Page 143 - big friday
P. 143
S ession of the executive committee
T he major meeting of the Zionist Executive Committee, held in Tel Aviv in early April,
1948, was pervaded by a somewhat ceremonial air, and was infused with dramatic tension
from beginning to end.
F irst of all, there was the timing. This was the "pre-state" period with signs of the state
already becoming apparent. The battles taking place on the various fronts were being
conducted openly, and echoes of the shots could be heard during the session. Outside,
young people were clearly seen to be carrying weapons; next to the building in which the
Executive Committee session took place, military policemen stood at attention, wearing
an "official" expression on their faces.
Secondly, there was the emergency situation in the country. Some members of the
Executive Committee, from the outlying areas and from Jerusalem, were unable to attend.
The agricultural pioneers were committed to protecting their areas. Yaakov Hazan, for
example, arrived – if I remember correctly – two days after the session began. His face was
as black as the sides of a pot, and his eyes were red from lack of sleep and from the smoke
of houses that had gone up in flames; he looked like a desolate refugee. In a voice choked
with weeping, Yaakov Hazan recounted before the gathering fragments of the heroic and
tortured story of Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, which had been attacked by Qawukji's army.
A Rapide plane was pressed into use as a sort of "sky train" to bring VIPs from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv: members of the Jewish Agency executive, the Zionist Executive Committee,
the Jewish National Council, and clerks who regarded their own participation in the
session as being of critical importance…
Each such flight was an odyssey: from Jerusalem, in armored cars and with an armed
escort, to Kalya, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea; and from there, by plane, to the
airport that had been set up near the Reading power station in Tel Aviv.
T he order of their arrival did not necessarily reflect their importance. Thus, Chairman of
the Jewish National Council, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and the body's treasurer, Eliyahu Berlin,
were among the last to arrive. "Why be pushy?" they apologized; "Some people said it was
more urgent for them to fly…". And Eliyahu Berlin, who even then was past his eightieth
birthday, added, "It's just a pity that I didn't bring a bathing suit with me. During the two
days that I spent in Kalya I could have swum in the Dead Sea…".
T he Egyptians afflicted us
O ne issue that amplified the tension of the Executive Committee session was the
unification of Hagana forces with the separatist organizations [Etzel (the Irgun) and Lehi].
The horror of Deir Yassin, which had just taken place, had shocked friend and foe alike,
and left a heavy cloud over the session. The debate stormed and raged, but Rabbi Meir
Before the Declaration 141
T he major meeting of the Zionist Executive Committee, held in Tel Aviv in early April,
1948, was pervaded by a somewhat ceremonial air, and was infused with dramatic tension
from beginning to end.
F irst of all, there was the timing. This was the "pre-state" period with signs of the state
already becoming apparent. The battles taking place on the various fronts were being
conducted openly, and echoes of the shots could be heard during the session. Outside,
young people were clearly seen to be carrying weapons; next to the building in which the
Executive Committee session took place, military policemen stood at attention, wearing
an "official" expression on their faces.
Secondly, there was the emergency situation in the country. Some members of the
Executive Committee, from the outlying areas and from Jerusalem, were unable to attend.
The agricultural pioneers were committed to protecting their areas. Yaakov Hazan, for
example, arrived – if I remember correctly – two days after the session began. His face was
as black as the sides of a pot, and his eyes were red from lack of sleep and from the smoke
of houses that had gone up in flames; he looked like a desolate refugee. In a voice choked
with weeping, Yaakov Hazan recounted before the gathering fragments of the heroic and
tortured story of Kibbutz Mishmar HaEmek, which had been attacked by Qawukji's army.
A Rapide plane was pressed into use as a sort of "sky train" to bring VIPs from Jerusalem
to Tel Aviv: members of the Jewish Agency executive, the Zionist Executive Committee,
the Jewish National Council, and clerks who regarded their own participation in the
session as being of critical importance…
Each such flight was an odyssey: from Jerusalem, in armored cars and with an armed
escort, to Kalya, on the northern shore of the Dead Sea; and from there, by plane, to the
airport that had been set up near the Reading power station in Tel Aviv.
T he order of their arrival did not necessarily reflect their importance. Thus, Chairman of
the Jewish National Council, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, and the body's treasurer, Eliyahu Berlin,
were among the last to arrive. "Why be pushy?" they apologized; "Some people said it was
more urgent for them to fly…". And Eliyahu Berlin, who even then was past his eightieth
birthday, added, "It's just a pity that I didn't bring a bathing suit with me. During the two
days that I spent in Kalya I could have swum in the Dead Sea…".
T he Egyptians afflicted us
O ne issue that amplified the tension of the Executive Committee session was the
unification of Hagana forces with the separatist organizations [Etzel (the Irgun) and Lehi].
The horror of Deir Yassin, which had just taken place, had shocked friend and foe alike,
and left a heavy cloud over the session. The debate stormed and raged, but Rabbi Meir
Before the Declaration 141
