16. Report to the State Council by Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Ben-Gurion, 22 July 1948:
The second truce came into effect on 18 July. Four days later, Mr. Ben-Gurion reported to the State Council on the events of the preceding weeks in the political and military spheres:
We again enter a truce period, and this time one of undefined duration. We cannot be certain that the military struggle is over. In any case, we face an extremely grave, perhaps decisive, political struggle. The situation obligates us, first and foremost, to be ready for battle at any moment; only if we are militarily prepared will we be able to meet both the military and the political challenges facing us.
There have so far been three phases in our struggle. The first, when we were faced with Arab bands, lasted for five and a half months, from November 30, 1947, to May 14, 1948. In the second, from May 14 to June 11, we confronted the armies of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Trans-Jordan, and Egypt. The third, from July 9 to July 19, saw another Arab army, that of Saudi Arabia, enter the war. All three phases strangely resemble several chapters from Joshua and Judges that might have been written today:
"And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side of Jordan, in the hills, in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perissite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord" (Joshua 9:1-2).
"And these are the kings of the country which Joshua and the children of Israel smote ... in the mountains, and in the valleys, and in the plains, and in the springs, and in the wilderness, and in the south country ... all the kings thirty and one" (Joshua 12:7-24).
Only the names of the kings have changed. But there is one great difference. In Biblical times the Children of Israel fought only the inhabitants of this country. This time we are fighting all the neighbouring countries. Our foes of recent weeks are no strangers to our history. We have more than once met Egypt and Assyria, Babylon and Aram, Canaan and Amalek, but always singly; never in thirty-five hundred years was the whole Middle East united against us.
There is another similarity between this war and one of the Biblical wars, that of Saul and Jonathan against the Philistines. They were certain then that "there was no smith found throughout all the Land of Israel; for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan" (I Samuel 13:19-22).
No less vindictively did the British take care that there should be no smith in Israel, neither sword nor spear. They blockaded us by land and sea so that no arms might reach us. Their police tried to stamp out local arms production. Who will forget the searches by massive detachments of troops and police in our villages, our schools, and synagogues, to uncover every sword and spear of Israel? Drastic laws were passed against military training, and it was at the Yishuv that they were aimed. I cannot tell you at this time how we were able, nevertheless, to equip our military forces. However, I can say that the enemy no longer doubts the power of the Army of Israel.
I don't know how many of those sitting in this hall would have been ready nine or ten months ago to declare their belief in the Jewish community's ability to repulse a united attack by all the regular Arab armies without outside assistance. The experience of recent months, and particularly of the ten days between the two truces, shows that this was possible. But the struggle is not over.
Deprived of the lightning victory which they had planned and expected, the conspirators could not see, or would not admit, the facts, and so when the United Nations envoy called for an extension of the cease-fire, and we agreed, the Arab states did not. Some thought our agreement a sign of weakness, the Arab refusal a sign of self-confidence. The ten days that followed July 9, ten glorious days in our history, have given the Arab peoples and leaders and the whole world the plainest and most final of answers. Despite an intensified embargo, designed to prevent either sword or spear from coming into our hands, our Army opened a general offensive against all Arab concentrations as soon as the truce ended, and laid low the "kings" of Lydda and Ramle; the "kings" of Beit Naballah and Deir Tarif; the "kings of Kola and Migdal Zedek; the "kings" of Tsora and Eshtaol; and the "kings" of Artuf and Ain Karim in the lowlands; the "kings" of Chatah and Kretiya in the south; the "kings" of Shfaram and Zippori, the "kings" of Ein Ma'ahal and Kfar Kana, Nazareth, and Nimrin in the Galilee; the "kings" of Lubya and of the Horns of Hittin where Saladin vanquished the Crusader hosts. And during the same ten days it smote the hosts of Egypt and Trans-Jordan, Babylon which is Iraq, Syria and Lebanon and the famed Kaukji, and slew more than five thousand men. A thousand square kilometres were added to the State in the south, along the road to Jerusalem, in the Lydda-Ramle area, south of Haifa and in central Galilee, including Nazareth.
I hope the day will come, and in the not too distant future, when it will be possible to tell the wonderful tale of how we established, organised, equipped, and trained the Jewish forces which accomplished so much. At this moment I will limit myself to mentioning a secret weapon, which, more than anything else, was responsible for our ability to meet the challenges of these eight months, and which was also responsible for our conquests. I speak of the spirit of the individual Jew, of the Jewish pioneer and the Jewish fighter, a spirit of faith and devotion which is found in the hearts of our youth, our settlers, and our Army. This was the spirit that enabled us to carry out our constructive activities over a period of seventy years, during which we created Jewish soil, a Jewish economy, Jewish culture, and Jewish strength. This spirit made it possible for us to emerge victorious until now. It will, I feel certain, enable us to win again if we are faced with another military challenge.
We are in the midst of a truce of undefined duration. At this stage we must devote even greater efforts to preparing ourselves to meet the challenges of the future, and not only the military ones. The State of Israel was established in the midst of an armed struggle. But the State was not established in order to do battle or to win territory. It was not even established simply to ensure the peace and prosperity of its citizens. The State of Israel has a unique mission, unique at least in contemporary history, a mission which gives it its raison d'être. The State was created to make the land flourish, gather together the Jews from all over the world, and carry out a large-scale settlement program. These are our major tasks. Now that we are in a truce period of uncertain length, we must increase not only our military efforts, but also our efforts to organise large-scale immigration and settlement. These two activities are of vital importance, politically and militarily.
I want to make only one more remark: the UN General Assembly chose a man to mediate between the Arabs and us. The Provisional Government and the State Council have already made clear their attitude toward the Mediator's proposals and there is nothing to be added at this point, particularly in view of the recent evidence of our military capabilities, as well as our territorial conquests. If we are forced to fight again, we will go into battle with greater self-confidence.
Yet despite our increased confidence in Jewish military strength, we must exploit every opportunity, perhaps without the assistance of the Mediator, to reach a modus vivendi with the Arab peoples. This would not be at the expense of our rights, aims, or conquests, but rather an accord based on the great opportunities that exist for Jews and Arabs alike if they can work together as free and equal partners in an alliance to benefit the Middle East, and perhaps contribute to the peace and fructification of the entire world.
The Arabs will be able to free themselves of dependence - open and concealed on forces of exploitation and repression only if they co-operate with the State and people of Israel, and we will have peace in this country only if we co-operate with our neighbours. We should do no less for peace than we have done - and will if necessary continue to do - for war.
I do not know if the Arabs are ready to accept co-operation with Jews on the basis of an alliance of equals, but this co-operation is a historic necessity. Having proven our strength on the field of battle to friends and enemies alike, we must not miss any opportunity - if any exists - to lay the foundations for co-operation between the Jewish State and the Arab States.