Yitzhak Rabin and the Expulsion of Palestinians

In October 1979 The New York Times reported that Yitzhak Rabin - Israels prime minister from 1974-77 & 1992-95 - could not publish his admission that 50,000* Palestinians were expelled from their homes by Israeli forces under his command during Israels war of independence. The New York Times explains that the paragraphs regarding Yitzhak Rabin and the expulsion of Palestinians did not get past Israeli censors.

Long before he became prime minister of Israel Rabin fought in Israels war of independence as a commander of the Harel Brigade. In July 1948 he was given the task of capturing the towns of Lydda (now known as Lod) and Ramle, both close to Tel Aviv and in an area that was to be part of an Arab state in Palestine. On the 12th July 1948 the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, reports “It was officially confirmed to-day that the Arab town of Lydda surrendered  and was occupied by Israeli troops last night. Ramleh was also entered and hundreds of prisoners were taken.”

In the New York Times article Rabin recounts a meeting he attended with Israels prime minister David Ben-Gurion and Yigal Allon, a senior army officer, where they discussed what to do with the inhabitants of the two towns. “Allon repeated his question ‘what is to be done with the population?’ B.G. waved his hand in a gesture which said, ‘Drive them out!’"

"Allon and I had a consultation. I agreed it was essential to drive the inhabitants out. The population of Lod did not leave willingly. There was no way of avoiding the use of force and warning shots in order to make the inhabitants march the 10 to 15 miles to the point where they met up with the [Arab] legion”

“The inhabitants of Ramle watched and learned their lesson. Their leaders agreed to be evacuated voluntarily….Buses took them to Latrun, and from there, they were evacuated by the legion”

On 31st August 1948 The Civil & Military Gazette, published in Lahore, reports on an article written by Brigadier Glubb Pasha - a British soldier leading Transjordans Arab Legion. He says that when Lydda and Ramle were captured the Israelis “followed the technique of ordering all Arab civilians to leave their homes immediately” He goes on to say  “The sight of 80,000 of these unfortunate people struggling, falling and stumbling across 10 miles of burning plains will never be forgotten by anyone who witnessed it”. 

The nearest Arab town was Ramallah 20 miles away and Glubb Pasha says ”the first 10 miles…were across ploughed fields and rough country in semi-tropical heat with little or no water.”

Then another “10 miles of Rocky Mountains rising 3,000 feet. The number of those who died during this anguished journey will probably never be known.” He adds that on arriving in Ramallah there was very little water to drink and an “appalling scarcity of food…diseases of malnutrition are already appearing”

Yitzhak Rabin however ignored the suffering of the Palestinians forced to leave their homes and seems to think it was his own soldiers who were going through turmoil “Great suffering was inflicted upon the men taking part in the eviction action” he wrote. Some soldiers “were youth-movement graduates who had had been inculcated with values such as international brotherhood and humaneness. The eviction action went beyond the concepts they were used to.......There were some fellows who refused to take part in the expulsion action.”

Presumably to ensure that this kind of behaviour did not happen again “Prolonged propaganda activities were required after the action, to remove the bitterness of these youth-movement groups and explain why we were obliged to undertake such a harsh and cruel action”

*The numbers of Palestinians expelled from Lydda and Ramle vary. Most estimates put the figure between 50,000-70,000 although Glubb Pasha puts the figure at 80,000 (see above). Some of those expelled had already been displaced from Jaffa and the surrounding area.