July 23, 1948

Have we won the war? You may find my question very odd.
You will point to the undeniable fact of our successes through
every stage of the fighting-against local gunmen, then infiltra-
tors and, in the end, standing armies-until the second cease-fire
five days ago. Still, I ask the question, for it is only the final
victory that counts, that decides the issue. You may win every
battle from the start almost to the finish of war but if you lose
the last you lose all, and your earlier victories are in vain. To
know whether we have really won or not, we must have fought
the last battle, we must know whether this cease-fire marks the
end of the war or just a brief respite. If it is only a breathing
space, then the issue is undecided, unless we make sure now of
winning the last battle when it comes.

Actually, there is good reason to suppose that we are nearing
the end. The great Powers do not want the war to be prolonged.
The whole world--so far as the world has a collective will--does
not want it. That is the meaning of the cease-fire order of the
Security Council, against which only Syria voted.

Moreover the military weakness of the Arab States has been
exposed, and those who trusted in them have begun to doubt the
wisdom of continuing. There is also the disclosure of disunity
among the Arabs, and their incompetence to stand up to the
ordeal. But let us not minimize our own troubles: we were all
jubilant at the Army's triumphs, yet we breathed more freely
when enemy aircraft stopped bombing Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
was spared cannonade at last.

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