ABSTRACT
As on the Central and Southern Fronts, with the termination of the truce the Israelis also went on the offensive in the northern part of Palestine. The Israelis directed their operations in the Galilee against two targets; one against the Syrian bridgehead and the second against the forces of the ALA, which was based in the central Galilee area. The attack against the Syrians was intended to uproot the Syrian bridgehead in the area south of al-Hula, on the Israeli side of the international border. From the Israeli point of view, the goal of the operation was to thwart an invading force. The situation was different regarding the Jewish activity in the Central Galilee. Here, the Israelis were acting in an area that was beyond the territory allocated to them by the Partition Resolution. The decision to act in this part of the country was made during a discussion between Ben-Gurion and Yadin, on 4 July, when the two discussed Israel’s moves after the termination of the truce. In that meeting it was agreed that the IDF would launch attacks on the three fronts; and as to the north, two options were considered: attacking the ‘Small Triangle’, the bulk of Arab villages to the south of Haifa that blocked the sea road from Tel Aviv to Haifa; or acting in the central upper Galilee. Yadin inclined to the second option, and one practical result of the discussion was the deployment of the 7th Brigade to the western Galilee.1
