December 10, 1947 Palmach Soldiers Murdered in Negev

“On December 10, 1947, the first Israeli victims fell in the Negev at the Arab village of Shu’ut. They were a small detachment of Palmach soldiers, whose task was the patrolling of the water pipeline. The commander of the detachment, Assaf Shehnai, could not believe that the mukhtar of the village would betray him. He used to say, “He is my ‘sahib’ (good friend).”