Diplomats explained a frontier designed for security and development while state leaders examined reception capacity and the American warning. The records preserve proposals and objections with enough detail to test their assumptions.

How did the delegation justify its frontier?

At 11 a.m., זלמן ליפשיץ ZALMAN LIFSHITZ explained terrain, a north-to-south irrigation route and the relation between villages and farmland. אליהו ששון ELIYAHU SASSON defended the ability to propose changes to the protocol map. The frontier study retains both security and economic reasoning, along with the challenge by the representative of the Republic of Turkey. No new boundary was agreed.1

Were thousands of families already placed?

Agricultural representatives discussed 5,000 families across existing communities and regional camps, alongside another 3,000 in abandoned villages. The reception study preserves these as capacity assessments. דוד בן-גוריון DAVID BEN-GURION requested more specific employment and accommodation data. The government also discussed a cinema, policing and שבת ŜABAT in ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM, assigning investigation to three ministries; that assignment was not a finding about every participant’s conduct.23

What did the president’s briefing establish?

Webb reported that the president showed interest in the reaction to the warning and that Webb felt sure he supported the course being followed. This was Webb’s impression, not a detailed presidential order for new sanctions. The warning study distinguishes the briefing from earlier clearance and delivery.4

Was Syrian arbitration ordered?

A 7 p.m. Washington telegram considered recommending arbitration by Ralph Bunche if the armistice dispute reached the Security Council. It asked for views. The draft study shows why that contingency cannot become an arbitration agreement or a completed fourth armistice. These documents establish no daily fatality total.5

How is this dated?

This is Day 549 of the 599-day civil-date series: 1949-05-31. Its public OTD route is ג׳ בסיון ה׳תש״ט 3rd 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 5709, the daytime Hebrew conversion of the civil slot. The frontier meeting is expressly May 31 at 11 a.m. The diary and presidential briefing are dated May 31, while the arbitration telegram was sent at 7 p.m. Plans do not date completed placements or a signed armistice. An individual occurrence after local sunset belongs to ד׳ בסיון ה׳תש״ט 4th 𝑜𝑓 Sivan, AM 5709; the daily slot does not assign that daytime Hebrew date to every incident described here. Source clocks are local to their named cities; evening reports and meeting times remain distinct. 6789

Guided reflections

  • How do security, irrigation and farmland jointly shape the frontier argument?
  • Why did the prime minister ask for community-specific reception data after hearing aggregate estimates?

Footnotes

  1. United Nations, A/AC.25/Com.Gen/SR.10, Com.Gen/SR.10, heading and exchanges. ↩
  2. Ben-Gurion, diary, May 31, 1949, May 31 diary, opening and afternoon. ↩
  3. Ben-Gurion, diary, May 31, 1949, Original first page. ↩
  4. FRUS 1949, vol. VI, document 707, FRUS 707, full memorandum. ↩
  5. FRUS 1949, vol. VI, document 712, FRUS 712, contingency and request. ↩
  6. United Nations, A/AC.25/Com.Gen/SR.10, Date and relative wording identified in the section above. ↩
  7. Ben-Gurion, diary, May 31, 1949, Date and relative wording identified in the section above. ↩
  8. Ben-Gurion, diary, May 31, 1949, Date and relative wording identified in the section above. ↩
  9. FRUS 1949, vol. VI, document 707, Date and relative wording identified in the section above. ↩

Works cited

  1. United Nations Conciliation Commission for Palestine. A/AC.25/Com.Gen/SR.10. Official summary record or correspondence, May–June 1949. https://unispal.un.org/pdfs/AAC25ComGenSR10.pdf. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  2. Ben-Gurion, David. Diary, May 31, 1949. Ben-Gurion Archive, record 219643. Hosted Hebrew transcription. https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/node/5150. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  3. Ben-Gurion, David. Diary, May 31, 1949. Ben-Gurion Archive, record 219643. Original scan. https://bengurionarchive.bgu.ac.il/sites/default/files/diaries/item-2196431621242147.pdf. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  4. United States Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949. Vol. VI. Document 707. Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v06/d707. Accessed October 11, 2026.
  5. United States Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1949. Vol. VI. Document 712. Office of the Historian. https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1949v06/d712. Accessed October 11, 2026.