יומנים > יומן - מלא 15/07/1948

Thursday, July 15, 1948

We entered Malha [southwest of Jerusalem]. The Arabs in the area are fleeing. In the south we reconquered Beit ''Affa and Hatta and captured a lot of loot, including cannons. As we decided yesterday, 130 from the Transport [Corps], 32 from "the Hill" [the General Staff in Ramat Gan], 106 from the Navy, 203 from the intake headquarters, 12 squad commanders, 5 platoon commanders, in total 488, headed south. Today Moshe Dayan's battalion will set out - about 250 men.

         The Arab Legion telegraphs that about 30,000 refugees are proceeding along the road from Lod and Ramle, with bitterness towards the Legion. They're demanding bread. They need to be transferred to Transjordan. In Transjordan there are demonstrations against the government.

         In Tel Aviv 1,500 garrison [troops] have been conscripted; these will enter Lod and Ramle. According to Moshe Zadok, the Givati battalions are full and congested. News about casualties are exaggerated. The lightly wounded are returning to work on the following day.

         - The nasty issue of incidents of plunder and rape in captured cities has arisen. Zvi Ayalon spoke yesterday with Yitzhak Rabin. He gave an order to a Palmach battalion (that of Mulah? [Yiftah] - of [Moshe] Kelman [the 3rd Battalion]) to leave the city by the day before yesterday. It's not clear whether they left, but soldiers from all the battalions have been plundering and stealing. An instructor from the 5th Battalion (of the Palmach) instructed them (the training personnel!) to go the Ramle and plunder.

         - A military law is needed. They suggest summoning [Adv. Aharon] Hoter-Yishai to formulate a military law along with [Adv. Avraham] Gorali and [(Major-General Monty] Green (who is already at home [?]). They suggest Zelig [Avner Zelikovich] - to establish control over the conquered area and to have at his disposal a special police force with authority to shoot [property plunderers]. I summoned Zelig. I offered him this role - he asked for 24 hours to respond.

         - Reuven [Shiloah] raises, with concern, the question of Nazareth, and the Old City [in Jerusalem]. [We] need to ensure that a Jewish force will not enter there, and to give such instructions to Etsiyyoni.

         - Yohanan [Ratner] reports that the Engineering Corps in Jerusalem has built airfields, cemeteries, fortifications, and as of July 1 spent P£ 233,000. It was only authorized 180,000, a deficit of 53,000. During July they'll have to expend another 80,000 approximately. I referred him to Shkolnik [Eshkol] and the Budget Committee.

         - Yosef Yizraeli: Instructions need to be issued to the delegation [under Yosef Yaakovson] that is heading to America, not to grant press interviews.

         [We] need an apparatus [career personnel] committee to set salaries for ministry employees. He proposes [Abraham] Zabrasky, [Baruch] Rabinov, and Yizraeli. I agreed to this proposal. Lawsuits against the army [for damages] are coming in from civilians - such as the Mines [House] Hotel on Mount Canaan, where the soldiers [who were staying there] destroyed furniture; he proposes establishing a lawsuits committees. I feel this would increase the lawsuits. I referred him to [Eliezer] Kaplan.

         He asks: Who does Isser Halperin [Harel] report to for SHAI [Sherut Yediot, Information Service, i.e., intelligence] work?

         To Reuven [Shiloah] and me.

         He requests that Isser Ben-Zvi be appointed director of the Youth and Physical Culture Department.

         - Moshe Dayan came. There were 400 men in his battalion [the 89th Battalion]. Only 250 of them fighters (the rest in services). He entered Lod (Monday? [July 11]) with 150 fighters. At the time he had 8 jeeps, 6 half-tracks, 1 armored car with a 2 pound cannon ["The Terrible Tiger"] that he captured two hours earlier from the Arabs in Beit Nabala [actually - near Deir Tarif]. There were no LEHI men with him for this "incursion" [invasion]. They fought well in Beit Nabala [actually - east of Dir Tarif]. Our losses in Lod numbered 4 killed, 12 wounded. In total he had 11 killed, 65 wounded (from clashes in Qula, Tira, Beit Nabala, Lod). This evening he's heading south with 120 fighters, aside from service personnel.

         - A delegation of foreign photographers came to see me. While there have been changes regarding journalists, photographers are still subject to restrictions and they presented a few demands. I said that I must consult with [Moshe] Pearlman [head of the press liaison units] and Yigael [Yadin].

         - I summoned Ziama [Aran]. [Yosef] Karkovy [head of cultural services] is, in fact, refusing to cooperate with him. He's thinking of traveling abroad if he doesn't get a job. [Eliahu] Dobkin is offering him the job of coordinating emissaries' work in Europe. I said that I haven't yet accepted Karkovy's refusal and I'll speak with him. We're approaching a truce - and the work of education in the army is becoming even more essential.

         - Y. [Yehezkel] Sacharoff [Sahar, police commissioner] came. He approached Ephraim Krasner [Dekel] - and he too is refusing to go to the police in Jerusalem. He's asking that Levi Avrahami or Ephraim Krasner be given orders.

         So far he has 1,700 policemen. Of these 400 are in Jerusalem. Some of them are not good material. They include men who dodged military service. They include bribe-takers. He will gradually cleanse them.

         - Zalman [Rubashov - Shazar] and Pinhas [Lavon] came to see me on behalf of a committee that also includes [Yehiel] Duvdevani, [Aryeh] Bahir, [and] [Zeev] Isserzon [On] for the purpose of deciding on a State Council chairman. They, of course, propose [Yosef] Sprinzak. I told them that from a state perspective it's not justified, but I understand their reasons and don't want to object.

         - [Adv. Avraham] Gorali: 60-80 ETZEL men, including deserters, have assembled in Shuni [a camp near Binyamina] and are having weapons training. He asks whether to instruct the prosecutor general to lock them up.

         They'll lock him up [if he comes to them]. These people need to be disarmed by force!

         He brought me proposed laws regarding arrest and treason, I gave him a few comments, and he will amend the proposals accordingly.

         Zvi Ayalon suggests that he and Gorali be given provisional judicial authority, until a new military law is issued.

         -  Yeshurun [Schiff] and Levitze [Yitzhak Levi] came from Jerusalem to request two companies to conquer the Old City. Moshe Dayan would be suited for this - but, I believe, he's heading south at this time (18).

         The Arabs, both the Legion and the Egyptians, have not demonstrated much activity yet. They're shelling the city, especially at night, no less powerfully than before the truce. Our Artillery Corps forced them to move back a little. Yesterday we struck an ammunition depot for a cannon position of the Legion's in Sheikh Jarrah. The Legion brought a 6-pound cannon up to David's Citadel. We silenced it with a [heavy] machine [gun] of ours. Two nights ago we captured Malha - which was nearly empty.

         There are about 500 fighters in the Old City. The residents are fleeing the shelling. They don't have water or supplies.

         - I sent instructions to Moshe Carmel and David Shaltiel to take severe measures against plunder in the event that Nazareth and the Old City are conquered.

         - [Yitzhak] Gruenbaum came to see me, with new proposals from ETZEL: No negotiations on Jerusalem, because "a new ETZEL main headquarters has been established in Jerusalem and it's authorized to decide on ETZEL's status in Jerusalem." Its members will join the army "only because there's a direct threat of renewed enemy attacks." "The transfer" of men to the army will take place on the condition "that fair treatment, without any discrimination against our men in the army, be guaranteed; that all our detainees be released without delay; that during the period of transition our certifications be honored; that no harm come to our men or our property; that the property seized be returned to us; that all the debts owed by the provisional government to us be paid; that we be granted an adequate amount of certificates of release from conscription - that is, up to 150, for Herut movement activists - and that no obstacles be posed to the operation of the movement's institutions."

         Gruenbaum supports these proposals, and is certain that he'll reach an agreement in Jerusalem. I said: I'm only interested in the question of Jerusalem and non-interference in the war. Until I know the situation in Jerusalem - I have no interest in these negotiations.

         - From eight onwards Government Council [should be - State Council].