יומנים > יומן - מלא 13/04/1948

April 13, 1948 10:30 a.m.-our airplane [which overflew the Nahshon convoy] reported that the convoy reached Jerusalem: 165 trucks (800 tons of food) apart from escort vehicles and gear. The convoy was ten kilometers long. I sent congratulations to the Nahshon people. It is hoped that a second convoy will set out tomorrow. - Danny [Zeev Schind] has left for Paris and Geneva-through him I approached Shaul [Avigur] again concerning heavy pieces and reportage, and I saw to Yehuda [Arazi's] work. - They're pressing to evacuate the airfield at Lod [of Jews]-the English bureaucracy is flooding the airfield with Arabs-from Eretz-Israel and elsewhere, and the Jewish workers' lives are at risk. In the opinion of the [General] Staff, there are two options: sending 2-3 companies to capture the field, or evacuate it. The airfield would then become an Arab hub. For this reason, I'm not inclined to evacuate, but the possibility of sending a force of ours (assuming we have such a force now) is contingent on the possibility of a British response. Will they send a military force against us or not? If they do-we won't be able to withstand them and we'll go away embarrassed. If they can't send [a force]-it may be worth our while to make a great effort after we look into it and find that it's possible. - Cable from Hammer, dated the 10th of this month: paid 452 thousand and an additional 350 thousand dollars on account of a 1.2 million loan at the beginning of March; 1.7 million more is due from KKL (from Sonneborn?). Received 1 million after January and another 670 thousand from October 1. He gave eight million to Yehuda and paid 918,000 to Hillel, 38 thousand to Ephraim. - Gershon Zack and Zvi L. [Ayalon]: I approved the structure of the naval staff and requested a detailed list of marine vessels in the hands of the Jews in Eretz[-Israel] (how many can be armored and how much it will cost) and whether there's a plan to defend immigrant vessels against Egyptian attack at sea?