end, however, he was convinced that Qawuqji would remain neutral
in the event of a Jewish attack against the mufti’s forces in Palestine.
As the war progressed, Palmon’s neutralization of the ALA be-
came evident. On 6 April 1948, the Haganah began the Nahshon Op-
eration to open the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road, which was being
blocked by Palestinian irregulars. First, Hassan Salameh’s headquar-
ters in Ramallah were blown up. An ALA unit dispensing heavy guns
was present in the neighborhood, but it did not lend Salameh any sup-
port. Thus, Qawuqji kept his word to Palmon.
Next came the battle for the strategic Qastal, a height overlook-
ing the Jerusalem road. ’Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni telephoned
Qawuqji for an urgent supply of arms and ammunition to drive the
Jews back. The Arab League had supplied Qawuqji with large
stocks of war material, but a Haganah listening post heard him
reply that he had none. Al-Husayni himself was killed in the battle
for Qastal on 9 April. He had been the most effective of the mufti’s
military commanders, and his death signaled the collapse of the
Husayni forces in Palestine.
Following Israeli statehood in 1948, Palmon became the prime
minister’s adviser on Arab affairs (1949–1955) and subsequently pro-
moted relations with Arabs in Europe (1955–1960). After the 1967
Six-Day War, he officiated over the Jerusalem municipality and was
put in charge of East Jerusalem affairs (1971–1972).PERI, YAAKOV (1944– ).After completing his national service in the
Israel Defense Forces in the early 1960s, the Israeli-born Peri earned
his bachelor’s degree in Middle Eastern studies and Jewish history at
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He had a talent for music, playing in
the Youth Brigades orchestra, the Voice of Israel Orchestra, and the
Haifa Symphony Orchestra. To supplement his income, he answered
a recruitment advertisement of the Israeli Security Agency(ISA),
and on 1 March 1966 he was recruited into the organization. Peri
worked his way up through the ISA ranks, starting as a field officer in
Israel’s northern region. After the 1967 Six-Day War, Peri served in
the Samaria sector in the West Bank. In 1975 he was appointed head
of the ISA’s training department. He commanded the ISA northern re-
gion in 1978, then the Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria region. After228 • PERI, YAAKOV06-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:25 AM Page 228