don't leave the Air Force before the end of the war, 2) discipline is imperative in the army. Then I'm willing to examine the various claims and find a way to resolve them to the extent possible.
Al Schwimmer agreed to this.
- I discussed the situation in the Galilee with Ya'akov [Dori] and Moshe Carmel. Moshe said that for military reasons he had to impose a blockade along the border and expel the villages located south of the border zone: Kafr Bir'im, Nabi Rubin, Tarbikha, Iqrit. He wants to demand that the Druze turn over their weapons and to give a number of people a license for a weapon. He's willing to freeze the situation - not to expel any more, and not to allow [any] to return. I told him not to demand the weapons from the Druze. They won't turn them over and it will be necessary to use force, and this is undesirable. Friendship with the Druze and all the other minorities in the Arab world is good for us. It's only necessary to inform them that possessing an unlicensed weapon is prohibited, and that anyone who approaches the government - will receive a license for a weapon. As to the Christians in Kafr Bir'im and other villages, he should announce that we'll willingly discuss their return, just as soon as the borderline is safeguarded. And that I agree with the approach of a freeze [as Moshe Carmel proposes] - and not another person will be expelled from his place.
According to him, previously in the [part of the Lower] Galilee that we conquered during the "Ten Days" [Operation Dekel] there were about 50,000 people (32,000 of them in Nazareth), [and] now about 20,000 have been added.
According to the Personnel Department, between October 14, 1948, and November 9, 1948, [there were the following] casualties: Front A [-] 39 killed, 149 wounded, 14 missing, total 202 (1st Brigade - 11 wounded, 2nd Brigade - 27 killed, 61 wounded, 5 missing, 7th Brigade - 1 killed, 27 wounded; 9th Br. - 8 killed, 47 wounded, 9 missing, Valley District 2 wounded, Haifa District 1 wounded, Druze Unit 3 killed[)].
Front D - 133 killed, 482 wounded, 39 missing, total 654. (Of the Staff, 1 killed, 2 wounded, 5th Brigade - 88 killed, 257 wounded, 8 missing, 11th Brigade [-] 18 killed, 92 wounded, 12th Br. - 20 killed, 124 wounded, 31 missing, Shfela [Central Plain] District - 3 killed, 5 wounded, Negev District - 3 killed, 2 wounded, among the corps 12 killed, 18 wounded (Artillery Corps 5 killed, 12 wounded, Air Force 6 killed, 3 missing, Engineering Corps 1 killed, 6 wounded).
8th Brigade - 8 killed, 46 wounded.
In all, over this time [from the start of Operation Yoav until the capture of the Iraq- Suweidan police station] - 192 killed, 695 wounded, 56 missing, total 943.