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?