 Initially , the governing power within Israel remained silent . However , on May 27 , the Israeli daily Maariv printed a sceptical coverage of Arab accounts , which spoke of a great victory by the Arab Legion , involving some 800 Israeli dead . In response , the Israeli press stressed that the aim of the operation was not to take Latrun , but to strike the Legion and , on June 1 , it published casualty figures of 250 deaths for the Arab side and 10 deaths , with 20 badly wounded , and another 20 lightly wounded on the Israeli side . 
