יומנים > יומן - מלא 11/12/1947
[Thursday,] December 11, 1947
[The engineer Haim] Slavin: This week 2,000 [submachine guns] will be completed. This month 250,000 bullets; next month 300,000. Production of the three inch [81 mm mortar] is being resumed; 50 pieces are being prepared now for testing.
They started a new series of 5,000 Sten [submachine gun]s. This is a year-long plan. The two inchers [52 mm mortar bombs] turned out to be "sick": the tail expands because the zinc is impure. 60,000 Mills [fragmentation grenades] are being completed.
From America we'll receive 5 tons ballistite, from Italy 3½ tons ballistite (a million rifle bullets require 2 tons ballistite). In five months they'll be able to start manufacturing bullets. 3¼ tons of TNT are about to arrive from Italy. From America - 250 tons will arrive.
[Need to] check with [David] Baharal [Jewish Agency treasurer] how much [Gottlieb] Hammer [secretary of the finance committee in the US] sent. [$] 1¼ million was transferred. This includes a portion, unclear how much, for Hillel [Slavin], for purchases for manufacturing. In the meantime he requires P£ 30,000.
- Shlomo [Gur]: The chlorites factory will start operation at the end of December. In January, 3 tons will be produced, after that 4 tons per month. They might be able to produce TNT without nitric acid. This is still a secret. The molding of mines hasn't begun yet (the delay is with the Staff); and the same goes for bottles [Molotov cocktails]. Only the factory for teargas bombs is working. In Jerusalem they've already received products. At the end of January a series of 6,000 will be completed. The Contracting Office was producing mines during the war [world war]. Now they have all the necessary instruments and are capable of producing 3,000 mines per day.
Flamethrowers have already reached [a range of] 20 meters. There's raw material in the country. They want to reach [a range of] 30 meters. Tests of anti-tank (PIAT [Projector, Infantry, Anti-Tank weapon]) are underway at [Kibbutz] Dalia. The tests might be completed by the end of December. The [raw?] material is already in Tel Aviv. The chemistry people are going to be transferred to Tel Aviv for two weeks, to establish factories here.
- Uri Michaeli: No step has yet been taken on the matter of an airfield. An airfield requires a territory that's 750 meters long, 40 meters wide, one runway. Two - 80 meters. (That's 60 dunams).
- Ezra Danin and Josh Palmon: [The Arabs] in Jaffa proved that they're not ready, and that the Jews aren't aggressive. Arabs are fleeing from Jaffa, from Haifa. Bedouins are fleeing from the Sharon. They're mostly fleeing to family members. Those who came from the village are going back to the villages. Leaders are fleeing as well - to Nablus, Nazareth. They're mainly smuggling out their family members. The Bedouins are relocating to Arab areas. After the Haganah's warning [following the attack on Jews] they waited for a harsh response. When this didn't happen - they were slightly encouraged.
[According to him] all "our friends" told us that any response that delivers a strong blow, with many victims, to the Arabs - is welcome. Then Arab fear will increase, and help from outside won't be effective.
Isn't this provocation?
Because it's coming from various places [sources] - it shouldn't be seen as a conspiracy. Ezra accepts the "friends' opinion."
To what extent would a suspension of their transport harm to the Arabs? For the Fellahin [peasants], it wouldn't, but for city dwellers it would be a heavy blow. The Fellahin don't want to join the riots, unless they're dragged by force. A fierce response will reinforce the villagers' refusal to participate in the fighting. Josh is certain that they'll evacuate Haifa and Jaffa for lack of food. During the [1936-1939] Riots Jaffa was in a state of near starvation.
So far 1½ million crates of oranges have been sent - out of 12 million that the English bought.
What is the "decisive blow" that Ezra would like to deliver? Destruction of transport (buses, trucks that deliver [agricultural] produce, and private vehicles. Motor vehicles are a fundamental element of the Arab economy, because there are no donkeys, horses, etc.); instruments of the economy: the Jaffa port (sinking boats), closure of stores, severing contact with neighboring countries (closure of the Ras Al Naqoura [Rosh HaNikra], Metulla, Tsemah, and similar roads). Closure of the Arab factories by denying them raw material, cement. Such actions might prompt rioting initially, because there will be idlers, but after that it will pressure them. Although thefts will increase - the theft will be among Arabs.
Ezra does not accept Eliahu Sasson's assumption that the opposition [to the Arab leadership] has disappeared - it's there, waiting for the rage to pass. Its power as a fifth column [in the Arab camp] is there. The king [Abdallah] won't give in to the [Arab] League's pressure. [Arab Liberation Army Commander] Qawuqji wants to meet [with Jewish representatives]. The king wants him (Qawuqji) to be subordinate to them. I commented that Qawuqji's inclusion could turn the opposition into a consolidated force - perhaps against the Mufti, but also against us. Right now the opposition is weak, spineless. With Qawuqji they're a force, and possibly against us.
Ezra agrees regarding this concern.
Gasoline stockpiling has begun. During the [Arab] strike, gasoline [supply] was suspended for a day and a half. Gasoline reserves in the Jewish Yishuv are between 4,000 and 4,500 tons (a ton - 300 gallons). [Enough] for a month. When we have tanks [containers] - we'll be able to stockpile on the basis of the 1948 [quota]. The [transport] companies will assist with the stockpiling. The [Mobilization] Fund allocated P£ 10,000 for tanks [containers]. Loans of P£ 20,000 for tanks were also made available. [Anglo-Palestine Company (bank) director Aron] Barth offers credit for gasoline - P£ 3,000.
- 11:30. Reuven [Shiloah, from Jerusalem] telephoned: They spoke with the police deputy [superintendent] last night. He was surprised by [Lod district commissioner] Fuller's remarks regarding the neighborhoods [of Tel Aviv]. He advises seeing [Police Inspector General] Gray before speaking with Gurney. According to him [Tel Aviv Mayor] Rokach proposed that the British police remain in Tel Aviv.
- No answer yet from [Eliezer] Kaplan [in the US]. We received a long cable, which is being deciphered. Granovski [Granot] claims that he doesn't have cash - maybe tomorrow he'll make a transfer.
The Old City is under fierce attack. [We're] expecting attacks in the coming days, especially around Jerusalem. They say that Hasan Salameh was killed in Jaffa. The Mufti sent Kamel Erekat [commander of Fatwah, a youth organization loyal to the Mufti] for the youth.
The transport issue is okay for the moment.
- Shaul [Avigur]: There are two questions regarding procurement: [When he was] in Bulgaria he was asked who the Haganah is, and who its "central committee" is. This question was also asked in one of the channels in Czechoslovakia (the communist one). Both Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia demanded that someone with authority come to answer political questions.
Negotiations are also underway in France (Raanan [Weisman (sp.)], on behalf of Munya [Mardor]). Manufacturing is under communist control, in the hands of workers' committees. There the Communists are demanding a dividend for procurement (like the Bulgarians for ''aliya).
I said to suspend contacts with and dividends for shatfanim [communists] in France, Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia. To tell the truth: [The Haganah is] an inclusive Jewish organization whose authority derives from the Zionist Congress. Its leadership is composed of all the workers' parties, General Zionists, and Mizrachi.
Amos [Ben-Gurion, David Ben-Gurion's son]: A confidential letter was sent to [Shlomo] Rosenstein [a deputy superintendent of police], [saying] that a guard of 500 men will be established. Their weapons: a rifle, 100 bullets, a gun. They'll be under the command of the Tel Aviv police. They're not allowed to be stationed along the Jaffa boundaries (including [Shkhunat] HaTikva). Every policeman in Tel Aviv will have a rifle, 100 bullets. For every 10 policemen there will be one pistol. [The policemen] will be responsible for security along the Jaffa boundaries. If the guard ventures to Jaffa's northern boundary - it will be escorted by policemen. Amos B.G. was appointed liaison officer [on behalf of the Haganah] between the guard and the authorities. Kissilov [sp.] [Yaakov Av-Razi (sp.)] knows about this. Tonight at 11:59 p.m. the British police will leave Tel Aviv [and Gush Dan, i.e., metropolitan Tel Aviv].
Felix Rosenblüth [Pinchas Rosen told me]: Yosef Serlin, Zvi Herman, and [Shmuel] Zhukovitsky [sp.] came to see him [and proposed] establishing a new, democratic-"progressive" party in cooperation with [Israel] Rokach and [Yosef] Sapir. [They] don't care if HaOved HaTzioni and ''Aliya Hadasha Ovedet [Labor group (trade union) of ''Aliya Hadasha within the Histadrut] aren't in it.
Serlin opposes the inclusion of Yitzhak Gruenbaum. Zvi Herman announced that they won't sit with Rokach and Sapir. He demands that the initiative be in the hands of Gruenbaum, Rosenblüth, [Moshe] Kolodny [Kol], [Shmuel] Rappaport - genuinely progressive forces.
[Rabbi] Dr. Ya'akov Lifshitz [sp.] from Ahdut Ha'Am wants "something new." He says he has 50 people - a few new ones (Kornfeld [sp.] [Dagan], Lichtenstein [sp.] - owner of the factory Barzelit). His plan: to unite all the defense organizations [and] develop private and national enterprise under state supervision. According to information he's received, [Moshe] Sneh is about to join the left (HaShomer HaTza'ir). Within the General Zionists, there's a dispute between the left and the right - and disagreement over whether to unite with ''Aliya Hadasha. [Rabbi] Israel Goldstein advised Rosenblüth to join the General Zionists, but spoke against Rokach joining, as he opposes a unified Histadrut.
- I dined with Munya [Mardor], Yisrael [Galili], and Eliahu Sacharoff. 500 SMs [submachine guns], 170 German rifles, a quarter of a million 0.303 [bullets], 300,000 - 9 mm [bullets], 300,000 various types for small instruments [pistols], also a quantity of Bren [machine gun] cartridges and optic devices were sent from Italy. Aside from this they purchased: half a million small bullets ($37,000). 3½ tons TNT ($26,000), 3½ tons ballistite ($15,000), and more ($2,000), in total $29,000; containers, transport, etc. $60,000, a new order (ammunition) $100,000.
- [Werner] Senator passed by Yazur at 1:45. They found a truck and badly injured driver. Brought him to Tel Aviv. The Arabs tried to pelt them with stones.
Is the army present along the way?
Barely. Only in Ramle was there an army presence. An English policeman near Yazur told Senator that this happened because a Jew had fired on an Arab house and 3 Arabs were killed.
[Egyptian Chief Rabbi] Chaim Nahum telephoned [Yehuda Leib] Magnes - to examine the problem of Eretz Israel, and Magnes was asked to come to Egypt. Magnes refused. He received a letter on December 9 regarding peace.
I asked: Does this mean negotiations? We're prepared to talk to Egypt or others, officially or unofficially - as an equal party.
At 4 Defense Committee - during the meeting the following tragic news arrived: Yesterday [should be - today] 5 young men (military scouts) were killed in the Negev. On the road to Kefar Etsiyyon - today 8 notrim [British-appointed auxiliary police]. The government in London announces that the Mandate will be terminated only on May 15, and it insists that until then no commission [of the UN, to oversee the transfer of government] arrive here.
- Yitzhak Chechick returned. Left New York two days ago. [Eliezer] Kaplan, under pressure from [Henry] Montor and Silver, insists that the Haganah fundraising campaign be stopped. Up to the time of his departure, two million had been raised. Interest is increasing. Many non-Zionists are prepared to donate to defense. Silver and [Emanuel] Neumann [of the General Zionists] view the American Friends of the Haganah as a leftist arrangement.
Moshe [Sharett] traveled to [meet with] [General John] Hilldring to get an OK for the ([US Army] reserves) experts' trip. The reports that came from the country are disappointing - there's someone who wants to besmirch the Haganah. He [John D.] Rockefeller Jr. returned from the Near East and is propagandizing against Partition and against the Yishuv. [They're] demanding news from Palcor [Palestine Correspondence, the Jewish Agency's news agency] - not from Jerusalem but from the site of the incident (Tel Aviv!).
- In the evening: Ya'akov [Dori] and Yisrael [Galili]: I demanded that strong reinforcement be sent to Kefar Etsiyyon (150 men). Reinforcement to the Negev and a mature [senior or experienced] commander - such as Eliahu Cohen [Ben-Hur]. We decided on a series of actions.
Reuven [Shiloah] reported on a meeting with Tolson [of the police] regarding withdrawal [by the British police from the Tel Aviv area]: they'll also pull out of the neighborhoods [of Tel Aviv], but the [people's] guard won't be positioned along the borders. There's disagreement over the armament of the guard: SMs [submachine guns] or not?