Transfer Committee

Body to promote Palestinian displacement

The Transfer Committee was set up, unofficially, by non-Cabinet members of the first government of Israel in May 1948, with the aim of overseeing the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from their towns and villages, and preventing their return. The extent to which the committee acted with the knowledge of the prime minister and the Cabinet is a matter of scholarly debate.^[1]

Creation of the committee

The idea for the committee came from Yosef Weitz, the director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund. From the 1930s onwards, Weitz had played a major role in acquiring land for the Yishuv, the Jewish community in Palestine.

The first, unofficial, committee was composed of Weitz; Ezra Danin, head of the Arab section of the SHAI, the intelligence arm of the Haganah; and Eliyahu Sasson, head of the Middle East Affairs Department of the Foreign Ministry. Danin told Weitz that to prevent the return of the refugees who had already left, they must be "confronted with a fait accomplis." He proposed the destruction of Arab homes, settling Jewish immigrants in evacuated areas, and expropriating Arab property.^[2]

Proposals to Cabinet

On May 28, Weitz proposed to Moshe Sharett, then foreign minister, that the committee be made official. On May 30, Weitz met Eliezer Kaplan, the finance minister, and reportedly received his blessing. The Transfer Committee met for its first working session that day, though it was still not authorized by David Ben-Gurion, the prime minister, or the full Cabinet. Nevertheless, Benny Morris writes that the committee set about razing villages.^[3]

On June 5, Weitz approached Ben-Gurion with a three-page proposal that involved preventing the Arabs from returning; helping them to be absorbed into other Arab countries; destroying villages as much as possible during military operations; preventing Arabs from cultivating land; settling Jews in empty villages and towns so that no "vacuum" would be created; enacting legislation to prevent the return of the refugees; and creating propaganda aimed at non-return.

Morris writes that Weitz recorded Ben-Gurion's agreement, though according to Morris, Ben-Gurion wanted to focus first on the destruction of Arab villages, and only later on helping the residents to resettle in other Arab countries. Ben-Gurion's account of the meeting was different: he said he had agreed to the establishment of a committee to oversee the "cleaning up" (nikui) of Arab towns and villages and their settlement by Jews, but said he had nowhere explicitly referred to the destruction of villages or preventing refugees from returning.^[4] Efraim Karsh writes that Ben-Gurion specifically told Weitz that he rejected the idea of the Transfer Committee. Karsh quotes Weitz as saying: "[Ben-Gurion] would like to convene a narrow meeting and to appoint a committee to handle the issue [the cleaning up or improvement of Arab villages]. He does not agree to the [existence] of our temporary committee."^[5]

Destruction of villages

Regardless of the committee's ambiguous status, Weitz proceeded to arrange the destruction of several villages in June 1948: al-Maghar, near Gedera; Fajja, near Petah Tikva; Biyar 'Adas, near Magdiel; Bayt Dajan, east of Tel Aviv; Miska, near Ramat Hakovesh; Sumeiriya, near Acre; and Buteimat and Sabbarin, near Haifa. Morris writes that Weitz's agents toured the countryside to determine which villages should be destroyed and which preserved for Jewish settlement.^[6]

Mapam objections

The political party Mapam, and Bechor-Shalom Sheetrit, Minister for Minority Affairs, launched a counter-campaign to stop the destruction, forcing Weitz to halt his activities, which effectively terminated the first unofficial Transfer Committee.^[6]

Notes

^ Morris 2004, pp. 312-315.
^ Danin to Weitz, May 18, 1948, Yosef Weitz Papers, Institute for the Study of Settlement (Rehovot), cited in Eliezer Kaplan.^{[citation needed]}
^ Morris 2004, p. 313.
^ Entry for June 5, 1848, DBG-YH II, 487, in Morris 2004, p. 314.
^ Karsh 1999
^ ^a ^b Morris 2004, p. 314.

References

Karsh, Efraim. (1999) "Benny Morris and the Reign of Error", Middle East Quarterly, March 1999.
Morris, Benny. (2004) The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-00967-7

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v t e Armed engagements
1947–1959	1948 Palestine war Arab–Israeli War (1948–1949) Palestinian Fedayeen insurgency (1949–1956) Suez Crisis (1956)
1960–1979	Samu incident (1966) Six-Day War (1967) War of Attrition (1967–1970) Battle of Karameh (1968) Palestinian insurgency in South Lebanon (1968–1982) Gift (1968) Yom Kippur War (1973) Sabena Flight 571 (1972) Lod Airport massacre (1972) Munich massacre (1972) Bayonet (1972–1979) Libyan Arab Airlines Flight 114 (1973) Ma'alot massacre (1974) Savoy Hotel attack (1975) Entebbe (1976) Coastal Road massacre (1978) Litani (1978)
1980–1999	Misgav Am hostage crisis (1980) Opera (1981) Lebanon War (1982) Bus 300 affair (1984) South Lebanon conflict (1985) Wooden Leg (1985) First Intifada (1987–1993) Mothers' Bus attack (1988) Tunis raid (1988) Iraqi missile attacks against Israel (1991) Bramble Bush (1992) Palestinian suicide attacks (1993–2008) Accountability (1993) Grapes of Wrath (1996)
2000–2021	Second Intifada (2000–2005) Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel (2001–) Ain es Saheb airstrike (2003) Bringing Home the Goods (2006) Summer Rains (2006) Autumn Clouds (2006) Lebanon War (2006) Gaza–Israel conflict (2006–) Hot Winter (2007–2008) Gaza War (2008–2009) Palestinian militancy campaign (2010) Southern Israel cross-border attacks (2011) Returning Echo (2012) Pillar of Defense (2012) Gaza War (2014) Wave of violence (2015–2016) Gaza border protests (2018) Gaza–Israel clashes (2018) Gaza–Israel clashes (2019) Black Belt (2019) Israel–Palestine crisis (2021) Breaking Dawn (2022) Shield and Arrow (2023) Israel–Hamas war (2023–2024)

v t e Diplomacy and peace proposals
Background	1914 Damascus Protocol 1915 McMahon–Hussein Correspondence 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement 1917 Balfour Declaration 1918 Declaration to the Seven / Anglo-French Declaration 1919 Faisal–Weizmann agreement 1920 San Remo conference 1922 Churchill White Paper 1937 Peel Commission 1939 White Paper 1939 London Conference 1946 Morrison–Grady Plan 1947 Bevin Plan 1946–47 London Conference 1947 UN Partition Plan 1948 American trusteeship proposal
1948–1983	1948 UN General Assembly (UNGA) Resolution 194 1949 Armistice agreements / Lausanne Conference 1950 Tripartite Declaration 1967 Khartoum Resolution / UN Security Council (UNSC) Resolution 242 1973 UNSC Resolution 338 / UNSC Resolution 339 1974 Israel–Syria disengagement agreement / UNSC Resolution 350 1978 UNSC Resolution 425 / Camp David Accords 1979 UNSC Resolution 446 / Egypt–Israel peace treaty Palestinian autonomy talks / UNSC Resolution 452 1980 UNSC Resolution 478 1981 UNSC Resolution 497 1981–1982 Fahd Plan 1982 Reagan peace plan 1983 Israel–Lebanon agreement
1991–2016	1991 Madrid Conference 1993 Oslo Accords 1994 Gaza–Jericho Agreement / Israel–Jordan peace treaty 1995 Beilin–Abu Mazen agreement 1998 Wye River Memorandum 1999 Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum 2000 Camp David Summit / Clinton Parameters 2000 Isratin 2001 Taba Summit 2002 Beirut Summit and peace initiative / Road map 2003 Geneva Initiative 2004 UNSC Resolution 1559 / UNSC Resolution 1566 2005 UNSC Resolution 1583 / Sharm El Sheikh Summit / Israeli disengagement from Gaza / Agreement on Movement and Access 2006 UNSC Resolution 1850 / Quartet Principles 2006 UNSC Resolution 1701 2007 Annapolis Conference 2010 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks 2013 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks 2016 John Kerry Parameters
2019–present	2019 Trump peace plan 2020 Abraham Accords Israel–UAE normalization agreement Bahrain–Israel normalization agreement Israel–Sudan normalization agreement Israel–Morocco normalization agreement 2022 Israeli–Lebanese maritime border agreement

Israeli–Palestinian conflict

Participants

Israelis

Palestinians

Principals	All-Palestine Protectorate Palestine Liberation Organization Fatah Hamas Palestinian Authority
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Timeline
- military operations

Background

1920–1948	1920 Nebi Musa riots Battle of Tel Hai 1921 Jaffa riots 1929 Palestine riots Hebron massacre 1936–1939 Arab revolt 1944–1947 Jewish insurgency 1947–1948 Civil War

1948–1970	1948 Arab–Israeli War massacres 1948–present Fedayeen insurgency 1951–1967 Attacks against Israeli civilians 1950s–1960s Reprisal operations 1953 Qibya massacre 1956 Kafr Qasim / Khan Yunis / Rafah massacres 1967 Six-Day War 1967–1970 War of Attrition 1968 Battle of Karameh

Palestinian
insurgency

1968–1982	1970 Avivim school bus bombing 1972 Sabena Flight 571 / Munich massacre / "Bayonet" (1973 Lillehammer affair) 1974 Kiryat Shmona massacre / Ma'alot massacre 1975 Savoy Hotel attack 1976 Entebbe raid 1978 Coastal Road massacre / South Lebanon conflict 1980 Misgav Am hostage crisis

1973–1987	1973 Yom Kippur War 1975 Zion Square bombing 1982 Lebanon War Siege of Beirut 1983 1983 West Bank fainting epidemic 1984 Bus 300 affair 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking / "Wooden Leg" 1987 Night of the Gliders

First Intifada

1987–1991	1988 Tunis raid 1989 Bus 405 attack 1990 Temple Mount killings 1990s Palestinian suicide attacks 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre

Second Intifada

2000–2005	Palestinian rocket attacks lists Palestinian suicide attacks Israeli assassinations 2000 October events 2001 Santorini 2002 Karine A / "Defensive Shield" / Battle of Jenin / Battle of Nablus / "Determined Path" 2003 Ain es Saheb airstrike 2004 "Rainbow" / Beit Hanoun raid / "Days of Penitence"

Palestinian dissident
campaigns

2006–present	2006 "Bringing Home the Goods" 2008 Jerusalem yeshiva attack / Jerusalem bulldozer attack 2009 Al-Aqsa clashes 2010 Palestinian militancy campaign 2015–2016 violence 2017 Temple Mount crisis 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis 2022 Al-Aqsa clashes

Gaza–Israel
conflict

2006–present

2006 Gaza beach explosion / Gaza cross-border raid / "Summer Rains" / "Autumn Clouds" / Beit Hanoun shelling
2008 Egypt–Gaza border breach / "Hot Winter"
2008–2009 Gaza War
2010 Gaza flotilla raid
2012 "Returning Echo" / "Pillar of Defense"
2014 "Protective Edge"
2015 Freedom Flotilla III
2018 Gaza border protests / November clashes
2019 May clashes / "Black Belt"
2021 "Guardian of the Walls"
2022 "Breaking Dawn"
2023 "Shield and Arrow" / Israel–Hamas war

Diplomacy

Timeline

1948–1991	1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight depopulated towns and villages 1949 Lausanne Conference 1967–present Israeli settlement settler violence international law
1990s	1981–1982 Fahd Plan 1991 Madrid Conference 1993–1995 Oslo Accords 1994 Paris Protocol 1994 Gaza–Jericho Agreement 1994–present US security assistance to the PA 1997 Hebron Agreement 1998 Wye River Memorandum 1999 Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum
2000s	2000 Camp David Summit / Clinton Parameters 2001 Taba Summit 2002 Quartet established 2003 Road Map 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access 2006 Valley of Peace initiative 2007 Annapolis Conference 2009 Aftonbladet Israel controversy
2010s	2010–11 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks 2011 Palestine Papers 2013–2014 Israeli–Palestinian peace talks

United Nations

v t e Nakba
Background	Mandatory Palestine Israeli Declaration of Independence Sectarian conflict in Mandatory Palestine New Historians Palestine Plan Dalet 1947 partition plan
Main articles	1947–1949 Palestine war 1947–1948 civil war 1948 Arab–Israeli War 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight causes UNRWA Nakba Day Nakba denial Palestine refugee camps Palestinian refugee Palestinian right of return Present absentee Transfer Committee Resolution 194
Key incidents	Battle of Haifa Deir Yassin massacre Expulsion from Lydda and Ramle
Notable writers	Aref al-Aref Yoav Gelber Efraim Karsh Walid Khalidi Nur Masalha Benny Morris Ilan Pappé Tom Segev Avraham Sela Avi Shlaim The Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem
Related categories/lists	Villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestinian exodus
Related templates	Palestinians Arab–Israeli conflict Israeli–Palestinian conflict Gaza–Israel conflict
The Holocaust and the Nakba