The Lausanne Conference of 1949 was convened by the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine (UNCCP) from 27 April to 12 September 1949 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Representatives of Israel, the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and the Arab Higher Committee and a number of refugee delegations were in attendance to resolve disputes arising from the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, mainly about refugees and territories in connection with Resolution 194 and Resolution 181.

Background After the adoption of the UN Partition Plan and the end of the British Mandate, the Yishuv (Zionist settlement in Palestine) proclaimed the State of Israel. During the 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and the 1948 Arab–Israeli War that followed, around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel.— Morris 2004, pp.602–604 "It is impossible to arrive at a definite persuasive estimate. My predilection would be to opt for the loose contemporary British formula, that of 'between 600,000 and 760,000' refugees; but, if pressed, 700,000 is probably a fair estimate"; — Memo US Department of State, 4 May 1949, FRUS, 1949, p. 973.: "One of the most important problems which must be cleared up before a lasting peace can be established in Palestine is the question of the more than 700,000 Arab refugees who during the Palestine conflict fled from their homes in what is now Israeli occupied territory and are at present living as refugees in Arab Palestine and the neighbouring Arab states."; — Memorandum on the Palestine Refugee Problem, 4 May 1949, FRUS, 1949, p. 984.: "Approximately 700,000 refugees from the Palestine hostilities, now located principally in Arab Palestine, Transjordan, Lebanon and Syria, will require repatriation to Israel or resettlement in the Arab states." More than 500 Arab villages, and about ten Jewish villages and neighborhoods, were depopulated during the 1948 war.

The Conciliation Commission for Palestine was established on 11 December 1948 by UN resolution 194. One month before the Lausanne Conference, on 29 March 1949, a military coup took place in Syria. Between 6 January and 3 April 1949, armistice agreements were signed by Israel, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. On 20 July 1949, an armistice agreement with Syria was signed. During the Conference, on 11 May, Israel was admitted as member of the United Nations.

Subjects of the negotiations

Amongst the issues discussed were territorial questions and the establishment of recognized borders, the question of Jerusalem, the repatriation of refugees (and whether the issue could be discussed separately from the overall Arab–Israeli conflict), Israeli counter-claims for war damages, the fate of orange groves belonging to Arab refugees and of their bank accounts blocked in Israel.

The Lausanne Protocol

On 12 May 1949, the parties signed the Lausanne Protocol.— The Israeli signing: UNCCP, 12 May 1949, Summary record of a meeting (doc.nr.A/AC.25/SR/LM/8) – The Arab signing: UNCCP, 12 May 1949, Summary record of a meeting (doc.nr.A/AC.25/SR/LM/9) Annexed to the protocol was a copy of the partition map of Resolution 181. The UNCCP's third progress reports states that while the map was to form the basis for discussion, adjustments of its boundaries could be proposed.

Israel's signature on the protocol soon became a bone of contention. Israel argued that the protocol was merely a "procedural device" and that its signature did not imply an acceptance of the 1947 partition borders. Arab leaders, on the other hand, argued that it did."The Israeli delegation did not commit itself to acceptance of the lines drawn on the map annexed to the Protocol."UNCCP, Summary record of a meeting, 31 May 1949 (doc.nr. A/AC.25/Com.Gen/SR.10) Walter Eyan, the protocol's Israeli signatory, later claimed that he had signed the document under duress.

Basic positions

The conditions for negotiation were complex, as the questions of refugees and of territories were closely linked. The Arab participants only wanted to act en bloc. Israel only wanted to negotiate with separate states. As the Arab delegations refused to talk directly with Israel, the Conciliation Commission shuttled back and forth between the parties. Israel also refused to negotiate on any point separately; it wanted to settle all problems at once within the framework of a general settlement.UNCCP, General Progress Report and Supplementary Report of the United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine, Covering the Period from 11 December 1949 to 23 October 1950 , Chapter I (doc.nr. A/1367/Rev. 1 d.d. 23 October 1950) Israel's positions have been described as follows: "the two main bones of contention were refuguees and territory. Israel's position on the former was clear and emphatic: the Arab states were responsible for the refugee problem, so responsibility for solving it rested with them. Israel was willing to make a modest financial contribution toward the resolution of this problem but only as part of an overall settlement of the conflict and only if the refugees were to be resettled in Arab countries. On the second issue Israel's position was that the permanent borders between itself and its neighbors should be based on the cease-fire lines, with only minor adjustments."

The Arabs wanted to negotiate on the basis of UN resolutions 194 and 181.UNCCP, Letter dated 29 August 1949 (doc.nr. A/AC.25/AR/17) They wanted Israel to accept first the "right to return". Israel rejected the principle of "repatriation of the refugees and payment of due compensation for their lost or damaged property, as well as for the property of those who do not wish to return" as formulated in Resolution 194,UNCCP, Meeting between the Conciliation Commission and the delegation of Israel, 11 June 1949 (doc.nr. A/AC.25/SR/LM/20)UNCCP, second progress report , 5 April 1949 (doc.nr. A/838 d.d.19-04-1949) and asked large amounts of land in exchange for return of a limited number of refugees. The Arabs wanted recognition of the areas allotted to them by the Partition Plan and immediate return of the refugees coming from the areas that were conquered by Israel.

U.S. position

In a memo of 27 May 1949 to U.S. president Harry S. Truman, the Department of State reported Israel's territorial demands and its refusal to compromise on the refugee problem. The territorial demands included a piece of southeastern Lebanon, the Gaza Strip, and parts of Transjordan as well as those portions of "Arab Palestine" defined by the UN that Israel had occupied. The memo noted the Israeli intentions to bring about a change in the US positions through their own means, and the Israeli threat to obtain additional territory by force. According to the memo, the Lausanne Conference was likely to break up when the Arabs learned of the refusal of Israel to make any concessions on territory or refugees. The memo recommended to take measures and reconsider the US relations with Israel, if she would not respond favorably. Memorandum to the President, 27 May 1949. FRUS, 1949, pp. 1060–1063. US Department of State

The President sent on 28 May 1949 a note to Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, expressing that he was "seriously disturbed" with the "excessive Israeli claims to further territory within Palestine" and its "rejection of the basic principles of the Resolution set forth by the GA on 11 December 1948". The U.S. position was that Israel should offer territorial compensation for any territory it had acquired outside the boundaries set forth in the UN resolution of 29 November 1947. The United States warned that the Israeli attitude thus far at Lausanne "must inevitably lead to a rupture in those conversations...and that a rupture arising out of the rigid attitude of the Government of Israel would place a heavy responsibility upon that Government and people". The United States warned for a revision of its relation with Israel.Telegram from Truman to Ben-Gurion, 28 May 1949. FRUS, 1949, pp. 1072–1074. US Department of State

When the U.S. ambassador the next day handed over the telegram to Ben-Gurion, the latter reacted by saying that the United States and UN had been unable to enforce 29 November resolution and to prevent the Arab aggression. He stated that Israel was not established on the basis of the resolution but on that of a successful war of defence. Because the Arab states refused to make peace, he regarded refugees as potential enemies of Israel.

Israel's reply to the United States On 8 June, Israel replied to the 28 May note. It stated that the willingness of Israel to negotiate and its full cooperation with the Conciliation Commission proved that it did not reject the basic principles of Resolution 194. The stalemate was entirely due to the attitude of the Arab states.

Israel stated that its admission to UN membership, after setting forth Israel's views regarding the Resolution before the committee, meant that the UN considered them satisfactory; a contention the U.S. government strongly rejected.

According to Israel, it was not committed to the boundaries determined in the Partition Plan because of paragraph 5 of Resolution 194 which, also according to Israel, left the field open for a territorial settlement completely unprejudiced by any a priori principle.

The refugees were (thus) members of an aggressor group defeated in a war of its own making: "The exodus is a direct consequence of [the Arab state's] criminal invasion." It was inconceivable "to undertake in one and the same breath the absorption of mass Jewish immigration and the reintegration of returning Arab refugees".Reply from the Government of Israel to the US, 8 June 1949. FRUS, 1949, pp. 1102–1106. US Department of State

The negotiations

Borders

Israel's position on borders was that they should be based on the 1949 Armistice Line (the Green Line), with minor modifications, and "flatly refused to return to the line of the 1947 partition plan." Already on 20 May 1949, Israel proposed that the "political frontiers" between Israel and respectively Egypt, Lebanon and the Hashemite Jordan Kingdom should be the same as under the British Mandate, thus annexing Galilee and Gaza.UNCCP, Summary record of a meeting between the Conciliation Commission and the delegation of Israel, 20 May 1949 (doc.nr. A/AC.25/SR/LM/15) Israel made clear to the Conciliation Commission, that she also wanted a slice of Southeastern Lebanon, necessary to her development scheme, but not yet demanded in favor of a quick peace. Residents and refugees of annexed Gaza (an area several times the size of the present Gaza Strip) who were hostile towards Israel should be deported. According to Israel, no Arab state had a right to any territory in Palestine. Israel had "of course" more demands as to territory, based upon its development scheme. Israel would not give up the occupied Negev, because she could develop it and the Arabs were not able to. Moreover, it was impossible to give it up because of "psychological reasons" and because it "would obviously be a concession to the British, not to the Arabs". Jaffa, Lydda and Ramle were simply to be kept. The latter had been filled up with immigrants and there was no place for Arabs.Telegram US Envoy to Secretary of State, 20 May 1949 (reporting information from Conciliation Commission member Mark F. Ethridge). FRUS, 1949, pp. 1036–1038. US Department of State

The border between Israel and the "central area" (that is the West Bank) would be the 1949 Armistice Line, subject to certain modifications in the interests of both parties, thus with Israeli annexation of large areas along the present West Bank, including West Jerusalem. Israel declared that it had no ambitions as regards the central area of Palestine.