Day 456 of 599 of מלחמת העצמאות MILḤEMET HAʾAẒMAʾUT (War of Independence)

JTA’s February 27 issue says broader withdrawal from רפיח RAFIAḤ began today. The treaty separately required evacuation of the cemetery outpost on February 26 and allowed a longer period for Hill 79. The dispatch does not prove compliance with every deadline.¹²

Klir’s February 27 entry attributes to דוד בן-גוריון DAVID BEN-GURION a call to settle many יהודים YEHUDIM on the land, including in abandoned villages and ruined towns. This is a policy statement preserved in a 1952 compilation, not a property-transfer instrument. Calling a building abandoned does not settle whether its owner fled, was expelled or was denied return.³

The dispatch predicted an imminent Lebanese armistice; the general agreement was actually signed March 23. It also reports commissioners meeting דוד בן-גוריון DAVID BEN-GURION and חיים ויצמן ḤAYIM WEIZMANN. A mistaken forecast is not a signed agreement or established intentional deception.⁴

This is Day 456 of the 599-day civil-date series, 1949-02-27. The date register’s fixed-Hebrew daytime conversion is כ״ח בשבט ה׳תש״ט 28th 𝑜𝑓 Ŝʾvat, AM 5709; after sunset it is כ״ט בשבט ה׳תש״ט 29th 𝑜𝑓 Ŝʾvat, AM 5709. The dispatch gives February 27 for withdrawal and meetings; Klir assigns the statement to its dated entry, with the original speech clock unheld. The route identifies this daily account; it does not assign every earlier occurrence, evening event or reported total to its daytime Hebrew date.⁵

• How does settlement policy raise questions that a description of abandoned property cannot resolve?
• Why must an expectation of armistice remain separate from its signature?