Transfer Committee

The Transfer Committee was established during the 1948 Palestine war by non-Cabinet members of the first government of Israel, with the aim of overseeing the expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from their towns and villages, and preventing their return.

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.

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].

"[5] 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.

[6] 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.