יומנים > יומן - מלא 12/02/1948
Thursday, 12 February 1948
Ya'akov [Dori] and Eizik [Yehoshua Eshel] re the air fleet: We have 28 airplanes in the country (1 twin-engine, 20 Auster, 7 other small ones).
In America 40: 3 Constellation, 5 - C-46, 5 - BT-13 (bought), 10 - FGF, 10 - B-25, 5 - PVI, 2 - TBF (in the Hawaiian Islands, a gift).
In England 20 (3 Anson[s], 15 Tiger Moth[s], 1 Rapid, 1 Protector).
A. S. [the Haganah's Air Service, precursor to the air force] proposes buying three Dakotas in England (for 25-40 passengers, or 4-5 tons cargo) - will cost P£ 52,000. In America 10 Harvard - P£ 10,000, 36 Mustang (combat airplane) [fighter aircraft] 36,000.
According to Eizik, Czechoslovakia is offering 3 helicopters that will cost P£ 32,000. This is the most urgent matter in my opinion.
Bar-Kochba [Meirovitz] advises against having Aviron [Aviation Company] request an import license [for helicopters] because the winds are against it; instead [it should be] Magan David Adom, and Bar-Kochva is taking this task upon himself. They're suggesting that Hyman [Shechtman-Shamir] (a pilot) leave immediately for America (he has an American passport) to handle the purchases there and also to recruit pilots and technicians. [They suggest] bringing Tolkowsky's son [Dan] (a pilot and engineer) from London to Europe, and Eizik will go to Czechoslovakia and Italy to buy parts and pick up the purchases.
There's a large cave in Herzliya, where planes can be stored [to hide them from the authorities]. Eizik thinks we can [also] create a tunnel in Hadera, in the forest between Hadera and Gan Shmuel.
I approved Hyman's trip to buy helicopters, and sending people to Europe [for purchases], but I insisted that first Freddy [Fredkins] come and present a report. Instructions were issued for him to report immediately.
- [Moshe] Erem [Po'ali Zion Left] read me a letter from Georgie [an Arab agent from Jaffa]: There are four points [where fighters are gathering]: 1 - near the cemetery, not far from Bat Yam, 2 - in Abu Kabir, at the Arab metals factory, 3 - at the municipal council in Jaffa, 4 - in Neve Shalom (an Arab cooperative - Bus No. 2) and inside the Hassan Bek Mosque.
Erem visited Kefar Bilu and met with his friends from Kefar ''Akir. There's a dispute there: whether to attack or not. [Erem] suggests a commando of ten men who know Arabic, to be stationed at various locations in the country where Arabs still come. He calls for [publicly] clarifying the equal status of Arabs in the country. He suggests a department for Arabs, which would work with Haganah.
- Kolodny [Moshe Kol] came from Jerusalem. The [Jewish Agency] Executive discussed the composition of the government and inclusion of the Aguda [Agudas Israel] in the Situation Committee.
There's no place for the children [from the youth immigration program Aliyat HaNo'ar] who are about to arrive. As of now he's only arranged a place for the Ben-Shemen children. [Max] Schumacher is making an effort to clear out the camp at Kefar Vitkin. He suggests that part of the Netanya camp be given to the children on the condition that as soon as the Kefar Vitkin [camp] is free - they'll go there. I instructed Yisrael [Galili] to immediately appoint someone responsible and "Zionist" to address the question of the camps, and enable the reception of children as well!
- Mendel Abramowitz [sp.], 18 Nahalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv: according to him, he's the pioneer of radio in the country, is installing a television station, has an import license for instruments of this sort in the amount of $ 40,000. He offers his services for consultation, purchasing, and everything. His son works in our radio department.
- Spoke with Kozlowski [Sapir] about armoring. There's no steel, so they're armoring with tin.
Why is there no steel? - The order takes 4-5 months.
From where? From England and America.
Can't it be expedited? - In his view it can. We have influential figures. A ton of steel costs P£ 50 or $ 200.
Kozlowski asks whether to order 200 tons. I told him to order 500 tons in America.
As to vehicles and armoring: The "Organization" [Haganah], according to Kozlowski, needs 300 armored vehicles (? - in my opinion - at least 1,000). 30 have already been armored (of these 18 are in the Negev). By mid-March 150 will be armored. 50 vehicles are being fitted for use now. Armoring is handled by [the following companies]: Chatwood, Ha'argaz, Solel Boneh, Harash, Hamburger, Kedma - all in Tel Aviv. 400 workers are involved in this. In Haifa (Vulcan) and in settlements (Afikim, Ashdot[-Ya'akov], and others) they're armoring civilian vehicles.
They're about to buy 150 vehicles from the army (through private intermediaries). It's difficult - because the army's conditions are that 5,000 vehicles be bought at once. Each vehicle costs P£ 120-150. The intermediaries earn (according to them) P£ 30 for each vehicle (among the intermediaries - the son of Prof. Schwabe, Basiuk, Fein [sp.], Kornfeld [sp.], and others). These intermediaries also bought 160 armored vehicles from the police and the army - on the condition that they be dismantled and destroyed [before being turned over] but they believe they can remove [them] from the camp intact.
The vehicles ordered from America - 50 of them are already on board the ship.
There's some progress with partial armoring [of the cabins - the driver's portion of a truck]. Solel Boneh armored 40 vehicles in Tel Aviv and Haifa, workers' settlements armored about 100 vehicles, and another hundred are being armored. They're armoring with tin-wood-tin because there's no steel.
The fortifications work hasn't begun yet; they'll start tomorrow: I told him to include the Western Galilee in the fortifications plan.
- In the afternoon Grunya [Rosh [sp.], of Moetzet HaPo'alot (Working Women's Council)] raised the defense of Rahel [Yanait]'s Havat HaLimud [Training Farm] in Jerusalem. [The place] has 80 students aged 12-15, 5 teachers, 11 doing guard duty, aside from a permanent guard. There isn't enough equipment [weaponry]. The local commander says that they won't be able to hold on for more than 20 minutes. There's no barbed wire. Two days ago the farm came under fire. They're adjacent to the Arab college. Should the children stay?
- Brodnitz came back from Jerusalem, he got the rectifier. The [chlorates] institute will be established in Pardes Goldberg [near Ramat Gan]. I sent a letter to Shenkar [sp.] telling him to make the house available to us.
- On the 9th of the month [Eliahu] Dobkin reported to the Overseas Affairs Committee that there'd been an emergency fundraising campaign in a number of countries, and we've already received: P£ 350,000 in January, P£ 365,000 in early February, in total 715,000, as follows: from England 300,000, South Africa 250,000, Czechoslovakia 10,000, Argentina and Brazil $ 360,000 = P£ 90,000, Uruguay $ 100,000 = P£ 250,000, France Fr. 33 million = P£ 40,000; only the first two sums reached Jerusalem (England and South Africa). The rest is available to us in Paris and New York. P£ 75,000, collected in the above countries, has yet to be transferred to the Agency. A cable received from South Africa on February 10, 1948, (the day after the meeting) states that P£ 900,000 has already been raised, rather than 645,000, and thus the total sum has risen to P£ 1,715,000.
They're planning to launch the fundraising campaign in nine more countries: Australia, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Switzerland, and Colombia. $ 360,000 was sent from Argentina and Brazil to the Mossad [le-''Aliya Bet] (110,000 of this from Brazil). According to Mibashan [?] another 500,000 was raised. They want to raise another $2 million. So far $100,000 has been transferred from Uruguay; they want to reach $1.25 million, half for Keren HaYesod and half for defense. In Czechoslovakia 12 million Czech koruna was raised = P£ 80,000. So far they've only permitted P£ 10,000 to be transferred. In France they want to raise Fr. 100 million (P£ 125,000). They've raised a third. In Belgium they want to raise Fr. 10 million. In Australia the appeal will start on the 15th of this month in the amount of P£ 300,000, half for defense and half for Keren HaYesod. In Colombia they announced a million-dollar appeal for all the funds (a third for defense). In Sweden a joint appeal of 1 million Swedish krona. In Finland they'll announce an appeal of P£ 30,000. In Austria and Portugal they announced spontaneous appeals. In Switzerland they want to raise Swiss Fr. 1 million - for defense, the KKL, and Keren HaYesod - half for the two funds and half for defense.
- A Safed man, Yitzhak Geiger [sp.]: After describing Safed's physical circumstances and the characteristics of the Arabs in the city and surroundings, he demands: 1) a large supply of food and fuel for a few months, as long as there's transport to Safed; 2) sources of employment [so as to] stop [people from] leaving; 3) an increase in the number of Jewish policemen in Safed and Har Kena'an [Mount Canaan] (Safed has four Jewish policemen, 50-60 Arab [policeman], about 60 British); 4) a chain of fortifications around the Jewish Quarter and the Har Kena'an area; 5) concentration of defense forces in Safed - they need an estimated 500-600 men, aside from the [Palmach] strike forces at Har Kena'an, Birya, and ''Ein Zeitim, to capture the police building [on Har Kena'an].
- In the evening a meeting with a delegation of the United Jewish Appeal in America that arrived in the country this morning. They've already managed to visit the immigrant and training camp in Ra'anana. They'll be in the country for a week. Four non-Jewish correspondents are accompanying them.
- From ten to midnight [Mapai] Secretariat meeting. Grabovsky [Meir Argov] reported on the talks regarding the composition of the Government Council. Opinions were divided in the [Jewish Agency] Executive. [Yitzhak] Gruenbaum insists that the Council should be composed only from the coalition in the Executive and the General Council - that is, excluding the Aguda [Agudas Israel], Sephardim, and HaIhud HaEzrahi, as well as the Communists and Revisionists. The General Council decided unanimously that the Council should be composed of the Agency Executive (the Jerusalemite members) and the entire General Council Executive. Some suggest adding Aguda, HaIhud HaEzrahi, Communists, Revisionists, and Sephardim. The composition in the Jerusalem Executive: 5 of our members [Mapai], 3 General [Zionists], 3 Mizrachi; in the General Council Executive: 5 of our members, 3 Mapam, 1 ''Aliya Hadasha, 1 Mizrachi, 1 WIZO, 1 HaPo'el HaMizrachi, 1 Yemenite, 1 General [Zionist] - in total 14. Accordingly there will be 10 of our members, 5 Mizrachi, (and if [the representative of] ''Aliya Hadasha, WIZO, and the Yemenites are General Zionists) 7 General Zionists, 3 Mapam, in total 25. A majority from workers' parties. Mapam is opposed to the inclusion of Revisionists and Communists….
- I received the financial statement from Zabrasky for [the period] following January 21, 1948, (since the last financial statement was submitted), when there was 85,750 in the account; since then 652,500 has been pledged (by the Anglo-Palestine Bank - an Agency loan of 450,000, Kofer HaYishuv 40,000, United Jewish Appeal 20,000, from South Africa 50,000, from England 92,000), all together P£ 738,000. Expenditures: By B. Rabinov 545,000 (upkeep, vehicles and repairs, armoring, purchases - personal equipment, tents, sheds, etc.), by Kozlowski (Negev fortifications) 28,500, for the Situation Committee 30% [coverage] 19,500, for Ta'as and manufacturing (by Vilenchuk) 47,000, for Haim - Ta'as - 10,000, SHAI 12,000, Haifa Port defense 4,000, for various [recipients] (Shaul, Zaslani, Lubarsky, etc.) 1,750, in total P£ 667,750; balance on hand 70,500 (another 25,000 is due from Kofer HaYishuv).