THE ORIGIN OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI ARMS RACE

Also by Amitzur /lan

* BERNADOTTE IN PALESTINE, 1948 AMERICA, BRITAIN AND PALESTINE

* Also published by Macmillan

The Origin of the Arab-Israeli Arms Race Arms, Embargo, Military Power and Decision in the 1948 Palestine War

Amitzur Ilan Department of American Studies The Hebrew University, Jerusalem

-- in association with MACMILLAN St Antony's College, Oxford

© Amitzur Han 1996 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1996 978-0-333-63240-6

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WIP 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

First published 1996 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

This book is published in the St. Antony's! Macmillan series General Editor: Alex Pravda

ISBN 978-1-349-13698-8 ISBN 978-1-349-13696-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-13696-4

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

10 9 8 7 6 05 04 03 02 OJ

5 4 3 2 I 00 99 98 97 96

To Shlomit

Contents

List of Tables viii

Preface ix

Main Sources and Abbreviations x1

Introduction 1

1 The Security Council's Arms Embargo of May 1948 and its Precursors 15

2 The Warring Parties in Palestine at the End of May 1948 25

3 The United States, the War in Palestine and the Embargo, 1947-9 72

4 Britain's Middle Eastern Policies and Military Aid, 1948-9 109

5 Assistance from the Soviet Bloc to the Warring Parties in Palestine 145

6 Other Arms Sources to Palestine in the 1948 War 181

7 The Value and Effect of the UN Supervision of the Embargo 201

8 Conclusion 218

Notes 245

Bibliography 275

Index 281

vii

List of Tables

Age groups of Jewish immigrants to Palestine, 1928-47 by per cent 61

2 Formal Order of Battle in the Palestine front at the end of May 1948 67

3 Formal Order of Battle in the Palestine front in mid October 1948 67

4 Israeli illegal arms acquisition in the USA and Latin America in 1948, plan and execution 94

5 Supply of British equipment to Iraq in 1948, plan and implementation (selected items) 120

6 Ammunition committed and not sent to the Iraqi army in 1948 (selected items) 120

7 Israeli acquisition from British sources 136

8 Czech military assistance to Israel in 1948 173

9 Peace and quantities of Czech small arms and medium arms supplied to Israel 174

10 Israeli arms acquisition in Western Europe, Australia and South Africa 195

11 The number of UN personnel and major equipment at the disposal of the observers corps at selected times 206

12 The establishment of permanent observer posts in sea-and airports - chronological order 210

13 Major sorts of ammunition in the Iraqi Army, July 1948 228

14 The strength of the Israeli Air Force, mid-October 1948 241

15 The build-up of improvised Foray units in the IDF 243

16 The growing military strength of Israel: implements of war in the use of the IDF, April 1948-July 1949 244

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Preface

This book is a study in the interdiscipline of military logistical studies and international relations. It deals with the provision of military aid to the rival parties of the 1948-9 Palestine war.

The 1948 war brought about a revolutionary and durable change in the status and future of Palestine, which was to have a lasting effect on the future of the Middle East and the world at large. No wonder that so much has been written on it since. However, its historiography has suffered from a deep schism emanating, in the first place, from disagreement over the evaluation of the moral and political consequences of the war.

Supporters of Zionism regard the outcome of the war as a divine redemption of the Jewish people from the curse of dispersion and per­secution; supporters of the Arabs, on the other hand, view it as a co­lossal blow both to the Palestinian Arabs and to the Arab cause in general. This historiographical schism is partly due to the fact that, unlike most other conflicts of this century, the cleavage between Arab ism and Zionism today is almost the same as it was then, and partly due to the lack of sufficient documentary sources. Historians can hardly avoid taking sides, although many pretend that they do not. This schism is also manifest in a mutual suspicion between historians about the value of the sources used by those with whom they disagree. In consequence, various interpretations are given to the same events, to the point where there is not even agreement as to what had actually happened. As E. H. Carr pointed out with regard to another historical dispute, 'It is the argument over the priority of causes about which the historical argument revolves.'* My issue is not the consequences of war but its course. More particularly, it is about the moulding of the warring par­ties' military power, seen in relation to the crucial turning-points in the war where the outcome was decided. By arguing my case I hope at least to set up a more correct order of the priority of the causes which affected the course of the war.

This book originated from research carried out at my suggestion in the History Department of the Israeli Defence Forces between 1990

*E. H. Carr, What is History? (London, 1961) p. 90.

ix

X Preface

and 1993, which aimed, at the outset, to explore the impact of the arms embargo on the course of the war. It gradually gained a somewhat wider outlook. I am grateful for the hospitality and the assistance given to me by that Department, both financially and in access to documen­tary sources. I am grateful to General Doron Rubin and Colonel Benny Michelson who approved my project, and to Lt Cols Noah Hershkovitz, Elhanan Oren, Ze'ev Lachish and Zvi Offer, and to Major Avi Cohen, who were ready to listen to my ideas, read sections of the work while still in crude form and often helped me find a lost track. I am also grateful to the above Department for giving me the opportunity to test my ideas before a wider audience. While I did not always meet with full approval as to my conclusions, I never sustained any doctrinaire pressure in drawing them. It goes without saying that these conclusions, for good or bad, are mine and I alone bear the responsibility for them.

I am also grateful to colleagues in academia, particularly to Pro­fessors Yehoshua Ariely and Uri Bialer of the Hebrew University, to Dr Derek Hopwood of St Antony's College, Oxford, and tQ Professor Aharon Shai of Tel Aviv University, who were aware of and support­ive of my research and who inspired me with confidence. I acknowl­edge with thanks the help received from the staff of various Israeli Archives, particularly from Mr Mickey Kaufman, Mr Morris Kantor and Dr Yehoshua Freundlich and to the helpful staff of the British Public Record Office at Kew, London, the USA National Archives in Washington, DC, and Suitland, Maryland, and the UN Archives in New York City. I am grateful to Dr Ian Gaskin of St Antony's College for helping me establish contact with former British and Arab military personnel, and to the late Mrs Joy Ungerleider Mayerson, Director of the Dorot Foundation, New York.

Finally, I am grateful for the interest shown in my book by the Editorial Committee of the St Antony's College Series, by Mr T. M. Farmiloe of Macmillan and by Mr Simon Winder of StMartin's Press. I want to thank Ms Grainne Twomey, Commissioning Editor of Macmillan, for her cordial and efficient work with me. This book was originally written in Hebrew. I translated into English myself and I am much obliged to my wife, Shlomit, and to Mrs Valery Rose of Longworth, Oxford, for their help in this endeavour.

A. I. Jerusalem

Main Sources and Abbreviations

BRITISH ARCHIVES: PRO

ADM CAB co cos DEFE FO wo

Admiralty Office Cabinet Office Colonial Office Chiefs of Staff Committee Office of Defence Foreign Office War Office

USA ARCHIVES

FRUS HSTL SA USNA WNRC

Foreign Relations of the United States (a published series) Harry S. Truman Library, Independence, MO Papers of Abba H. Silver, Cleveland, OH US National Archives, Washington DC US National Archives, Suitland MD

ISRAELI ARCHIVES AND MAJOR SOURCES

BGD CZA DFPI HA IDFA ISA KMA SHA TRBA TRBS

David Ben Gurion's Diaries, IDFA Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem Documents of Israel's Foreign Policy (a published series) Haganah Archives, Tel Aviv Israeli Defence Army Archives Israel State Archives, Jerusalem Kibbutz Meuchad Archives, Ef' al The Roots of Israeli Air Force (a published series; in Hebrew) Telegrams Record Book, Avigur's Office, Geneva Telegrams Record Book, Sapir's Office, Geneva

xi

xii Main Sources and Abbreviations

ARAB SOURCES

ANBL IPI

Arab News Bulletin, London 'Taqrir Lajnat al-Tahqiq al-niyabiyah fi qadiyat philastin' (Iraqi Parliamentary Inquiry), 1949

UNITED NATIONS ARCHIVES AND MAJOR UN SOURCES

UNA UNGAOR UNSCOR UNWB NYT

United Nations Archives, New York, NY Records of the UN General Assembly Records of the UN Security Council UN Weekly Bulletin New York Times

A LIST OF OTHER ABBREVIATIONS COMMONLY USED

AA AFV AT AZEC BMEO CIA FBI FLC IDF LL LST MD MELF NSC OB OFLC PAC sc SinC

Anti-aircraft Armoured Fighting Vehicle Anti-tank (and Armour) American Zionist Emergency Council, New York British Middle East Office, Cairo USA Central Intelligence Agency USA Federal Bureau of Investigation USA Foreign Liquidation Commissioner (arms, etc.) Israeli Defence Forces Lend Lease (equipment) Landing Ship (Tanks) Munition Division, USA Department of State Middle East Land Forces Command, Britain National Security Council, USA Government Order of the Battle Office of Liquidation Commissioner (USA) Committee of Arms and Armament Policy (USA) Security Council Second in Command

SY UJA UNTSO WAA

Main Sources and Abbreviations

Security Division, USA Department of State United Jewish Appeal, USA United States Truce Supervision Operations (force) War Assets Administration (USA)

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