יומנים > יומן - מלא 10/02/1949

[Thursday,] February 10, 1949

From May 14 to date, 52 new settlements have been established, 10 of which were previously Arab settlements, 145,643 have immigrants arrived (through the end of 1948 – 106,457, in January 23,586, in February 15,600 to date). 38 states have recognized us, 24 of them de jure, 14 de facto.

         – Josephtal and Gurion came to see me, regarding the housing shortage for immigrant soldiers who are being discharged and do not want (rightly!) to live in immigrant homes. I roared [?] / declared that I’d take care of this [?], and I instructed him immediately to clear out 200 rooms from the army offices in Jaffa and transfer them to Sarafand or Ramle, and continue to clear out up to 500 rooms in order to house discharged soldiers, and to do so “brutally.”

         [Eliezer] Walter from Naharayim, who returned from captivity, and Treinin [Avraham Tamir], Gush Etsiyyon commander, who was also taken captive, came to see me. He was wounded but he’s already returned to the army and was sworn in.

         – A delegation of university students regarding the continuation of their studies and employment after discharge. I promised to grant at least half-discharge, after I’m freed up from two weeks of urgent business, and I asked them to submit a proposal regarding their employment.

         – A Jew from Nairobi, who served in the English army, visited me. There are about 500 Jews in Nairobi, including landowners, mostly refugees from Germany. Some are prepared to come to the country.

         – [Moshe] Novomeysky returned. He greeted with emotion that I hadn’t suspected he was capable of, and with kisses. He wants to restart work [at the potash company in the northern Dead Sea area]. I told him that the government is interested in restarting the work and it’s necessary to have freedom of movement between the northern Dead Sea and Jerusalem, and this is in the hands of Abdallah or the English. I promised him workers for the southern Dead Sea. He told me that Robert Szold and his wife had departed by ship and would arrive in a few days.

         – In the afternoon, the final meeting of the State Council.

         – In the evening a meeting in Ramle with settler immigrants and delegates from moshavim [cooperative settlements].