Jewish State Council Meets in Tel Aviv; Ben Gurion Warns Arabs; Sees Jewish Victory

Declaring that Palestine is on the verge of the third and most dangerous phase of the Jewish-Arab war, David Ben Gurion, chairman of the Jewish Agency executive and Premier-designate of the provisional Jewish government, today warned the Arab states neighboring on Palestine’s "borders that the Jews are determined to go on fighting until the end.

Addressing a session of the 37-member National Council of the Jewish State here, Ben Gurion stated: "The first phase of our fight for our position seems hopeful. Not one Jewish settlement has been abandoned, while more than 150,000 Arabs have deserted their homes and have fled to Arab cities and villages. Victory is ours — both against the local Arab bands and against the invaders.

"In Jerusalem also," Ben Gurion continued, "the Jews have withstood the combined British and Arab aggression." Describing the dispatch of British marine commando units to Palestine earlier in the week as "the strange invasion of British forces," Ben Gurion asked: "Do the British intend to pave the way for an Arab invasion, or does their action signify fear of Haganah?"

The session of the Council adjourned for two days when it will resume to take up the question of a constitution and problems of a political nature. As the situation stands now, no one here pays much attention any more to the agonizing deliberations of the United Nations at Lake Success. The proposals of the Western powers seem to have nothing whatever to do with the realities of the situation here. The Jewish state is being created and its budget will be adopted this week.

HAGANAH IS BEING TRANSFORMED INTO A REGULAR JEWISH ARMY

At a press conference today, a Jewish Agency spokesman revealed that Haganah is being transformed into a regular Jewish Army, while Jewish postage stamps, printed in Eebrew, were issued yesterday by post offices in all Jewish areas for domestic use. The first all-Jewish train, manned entirely by Jews, has begun to operate between Haifa and Hadera. A Jewish police force is being formed, and price control regulations are already in effect in the Jewish State.

Jewish authorities have organized an import trade program, including the issuance of import licenses. They collect taxes from Jewish citizens and are contemplating starting an airmail service abroad, in addition to the domestic postal service which the Jews are running at present. Cigarette and other revenue tax stamps, ##### "Jewish National Treasury," also appeared today.

The Jewish State, as delineated under the UN partition, is in three parts: the coastal strip, the plains of Galilee in the North, and the Negev desert in the south. The coastal plain has been cleared of Arab gangs and even the local Arab population has fled. They have not been driven away by the Jews, but have been frightened by the scourge of war brought upon them by Arab leadership.

In sections of Galilee, the Arab liberation armies have been routed by the Jews, and communications between this region and the coastal strip exist again. As for the Jewish area in the Negev, it is still a vast emptiness awaiting immigrants and settlers to reclaim the arid land. Jewish settlements there have been attacked but they are still standing and by no means cut off from the rest of the Jewish State.

It is expected that the 13-man Jewish Cabinet, included within the Jewish State National Council, will recommend a name for the new state within a day or two. The provisional capital will probably be at Sorona, a suburb of Tel Aviv which was a German colony before the war.