Page 159 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

Agency's Spokesman and asked whether the press conference would be held as usual, despite what happened. They received an affirmative answer and upon their arrival, they discovered that two of the Agency's representatives, Spokesman Gershon Hirsh and the Head of the Public Relations Department Walter Eytan, had appeared bandaged as a result of fragments wounds. Hirsh was sent to the hospital immediately after the end of that press conference, since it turned out his injuries were more severe than initially thought.
Therefore, the National Institutions Building had bustled with activity, yet Jerusalemites in general and the building's employees in particular could not ignore the fact that a large share of its activities were taken from it. Most of the meetings of the Agency's Executive were held in Tel Aviv, and Ben-Gurion would only arrive at his Jerusalem office when an urgent need arose, such as a meeting with the High Commissioner. Unlike past occasions, he did not travel to the Commissioner's mansion in his car but rather by an armored vehicle of the "Haganah" accompanied by another armored vehicle.
When the bombing occurred, Ben-Gurion was not in the National Institutions Building, but rather at his Tel Aviv office. In his diary he wrote with great brevity – a total of five lines – about what had happened that morning, including the mentioning of the name Anton Daoud. He also noted, in his customary precision, the time of the explosion: 9:40. At the time, he apparently did not know that his office was also damaged in the explosion.
In his "War Diaries" from 5708-1948 (which was assembled as a book bearing this name years later), he describes the times he went up to Jerusalem in the convoys and the discussions he had with his office in the National Institutions Building. Thus, on Sunday December 21, 1947, he arrived in Jerusalem in a convoy and noted the almost empty road. While in Jerusalem, he was informed of the details of the regular wiretap the Shai had on the Arab leaders. Among other things, they picked up in the calls that there is no peace within the Arab camp and that in one of the actions, the Arabs of Ramla stole weapons from the Arabs of Nablus.
That week, Ben-Gurion resided in Jerusalem for two days, until Tuesday morning. His office was teeming with visitors and those reporting on the situation in the Land of Israel, in Jerusalem, the Jewish Agency's international ties, ties to a Trans-Jordan informant who sent details on the Arab League's decisions regarding an all-Arab intervention in the Land of Israel, and efforts to acquire and manufacture weapons. Ben-Gurion was very interested in the mood on the Arab side, three weeks after the outbreak of the fighting. One of the Arabists in the Agency's Arab Department described to him the prevalent mood in the Arab media: "The Jews are attacking, committing atrocities, and eventually the Arabs win because the Jews hit and run."
The convoy in which Ben-Gurion returned to Tel Aviv was attacked at Sha'ar HaGai and four of its passengers were injured. The British Army came to the rescue of the convoy and chased off the attacking Arabs.
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