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The Battle for Jaffa, 1948

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00263206.2012.734501

1743-7881

Arnon Golan,

Military History and Strategy

Abstract Modern armies conduct military operations in urban areas, but rarely do so willingly. Military commanders prefer fighting in open terrain in which forces freely maneuver and use firepower, rather than in urban areas in which obstacles such as tall buildings, narrow streets, and non-combatants hinder control of the battlefield. Most professional military literature recommends refraining from fighting in urban areas and considering urban battles an unfortunate aberration to be avoided in the future. Deliberate choice of an urban battlefield is quite exceptional, deriving mostly from strategic needs or due to the symbolic value ascribed to a particular city or town. Most decisive battles of the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 were fought in open areas. However, strategic and political considerations, as well as cultural and sentimental, caused both sides to fight in cities and towns, such as in the case of Jaffa and Tel Aviv metropolitan area, Palestine's major economic center and a main road junction. Both cities also held sentimental value: the dynamically developing modern Jaffa was a symbol of an emerging Palestinian nation while Tel Aviv, the "first Hebrew city," was the Zionist ideal of urban development. Notes W.G. Rosenau, '"Every Room is a New Battle": The Lessons of Modern Urban Warfare', Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Vol.20 (1997), pp.371–2. G.J. Ashworth, War and the City (London and New York: Routledge, 1991), pp.115–16. For a comprehensive and fairly balanced narrative of the 1948 war, see B. Morris, 1948: A History of the First Arab–Israeli War (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008). R. Khamaisi, 'Yafa: From an Urban Center to a Marginal Neighborhood of Tel Aviv-Yafo', in B.A. Kipnis (ed.), Tel Aviv-Yafo: from a Garden Suburb to a World City (Haifa: Pardes, 2009), p.174 (Hebrew). M. Azaryahu, 'Tel Aviv: Center, Periphery and the Cultural Geographies of an Aspiring Metropolis', Social and Cultural Geography, Vol.9 (2008), p.306; I.S. Troen, Imagining Zion: Dreams Designs and Realities in a Century of Jewish Settlement (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2003), p.89. Hebrew initials for National Military Organization – Irgun Zeva'i Leumi, renowned as the 'Irgun', established in 1938, it was the main right-wing Jewish underground group. The Hagana (Hebrew for 'defence'), established in 1920, was the main Jewish Zionist paramilitary organization in British Mandatory Palestine. It formed the foundation of the Israeli army, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), established during the 1948 war. S. Tolkowsky, The Gateway of Palestine: A History of Jaffa (London: Routledge, 1924). For a detailed history of Jaffa in the nineteenth century and until the First World War see R. Kark, Jaffa: a City in Evaluation, 1799–1917 (Jerusalem: Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 1990). On colonial cities see A. King, Urbanism, Colonialism, and the World-Economy (London and New York: Routledge, 1990). S. Avitsur, The Rise and Fall of the Port of Jaffa (Tel Aviv: Milo, 1972; Hebrew). R. Casto, 'Tel Aviv: The New City of Palestine', The Journal of Geography, Vol.36 (1937), pp.111–15. A. Golan, 'Zionism, Urbanism, and the 1948 Wartime Transformation of the Arab Urban System in Palestine', Historical Geography, Vol.27 (1999), pp.152–66. 'Jaffa, an Overview', The Hagana Archives (hereafter HA), 105/329. Ibid. 'UN General Assembly Resolution on the Future Government of Palestine (November 29, 1947)', inW. Laqueur and B. Rubin (eds.), Israeli–Arab Reader (New York: Penguin Books, 1976), pp.69–77. A. Shlaim, The Politics of Partition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1990), pp.80–106. Operations Chametz and Dror: Kiryati Deployment List, Israel Defense Forces Archives (hereafter IDFA), 75/922–251. M. Naor, On the Home Front: Tel Aviv and Mobilization of the Yishuv in the War of Independence (Jerusalem: Yad Yizhak Ben-Zvi, 2009; Hebrew). A. Sela, 'Palestinian Society and Institutions during the Mandate: Changes, Lack of Mobility and Downfall', in A. Bareli and N. Karlinsky (eds.), Economy and Society in Mandatory Palestine, 1918–1948 (Sde Boker: The Ben Gurion Research Institute, 2003), pp.291–348 (Hebrew). The Thin Red Line, The Regimental Magazine of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (Princess Louise's), Vol.2, No.3 (Sept. 1948), p.96; Quarterly Historical Report 2nd Bn., The Royal Irish Fusiliers, The National Archive, London (hereafter TNA), WO 261/38; R.C.B. Anderson, History of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders 1st Battalion 1939–1945 (Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1956), p.158. Operations Chametz and Dror, p.12. A. Nocham, Jaffa at War (Tel Aviv: IDF History Branch 1959, Hebrew), IDFA, 75/922–246, pp.7–8. Hachami to Yadin, 28 Dec. 1947, IDFA,48/321–87; Meeting of the Yishuv Security Committee, 27 Jan. 1948, Central Zionist Archives (hereafter CZA) S25/9345; Kirby to the Chief Secretary, St. Anthony College Archives, Arthur Kirby Papers, 20 Jan. 1948. 'Knesset' to brigade and city commanders, 30 Dec. 1947, Kiryati to 'Knesset' management, 9 Jan. 1948, IDFA, 48/321–85; G. Rivlin and E. Oren (eds.), The War of Independence, David Ben Gurion's War Diary (Tel Aviv: Israeli Defense Ministry Publishing House, 1983), p.9; Y. Hagderati, 'Jaffa Always Lost in Time of Riots and Is Fated to Become as Nablus', Ha'Boker, 4 Feb. 1948. The raiders were members of the most radical Jewish guerrilla group, Lohmai Herut Israel (LHI), known as the Stern Gang. See N. Yelin-Mor, The Warriors for the Freedom of Israel (Tel Aviv: Shikmona, 1974), pp.235–6 (Hebrew). Y. Peleg, 'The Battle for Jaffa and Environs', in A. Kadish (ed.), Israel's War of Independence, 1948–1949 (Tel Aviv: Israeli Defense Ministry Publishing House, 2004), pp.399–401 (Hebrew); on the ALA see R. Yitzhak, 'Fauzi al-Qawuqji and the Arab Liberation Army in the 1948 War toward the Attainment of King Abdallah's Political Ambitions in Palestine', Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vol.28 (2008), pp.459–66. Peleg, 'The Battle for Jaffa and Environs', pp.400–401. Ibid., pp.401–3; Kiryati to Dromi, 27 Feb. 1948, IDFA, 49/8275–130; The Economic Situation in Jaffa, 23 Feb. 1948, IDFA, 48/321–89. Ben Avi to Ben-Gurion, n.d. 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Bareli (eds.), It's Now or Never (Bet Berl: Ayanot, 1989), Vol.1, pp.219, 229, Vol.2, pp.285, 400–404 (Hebrew); S. Lev Ami, In Struggle and by Revolt: Hagana, Irgun and LHI (Tel Aviv: Israeli Ministry of Defense Publishing House, 1979), pp.391–2 (Hebrew). Hachami to Kiryati, 26 Feb. 1948, Report on Operation Kerach (Hebrew for ice), 27 Feb. 1948; Distribution of units to the next stage of Kerach, 26 Feb. 1948, IDFA, 49/8275–126; High Commissioner to the Secretary of State, 8 March 1948, St. Anthony College Archives, Alan Cunningham Papers (hereafter ACP), III/2/6. Olitzky, From Riots, pp.341–2; Niv, The History of the IZL, p.34. Plan Dalet (D), Instructions for Kiryati, HA, 73/94; Kiryati to Israel Baer, 17 March 1948, IDFA, 75/922–595. Menachem Begin, The Conquest of Jaffa, p.1, JIA, C4–8/1; Niv, The History of the IZL, pp.57–70. M.J. Cohen, 'The Zionist Perspective', in W.R. Louis and R.W. 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Alexandroni, Hagana's 3rd brigade, was responsible for the Yishuv's sector in the central coastal plain, including the area north and north-east of Tel Aviv. Givati, Hagana's 5th brigade, was responsible for the Yishuv's southern sector in the southern coastal plain. Most of its recruits were Hagana members from Tel Aviv. Chametz refers to leavened products that are forbidden to be consumed on the Jewish holiday of Passover. Outline for an operation south of the Alexandroni Brigade area, IDFA, 75/922–1016; Order for Operation Chametz, IDFA, 49/2506–83; Modifications in Plan Dalet, IDFA, 50/2315–47; Operations Chametz and Dror, pp.16–17. Olitzky, From Riots, p.391. The High Commissioner to the Secretary of State, 25 April 1948, ACP, III/4/55. A. Kadish, 'The British Army in Manshiya', in Y. Markovitzky (ed.), The Rebels: Etzel's Struggleagainst the British (Tel Aviv: Israeli Defense Ministry Publishing House, 2008), p.237 (Hebrew); Lazar, The Capture of Jaffa, p.197; A. Paglin, 'The Tactics in the Battle for Jaffa', Herut, 19April 1949; E. Sudit (Kabtsan), 'The Fighting in Jaffa', Herut, 12 April 1949; Testimony by EliyahuKatz (Eli), 25 April 1957, JIA, C4–8/21; CO of section 3 to HQ of Southern Front, 27April1948, IDFA, 48/321–82; The Conquest of Jaffa and Environs in the 1948 War, IDFA, 75/922–252. Eliezer Sudit (Kabtsan), Fighting in Jaffa, Private Diary, 1948, and Testimony by Eliyahu Katz (Eli), 25 April 1957, JIA, C4–8/21; CO of Section 3 to HQ of Southern Front, 27 April 1948, IDFA, 48/321–82; The Conquest of Jaffa and Environs in the 1948 War, IDFA, 75/922–252; Lazar, The Capture of Jaffa, pp.135–8. Report by Kiryati Intelligence Officer, 26 April 1948, and CO of Section 3 to HQ of Southern Front, 27 April 1948, IDFA, 48/321–82; Kiryati/Intelligence, Daily Summary of Events, 28 April 1948, IDFA, 75/922–1016; The Attack on Jaffa, n.d., JIA, C4–8/1; Testimony by Yosef Zektser (Yeshurun), 10 April 1957, JIA, C4–8/21. 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Operation Jaffa, map of the attack, n.d., JIA, C4–8/6; Testimonies by Eliyahu Katz (Eli), 25 April 1957, David Rekanati (Saul), 7 April 1957, and M. Paldi (Yosef), n.d., Eliezer Sudit (Kabtsan), Fighting in Jaffa, Private Diary, 1948, JIA, C4–8/21; The Conquest of Jaffa and Environs in the 1948 War, IDFA, 75/922–252; Copy of Notes written by W.V. Fuller, District Commissioner, Lydda, between 22 April and 10 May 1948, entry from 27 April, 1400, Fuller Papers, St. Anthony College Archives; Lazar, The Capture of Jaffa, pp.176–91. Head of the Hagana Operations Section to Givati and Kiryati, 25 April 1948, IDFA, 75/922–1016. The Jewish Agency was the de facto governing organ of the Zionist community in Palestine. Operations Chametz and Dror, p.21, and appendixes 7 and 8. Transcript of Telephone Conversation between Ben-Gurion and Galili, Batch of Hagana Documents concerning Activities of IZL in Jaffa, n.d., Appendix 4, p.3, UKA, Section 15 (Israel Galili Papers). 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Zamir, '"Bid" for Altanela: France's Covert Action in the 1948 War in Palestine', Middle Eastern Studies, Vol.46, No.1 (Jan. 2010), pp.17–58.