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.
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).
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.