THE ORIGIN OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI ARMS RACE

Transcription

1 THE ORIGIN OF THE ARAB-ISRAELI ARMS RACE

2 Also by Amitzur /lan * BERNADOTTE IN PALESTINE, 1948 AMERICA, BRITAIN AND PALESTINE * Also published by Macmillan

3 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 MACMILLAN association with St Antony's College, Oxford

4 Amitzur Han 1996 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 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 DOI / A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN (ebook) OJ I

5 To Shlomit

6 Contents List of Tables Preface Main Sources and Abbreviations viii ix 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 The United States, the War in Palestine and the Embargo, Britain's Middle Eastern Policies and Military Aid, Assistance from the Soviet Bloc to the Warring Parties in Palestine Other Arms Sources to Palestine in the 1948 War The Value and Effect of the UN Supervision of the Embargo Conclusion 218 Notes 245 Bibliography 275 Index 281 vii

7 List of Tables Age groups of Jewish immigrants to Palestine, by per cent 61 2 Formal Order of Battle in the Palestine front at the end of May Formal Order of Battle in the Palestine front in mid October 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) Ammunition committed and not sent to the Iraqi army in 1948 (selected items) Israeli acquisition from British sources Czech military assistance to Israel in Peace and quantities of Czech small arms and medium arms supplied to Israel Israeli arms acquisition in Western Europe, Australia and South Africa The number of UN personnel and major equipment at the disposal of the observers corps at selected times The establishment of permanent observer posts in seaand airports - chronological order Major sorts of ammunition in the Iraqi Army, July The strength of the Israeli Air Force, mid-october The build-up of improvised Foray units in the IDF The growing military strength of Israel: implements of war in the use of the IDF, April 1948-July viii

8 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 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

9 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. Jerusalem A. I.

10 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

11 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

12 Main Sources and Abbreviations xiii SY UJA UNTSO WAA Security Division, USA Department of State United Jewish Appeal, USA United States Truce Supervision Operations (force) War Assets Administration (USA)