First published 1987 by
FRANK CASS & CO. LTD.
Published 2013 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright 1987 Uri Bar-Joseph
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Bar-Joseph, Uri
The best of enemies : Israel and Transjordan in the war of 1948.
1. Israel-Arab War, 1948-1949
I. Title
956.042 DS126.9
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bar-Joseph. Uri.
The best of enemies.
Includes index.
1. IsraelArab War, 19481949Jordan. 2 IsraelForeign relationsJordan. 3. JordanForeign relationsIsrael. 4. IsraelArab War. 19481949Armistices. I. Title.
DS126.99J6B37 1987 956.042 86-31715
ISBN 13: 978-0-714-63211-7 (pbk)
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permision of the publisher.
ISRAEL
Political
Ben-Gurion, David Chairman of the Jewish Agency Executive until September 1948; Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Provisional Government of Israel, from May 1948
Danin, Ezra member of the Middle East Section of the Political Branch of the Jewish Agency, later on staff of the Middle East division of the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Eban, Aubrey (Abba) Israels representative at the UN
Eytan, Walter Director-General, Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Kohn, Leo Political Adviser, Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Meyerson (Meyer), Golda member of the Jewish Agency Executive until September 1948; member of the Provisional Council of State until July 1948; Israels minister in the Soviet Union from July 1948
Sasson, Eliyahu (Elias) Head of the Middle East Section of the Political Branch of the Jewish Agency, later Director of the Middle East Division of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Shertok (Sharett), Moshe Head of the Political Branch of the Jewish Agency until September 1948; Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Provisional Government of Israel
Shiloah (Zaslani), Reuven Director of the Political Division and adviser on special affairs in the Israeli Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Shimoni, Yaacov Deputy, Middle East Section of the Political Branch of the Jewish Agency; Deputy and Acting Director of the Middle East Division in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Military
Dayan, Moshe Lieutenant-Colonel, IDF (Israeli Defence Force), Commander of the Sixth (Etzioni) Brigade and the Jerusalem area; member of the Israeli delegation to armistice negotiations with Transjordan
Dori (Dostrovski), Yaacov Brigadier, Chief of Staff of the IDF
Galili, Yisrael Head of the Hagana National Command from June 1947 to June 1948
Harkabi, Yehoshafat Major, IDF. At the end of 1948 served in the G.H.Q. as a liaison officer with the UN Truce Supervision Organization; member of the Israeli delegation to armistice negotiations with Egypt and Transjordan
Joseph, Dov (Bernard) Military Governor of Jerusalem until March 1949
Nevo, Yosef Major, IDF. Operations Officer of the Sixth (Etzioni) Brigade in Jerusalem
Shaltiel, David Colonel, IDF. Military Commander of Jerusalem until July 1948 (replaced by Dayan)
Yadin, Yigael Colonel, Chief of Operations of the IDF
TRANSJORDAN
Political
Abdullah, Ibn Hussein King of Transjordan
Heidar, Abd al-Majid Transjordans minister in London
al-Karmi, Abd al-Ghani member of King Abdullahs entourage
al-Muflih, Riad Legal Adviser to the Transjordanian delegation to armistice negotiations with Israel
al-Mufti, Said Acting Prime Minister
al-Mulki, Fawzi Minister of Defence
al-Sati, Dr. Shawkat Aziz Private physician to King Adbdullah and his representative on various occasions in contacts with representatives of the Yishuv and later the State of Israel
al-Huda, Tawfiq Abu Prime Minister
al-Medadha, Fallah Minister of Justice
Saraj, Hussein Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Military
Coaker, Charles Lieutenant-Colonel, Chief of Operations of the Arab Legion (British)
Glubb, John B. Lieutenant-General, Commander of the Arab Legion (British)
al-Jundi, Ahmed Sidki Colonel, Brigade Commander in the Arab Legion; head of the Transjordanian delegation to the armistice negotiations with Israel in Rhodes
al-Majali, Habas Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of the Arab Legions Fourth Battalion in Latrun area
al-Tel, Abdullah Lieutenant-Colonel, Commander of the Arab Legions Sixth Battalion; Military Governor of the Jerusalem area from September 1948
GREAT BRITAIN
Beeley, Harold Palestine Expert in Eastern Department in Foreign Office; Adviser to Foreign Secretary Bevin
Bevin, Ernest Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs
Burrows, Bernard (later Sir) Head of the Eastern Department in the Foreign Office
Clayton, Ityd N. Minister at British Embassy in Cairo, in charge of relations with Arab League
Kirkbride, Sir Alec S. Minister in Transjordan
Pirie-Gordon, C.M. First Secretary in the British Ministry in Amman
UNITED STATES
Acheson, Dean Secretary of State from January 1949
Burdett, William C. American Consul in Jerusalem
Jessup, Philip C. Deputy U.S. Representative on UN Security Council and Deputy Chief to the U.S. mission to the UN
Lovett, Robert A. Under Secretary of State
McDonald, James G. Special Representative in Israel from June 1948
Marshall, George G. Secretary of State until January 1949
Stabler, Wells Vice Consul in Transjordan
UNITED NATIONS
Azcarate, Pablo de Spanish Consul in Jerusalem; Principal Secretary of the UN Conciliation Commission for Palestine
Bernadotte, Count Folke UN mediator for Palestine. Assassinated on 17 September in Jerusalem
Bunche, Ralph J. Acting UN mediator for Palestine
OTHERS
Azzam Pasha, Abd al-Rahman Secretary-General of the Arab League (Egyptian)
Husseini, al-Haj Muhammad Amin the Mufti of Jerusalem and President of the Arab Higher Committee (Palestinian)
Neuville, Ren Consul-General of France in Jerusalem and member of the Palestine Truce Commission
Nieuwenhuys, Jean Consul-General of Belgium in Jerusalem; member of the Palestine Truce Commission and its Chairman until August 1948
The ArabIsrael conflict, certainly from the establishment of the State of Israel until the signing of the peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, has often been described as pure, in the sense that the contenders are deemed to have almost irreconcilably opposing interests. Such an approach is particularly evident in perceptions of the war of 1948. On the one hand, the Israelis stubbornly persist in the belief that seven Arab armies set out to destroy the State of Israel immediately upon its establishment an absolute aim surely characteristic of conflict of a pure nature. On the other hand, among the Arabs, belief in the terrible injustice caused to the Arab world by the establishment of the State of Israel, and the need to eradicate that injustice, is as powerfully rooted.
