יומנים > יומן - מלא 14/05/1948

At four o’clock in the afternoon, Jewish independence was announced and the state officially came into being. Our fate is in the hands of the defense forces. Immediately after the declaration ceremony, I returned to Headquar¬ters and reviewed the worsening situation. Disturbing news about Arab Legion armored columns and enemy concentrations at Mafrak and in Syria. Also in the Lod area. On the other hand, our forces have reached outlying settlements in the Western Galilee. Achziv and Batza have fallen, so has the police school in Jerusalem and other strategic points in the capital. We decided to “requisition” rifles from agricultural settlements for the new brigade and speed up the production of tank traps. Almost everyone on the General Staff is opposed to my plan of engag¬ing a larger force in a more determined effort to capture the areas around the Hulda-Sha’ar Hagai section of the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem Road. The argument is that our forces are inadequate and we don’t know the enemy’s plans. Without the explicit support of “The Thirteen” (I’m not used to saying Government yet), I do not want to override the entire General Staff, though I do feel they have forfeited, and are still passing up, the chance for a victory that could determine the fate of Jerusalem—perhaps even the entire war. In the evening there was also bad news from the Negev. Will Tel-Aviv be bombed tonight?