Plan Dalet

Plan Dalet was the blueprint used by the first prime minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, finalized on March 10, 1948, for the new Israeli army to expel indigenous Palestinians from their homeland during Israel’s establishment in 1948. Today, this act of mass expulsion would be called ethnic cleansing. Plan Dalet specified which Palestinian cities and towns would be targeted and gave instructions for how to drive out their inhabitants and destroy their communities. It stated: “Destruction of villages (setting fire to, blowing up, and planting mines in the debris), especially those population centers which are difficult to control continuously... Mounting search and control operations according to the following guidelines: encirclement of the village and conducting a search inside it. In the event of resistance, the armed force must be destroyed and the population must be expelled outside the borders of the state.” Three quarters of all Palestinians, about 750,000 people, were forced from their homes and made refugees during Israel’s establishment. Their homes, land, and other belongings were systematically destroyed or taken over by Israelis. More than 400 Palestinian towns and villages, including vibrant urban centers, were destroyed or repopulated with Jewish Israelis. Many Israelis, including senior Israeli political and religious leaders, believe the ethnic cleansing carried out during Plan Dalet didn’t go far enough and have openly called for further expulsions of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestinian communities since 1948. The horrific actions by Hamas on October 7, 2023, attacking innocent civilians and ultimately killing over 1,100 innocent Israeli’s while taking hostage an additional 250 civilians and soldiers, alive or dead, including 30 children, gave the Israeli government, after over 76 years, the justification to fulfill the stated goals of Plan Delate. The successful conclusion of the Israeli plan is now on full display as we look at the remnants of Palestine, an independent, recognized member of the United Nations and the decimated population of a people who have inhabited this land for thousands of years.