28 Cf. Begin, The Revolt, p. 451 ff.
CHAPTER 6
1 For the planning that took place see Z. Ostfeld, Tsava Nolad: Shlavim Ikariyim Bi-bniyat Ha-tsva Be-hanhagato shel Ben Gurion [An Army Is Born: Main Stages in the Buildup of the Army Under the Leadership of Ben Gurion] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1993), vol. 1, pp. 5-14.
2 D. Ben Gurion, Yoman [Diary], unpublished, Ben Gurion Archive, Sdeh Boker, entry for May 4, 1947. Like other intelligence data these seem to have been far from accurate, and different figures—mostly lower ones—can be found at other places in the diary.
3 A. Ilan, The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Arms Race (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p. 67, table 2.
4 The 1948 figures were: Yishuv: 0.65 million; Egypt: 19 million; Iraq: 4.8 million; Syria: 2.9 million; Lebanon: 1.1 million; Jordan: 1 million; total Arab: 28.8 million. Figures from M. Brecher, The Foreign Policy System of Israel (New York: Yale University Press, 1972), p. 68.
5 Ilan, The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Arms Race, table 3.
6 Y. Beer, Be-maagal Beayot Bitachon [In the Circle of Security Problems] (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1957), pp. 166-167. Roughly similar figures are given by Ilan, The Origins, tables on p. 67.
7 Figure from M. Merdor, “Ha-rechesh Ba-shanim 1947-1948,” in Ministry of Defense, ed., Tsva Ha-medina Ba-derech [Army on the Way to the State] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1988), p. 206.
8 Figures from ibid., tables 5 and 6, pp. 212-213.
9 Cf. tables 2 and 9 in ibid., pp. 209, 216; also Ilan, The Origins, p. 67.
10 The best account of the origins of the IAF is B. Cull and others, Spitfires over Israel (London: Grub Street, 1994), which also contains plenty of information on the Arab air forces of the time.
11 Cf. his own account in On Eagle’s Wings (Tel Aviv: Steimatzky’s, 1979), chap. 2.
12 Manpower data in D. Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, 1948-1949 [War Diary, 1948-1949] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1982), entry for February 8, 1948, p. 220.
13 An English version of the agreement may be found in N. Lorch, The Edge of the Sword: Israel’s War of Independence, 1947-1949 (Toronto: Longmans, 1961), p. 239.
14 More details on this episode in M. Begin, The Revolt (New York: Dell, 1977), chap. 9; Ben Gurion’s account may be found in his Be-hilachem Yisrael [When Israel Went to War] (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1975 ed.), pp. 165-178. There is a book-length account in S. Nakdimon, Altalena (Jerusalem: Idanim, 1978).
15 Jenkins to Ambassador, British Embassy, December 30, 1947, Public Record Office (PRO), 371-68366-e458/11/65g.
16 Cf. Golda Meir, My Life (Jerusalem: Steimatzky, 1975), pp. 178-179.
17 Cf. S. Ali El-Edroos, The Hassemite Arab Army, 1909-1979 (Amman: The Publishing Committee, 1980), pp. 244-245.
18 M. Dayan, Avnei Derech [Memoirs] (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1976), pp. 58-61.
19 Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, vol. 2, p. 431, entry for May 16, 1948.
20 Lecture by Ariel Sharon, on the site, May 5, 1993.
21 N. Ben Yehuda, Ke-she-partsa Ha-medina [When the State Broke Out] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1991), p. 32 ff., provides a firsthand account of these events.
22 The battles for Latrun are analyzed at great length in S. Shamir, “Be-chol Mechir”—Li-yerushalayim; Ha-maaracha Be-latrun—Hachraa Be-derech 7 [“At Any Price”—to Jerusalem; Decision on Route Seven] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1994).
23 D. Almog, Ha-rechesh Be-artsot Ha-brit, 1945-1949 [Arms Acquisition in the U.S., 1945-1949] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1987), p. 73.
24 Cf. Lorch, The Edge of the Sword, p. 250 ff.
25 Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, entry for May 8, 1948, p. 401.
26 Ostfeld, Tsava Nolad, vol. 1, p. 561 ff.
27 For a list and explanation cf. E. N. Luttwak and D. Horowitz, The Israeli Army (London: Allen Lane, 1975), p. 45.
28 Cf. his own account in Avnei Derech, pp. 67-71.
29 This operation is analyzed in A. Yitschaki, Latrun: Ha-maaracha al Ha-derech Li-yerushalayim [Latrun: The Battle for the Road to Jerusalem] (Jerusalem: Kanah, 1982), pp. 417-430.
30 Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, entry for July 17, 1948, p. 597, has Ben Gurion’s message to Shealtiel.
31 There were five dead and sixteen wounded; IDF, Historical Department, Toldot Milchemet Ha-komemiyut [History of the War of Independence] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1959), p. 272.
32 Z. Gilad, ed., Sefer Ha-PALMACH [The Book of PALMACH] (Jerusalem: Jewish Agency, 1953), p. 460.
33 Y. Gelber, Lama Perku et Ha-PALMACH [Why Was PALMACH Dissolved?] (Jerusalem: Schocken, 1986), pp. 161-162.
34 Shamir, “Be-chol Mechir,” p. 80.
35 Y. Levi, Tisha Kavin: Yerushalayim Bi-kravot Milchemet Ha-atsmaut [Nine Measures: Jerusalem in the War of Independence] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1986), pp. 292-293; also U. Narkis, Chayal shel Yerushalayim [A Soldier for Jerusalem] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1991), p. 99.
36 Quoted in Ts. Dror, Matsbi Le-lo Srara: Sipur-Chayav shel Yitschak Sadeh (Commander Without Power: The Life of Yitschak Sadeh] (Tel Aviv: Ha-kibbuts Ha-meuchad, 1996), p. 345.
37 On the background to this decision see U. Bar Joseph, The Best of Enemies: Israel and Transjordan in the War of 1948 (London: Cass, 1987), p. 112 ff.
38 IDF, Toldot Milchemet Ha-atsmaut, pp. 298-299.
39 Cf. T. Ben Moshe, “Liddell Hart and the Israel Defence Forces,” Journal of Contemporary History 16 (1981): 369-391; B. Bond, Liddell Hart: A Study of His Military Thought (London: Cassell, 1977), p. 252.
40 Dror, Matsbi Le-lo Srara, p. 373; Y. Tal, “Yitschak Sadeh, Kavim Li-demuto Ke-ish Shiryon” [Yitschak Sadeh: Portrait of an Armor Man], Maarachot 224 (July 1972): 17-20.
41 Cf. C. Barnet, The Desert Generals (London: Kimber, 1963), p. 177 ff.
42 Cf. Sadeh’s own description in his Ketsad Nilkeda Ha-metsuda [How the Fort Was Captured], in Y. Sadeh, Ktavim [Writings] (Tel Aviv: Ha-kibbuts Ha-meuchad, 1980), vol. 3, pp. 114-129.
43 Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, December 31, 1948, vol. 3, pp. 314-318.
CHAPTER 7
1 E. Oren, “Ha-hityashvut Be-milchemet Ha-atsmaut” [The Settling Movement in the War of Independence], in G. Rivlin, ed., Ale-Zayit Ve-cherev: Mekorot U-mechkarim Be-ginze Ha-hagana [Olive Leaves and Sword: Sources and Studies in the Hagana Archives] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1990), p. 151.
2 Office of the Chief of the General Staff Division, “Arab Artillery in the War of Independence,” November 16, 1949, TSAHAL Archive, file 64/137/1953.
3 A. Ilan, The Origins of the Arab-Israeli Arms Race (New York: New York University Press, 1996), p. 67.
4 Office of the Chief of the General Staff Division, “Arab Artillery in the War of Independence,” November 16, 1949, TSAHAL Archive, file 64/137/1953.
5 A. Shatkai, “Solele Ha-atsmaut Ba-avir” [Pioneers of Air Independence], Chel-Ha-avir no. 44 (1955).
6 Ariel Sharon, lecture, May 5, 1993.
7 D. Ben Gurion, Yoman Ha-milchama, 1948-1949 [War Diary, 1948-1949] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1982), vol. 3, p. 755, entry for October 18, 1948.
8 Cf. O. Azoulay-Katz, Ha-ish She-lo Yada Le-natseach: Shimon Peres Be-malkodet Sysipus [The Man Who Did Not Know How to Win: Shimon Peres in the Sysipus Catch] (Tel Aviv: Yediot Acharonot, 1996).
9 A. Lieblich, Kibbuts Makom: Report from an Israeli Kibbuts (New York: Pantheon, 1981), pp. 34-39; also U. Ben Eliezer, Derech Ha-kavenet: Hivatsruto shel Ha-militarizm Ha-yisraeli, 1936-1956 [Through the Gunsight: The Emergence of Israeli Militarism, 1936-1956] (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1995), p. 73.
10 A. Koestler, Thieves in the Night: Chronicle of an Experiment (New York: MacMillan, 1946), pp. 152, 153.
11 Y. Tabenkin, “Bet Ha-sefer Ve-ha-milchama” [School and the War], Devarim 3 (1942): 105.
12 These and subsequent figures and calculations from E. Sivan, Dor TASHACH: Mitos, Dyokan Ve-zikaron [The Generation of 1948: Myth, a Portrait, and Memory] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1991), p. 21 ff.
13 Cf. M. van Creveld, Fighting
Power: German and U.S. Army Performance, 1939-1945 (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1982), pp. 155-159.
14 A. Yitschaki, Latrun: Ha-maaracha al Ha-derech Li-yerushalayim [Latrun: The Battle for the Road to Jerusalem] (Jerusalem: Kanah, 1982), pp. 564-571.
15 M. Azaryahu, “War Memorials and the Commemoration of the Israeli War of Independence,” Studies in Zionism 13:1 (Spring 1992): 64.
PART II
1 Cf. U. Bialer, Between East and West: Israel’s Foreign Policy Orientation, 1948-1956 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), particularly chap. 10.
2 During the period of the British mandate the Palestinian pound was worth a British pound sterling but carried different marks. When Israel became independent the British simply declared that a Palestinian pound could no longer be exchanged for a British one, with the result that the currency holdings were wiped out.
3 Cf. M. van Creveld, Nuclear Weapons and the Future of Conflict (New York: Free Press, 1993), chap. 2.
CHAPTER 8
1 For Jordan and Syria see A. Shlaim, Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988); and, in response, I. Rabinovitsh, Ha-shalom She-chamak [The Elusive Peace] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1991). For Egypt see M. B. Oren, Origins of the Second Arab-Israel War (London: Cass, 1992), chap. 5.
2 D. Ben Gurion, Yichud Ve-yeud: Devarim al Bitchon Yisrael [A Unique Destiny: Notes on Israeli Defense] (Tel Aviv: Maarachot, 1971), p. 145.
3 E.g., M. K. M. Begin, June 15, 1949, Divrei Ha-knesset [Parliamentary Record] (Jerusalem: Government Printer, 1950), vol. 1, p. 728; M. K. Ch. Landau, November 30, 1953, ibid., vol. 4, p. 279.
4 Allon to Ben Gurion, March 24, 1949, quoted in Z. Tsur, Mi-pulmus Ha-chaluka ad Letochnit Allon [From the Debate About Partition to the Allon Plan] (Efal: Yad Tabenkin, 1982), p. 73.
5 See Dayan quotations in Morris, Milchamot Ha-gvul shel Yisrael (Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 1996), pp. 27-28.
6 There are several such plans in TSAHAL Archive, file 13/636/1956.
7 See A. Levite, Offense and Defense in Israeli Military Doctrine (Boulder: Westview Press, 1989), chap. 2.
8 Cf. R. Garthoff, Soviet Military Doctrine (Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1953), pp. 34-35. The factors were the stability of the home front, the morale of the army, its size, the quality of the weapons, and the organizing skills of the General Staff.
9 Y. Yadin, “Avot Ha-lekach” [The Fathers of All Lessons], Maarachot 16 (July 1950): i-ii. See also Yadin’s recapitulation of his ideas in “Ba-yamim Ha-hem U-ba-zman Hazeh” [In Those Days and Now] Maarachot 33 (May 1959): 37-42.
10 The best short exposition of the early years of Israeli defense planning remains M. Handel, Israel’s Political-Military Doctrine (Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, Occasional Papers in International Affairs, No. 30, 1973), chaps. 2 and 3.
11 E.g., Y. Tal, “Torat Ha-bitachon—Reka Ve-dinamika” [Defense Doctrine—Background and Dynamics] Maarachot 253 (December 1976): 2-9.
12 J. Luvaas, Frederick the Great on the Art of War (New York: Free Press, 1966), p. 21 ff.; cf. also Gerhard von Scharnhorst: “Prussia cannot wage a defensive war ... her geographic position and lack of natural and artificial defensive means do not permit it.” Quoted in P. Paret, Clausewitz and the State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1985), p. 111.
13 This entire question is discussed in E. Oren, “Ha-hityashvut Be-milchemet Ha-atsmaut” [The Settling Movement in the War of Independence], in G. Rivlin, ed., Ale-Zayit Ve-cherev: Mekorot U-mechkarim Be-ginze Ha-hagana [Olive Leaves and Sword: Sources and Studies in the Hagana Archives] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1990), pp. 145-153.
14 Ben Gurion, Yoman (unpublished diary), Ben Gurion Archive, September 30, 1949.
15 Chuke Medinat Yisrael [Laws of the State of Israel] (Jerusalem: Government Printer, 1975-1976), vol. 30, pp. 150-151. An English translation of the most important parts of this law may be found in Y. Ben Meir, Civil-Military Relations in Israel (New York: Columbia University Press, 1996), p. 35.
16 Cf. the discussion in Ben Meir, Civil-Military Relations in Israel, chap. 3.
17 Eyewitness account in Vaadat Ha-chakira—Milechement Yom Hakippurim [Commission of Investigation—the Yom Kippur War, henceforward Agranat Report] (Jerusalem: Government Printing Office, 1975), pp. 27-28.
18 E. Haber, Ha-yom Tifrots Milchama [Today War Will Break Out] (Tel Aviv: Idanim, 1987), pp. 16, 28.
19 Ben Meir, Civil-Military Relations in Israel, p. 159.
20 Y. Greenberg, “Misrad Ha-bitachon Ve-ha-mateh Ha-klali: Ha-pulmus Bi-sheelat Taktsiv Ha-bitachon” [The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff: The Debate over the Defense Budget], Medina, Memshal Ve-yachasim Ben-leumiyim 38 (Spring- Summer 1993): 58, 68.
21 A. Braun, Moshe Dayan Be-milchemt Yom Ha-kippurim [Moshe Dayan in the Yom Kippur War] (Tel Aviv: Idanim, 1993), p. 348.
22 For this entire subject see R. Gabizon and Ch. Shneidor, eds., Zechuyot Ha-adam Ve-ha-Ezrach Be-yisrael, Mikraah [Human Rights and Civil Liberties in Israel—a Reader] (Jerusalem: Agudah Li-zechuyot Ha-ezrach, 1991), vol. 2, pp. 37-85.
23 A good explanation of the working of Vaadat Ha-orchim is provided by M. Hofnung, Yisrael—Drishot Ha-bitachon mul Shilton Ha-chok [Israel—the Demands of Security Versus the Rule of Law], Ph.D. thesis, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1989, p. 128 ff.
24 M. Zak, Hussein Osse Shalom [Hussein Makes Peace] (Ramat Gan: Bar Illan University Press), pp. 127-128.
25 On this entire question see Ben Meir, Civil-Military Relations in Israel, p. 81 ff.
26 Levite, Offense and Defense in Israeli Military Doctrine, p. 51.
27 Cf. M. van Creveld, Air Power and Maneuver Warfare (Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.: Air University Press, 1994), chap. 1.
28 Y. Steigman, Me-atsmaut Le-kadesh, Chel Ha-avir Ba-shanim, 1949-1956 [The IAF from the War of Independence to Suez, 1949-1956] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1990), pp. 29, 96.
29 Cf. Ezer Weizman, On Eagle’s Wings (Tel Aviv: Steimatzky’s, 1979), p. 100; also M. Naor, Laskov: Lochem, Adam, Chaver [Laskov: The Soldier, the Man, the Friend] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1988), p. 230 ff.
30 The infighting that went on in this context is documented in Steigman, Me-atsmaut Le-kadesh, chap. 3.
31 Y. Ratner, Chayai Ve-ani [My Life and I] (Tel Aviv: Schocken, 1978), p. 382.
32 Ben Gurion in the Knesset, August 15, 1949, Divre Ha-knesset [Knesset Record], August 15, 1949.
33 There is a good English-language discussion of the law in E. N. Luttwak and D. Horowitz, The Israeli Army (London: Allen Lane, 1975), app. 2, pp. 424-426. See also M. van Creveld, “Conscription Warfare: The Israeli Experience,” in R. G. Foerster, ed., Die Wehrplicht: Entstehung, Erscheinungsformen und politisch-militaerische Wirkung (Munich: Oldenburg, 1994), p. 227 ff.
34 On the most important tests see R. Gal, A Portrait of the Israeli Soldier (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1986), p. 76 ff.
35 Figures on strength in T. Segev, Ha-yisraelim Ha-rishonim [The First Israelis] (Jerusalem: Domino, 1984), p. 251.
36 On the kind of cohesion that develops inside Israeli reserve units see M. Bar On, “Ruach Ha-lechima Be-maarechet Kadesh” [Fighting Power During the Suez Campaign], Maarachot 140 (1962): 8; and, at much greater length, E. Ben Ari, “Mastering Soldiers: Conflict, Emotions, and the Enemy in an Israeli Military Unit,” unpublished study, the Harry S. Truam Institute, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1996, particularly chaps. 4-8.
37 E. Shor, ed., Derech Ha-mitla [By Way of the Mitla] (Ramat Gan: Massada, 1967), p. 78.
38 In 1991, e.g., Israel had 0.18 motor vehicles and 0.45 telephones per member of the population; the corresponding Arab figures were 0.02 and 0.25 (Egypt), 0.066 and 0.21 (Jordan), and 0.019 and 0.22 (Syria). Figures calculated from Britannica Book of the Year (Chicago: Encylopaedia Britannica, 1993), pp. 633, 600, 640, 724.
39 On the U.S. system for selecting officer-candidates as it originally developed see S. E. A
mbrose, Duty, Honor, Country: A History of West Point (Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1966), p. 18 ff.
40 For a detailed discussion of the way these things were and, to a large extent, still are being done see Gal, A Portrait of the Israeli Soldier, p. 115 ff.
41 In 1955, e.g., 500 out of 4,300 had not even achieved a high school diploma; of university studies there could be scarcely any question. Moshe Dayan, Avnei Derech (Tel Aviv: Dvir, 1976), p. 147.
42 Cf. S. Teveth, Moshe Dayan: The Soldier, the Man, the Legend (London: Quartet, 1972), pp. 257-258, for the origins of this system.
43 For a professional breakdown of retired officers as of 1966 cf. A. Perlmutter, Military and Politics in Israel (London: Cass, 1969), p. 76, table 8.
44 Y. Allon, The Making of Israel’s Army (London: Sphere Books, 1971), p. 256.
45 Cf. G. J. DeGroot, “Whose Finger on the Trigger? Mixed Anti-Aircraft Batteries and the Female Combat Taboo,” in War in History 4:4 (November 1997): 434-453; and A. Noggle, Dance with Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II (College Station: Texas University Press, 1994).
46 I. Jerby, Ha-mechir Ha-kaful: Maamad Ha-isha Ba-chevra Ha-yisraelit Ve-sherut Ha-nashim Be-TSAHAL [The Double Price: Women’s Status and Military Service in Israel] (Tel Aviv: Ramot, 1996), p. 66.
47 Ratner, Chayai Ve-ani, p. 259.
48 The most detailed figures are in PALMACH Hq., memo of February 1, 1948, PALMACH Archive, file H.109, No. 5; also D. Ben Gurion to H. Tsadok, April 26, 1948, Galili Archive, box 2, file C.
49 Cf. Allon lecture on the subject, 1945, quoted in A. Kadish, La-meshek Ve-la-neshek [To Farms and Arms] (Tel Aviv: Tag, 1995), p. 121.
50 Cf. the description of one such operation in U. Narkis, Chayal shel Yerushalayim [A Soldier for Jerusalem] (Tel Aviv: Ministry of Defense, 1991), p. 57 ff.
51 N. Ben Yehuda, Ke-she-partsa Ha-medina [When the State Broke Out] (Jerusalem: Keter, 1991), p. 1; Kadish, La-meshek Ve-la-neshek, p. 234.
The Sword And The Olive Page 51