Operation "Yoram"

The first two attacks on Latrun (Bin-Nun Campaign Aleph and Bet) failed and the city of Jerusalem was besieged. In telegrams sent by the military governor of Jerusalem, Dr. Bernard Joseph (later Dov Yosef, the finance minister in the government) the gravity of the situation in the city because of the dwindling supplies of food was emphasized. At the beginning of June 1948 the Burma Road, an alternative supply route to solve the logistical problems of Jerusalem, had not yet been built. At this time there were indications that a ceasefire would be declared. The fighting would stop on all fronts without any territorial adjustments, creating a situation that there would be no accessible route to Jerusalem. The possibility that external intervention would set the date for the ceasefire caused both sides to do everything they could to gain as much territory as possible and create indisputable facts on the ground. Also, each side tried to foresee where the opposition would gain some advantage so that adequate countermeasures could be planned. During the first week of June an engineering effort was made to open the Burma Road in order to bypass the Latrun enclave, in the hope that it would be adequate to allow supply convoys to get through to Jerusalem. It was feared that a situation might arise in which the enemy would agree to the ceasefire demand before the Burma Road would be ready for use by trucks. With no alternative route to Jerusalem the city would be at the mercy of the Jordanian Legion who had complete control over the main road. In view of this situation it was decided to concentrate on two parallel courses. Firstly, an intensive effort to complete the Burma Road so that it could be used by trucks and secondly, to plan another attack on the Latrun enclave that commanded the main road to Jerusalem. In order to carry out this attack the Yoram campaign was formulated.