New Light on the Israeli-Arab Conflict and the Refugee Problem and Its Origins

Abstract

The partial and limited opening of the Israeli government archives relating to the first years of the state's existence has resulted in a number of surprises among scholars, journalists, and the Israeli public at large.1 Even though the documentation in question is incomplete-many files are still considered ultra-secret-it has been sufficient to shatter several of the myths dear not only to the Israelis but to western opinion in general. One finds, for example, proof that there was a policy favoring new immigrants from the West over their brethren from the Arab and Islamic countries, this contrary to the propaganda of the time. But it is the documents involving the conflict with the Arab world, particularly the Palestinians, that have aroused the greatest interest among researchers. The vast majority of Israelis have always believed that Israel and its leaders have consistently done everything possible to achieve peace with their Arab neighbors. In their view, then, full responsibility for the successive wars, the Palestinian refugee problem, the arms race, and so on, falls squarely on the Arabs. As for the 1948 war, justice was totally and unquestionably on their side. But now, documents of the period-and Israeli documents at thatmake it impossible to view these questions in the same light. It is true that the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians were strongly opposed to the dismemberment of their country. Nonetheless, it is now clear that large