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The Jewish Press · Omaha, Nebraska · 25 March 1949

CP-1949-024

Sharett Suggests Exchange of Arab Refugees for Jews Living in Arab Countries

By Milton Friedman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Washington

Sharett Suggests Exchange of Arab Refugees for Jews Living in Arab Countries — The Jewish Press, 25 March 1949
The Jewish Press · Omaha, Nebraska · 25 March 1949
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Transcribed from the clipping

“Washington, (JTA)—Israel would welcome an exchange of Arab refugees for Jews living in Arab countries, Moshe Sharett, Foreign Minister of Israel, said this week at a press conference at the Israeli embassy here. Earlier, Sharett conferred briefly with Secretary of State Dean Acheson.

He said at the press conference, in answer to a pointed question about Arab refugees being repatriated to Israel, ‘If you cannot make a homogeneous community, why try to swim against the stream?’ The plight of Arab refugees is entirely the fault of the Arab aggressors, he said, adding that there were not 750,000 as generally reported but closer to 500,000.

Sharett made it known that Israel has developed far differently than if there had been no war and exodus of Arabs. Their interpretation now in the communities of Israel would be ‘very complicated.’ He said that Israel has no intention of giving up any territory assigned it by the U. N. partition decision.

This statement was in answer to a question concerning the Israeli occupation of the Elath coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. He said that the Elath strip was always considered an integral part of Israel. Sharett insisted that Israel will exercise full sovereignty in the Jewish portion of Jerusalem.

He said that there was some possibility that parts of the Old City would have to be divided into three zones — Christian, Moslem, and Jewish. The Israeli Foreign Minister told newsmen of the vast expanses of undeveloped territory in Arab states which could be settled with great benefit to Arabs, in response to repeated questions about the fate of Arab refugees.

He said that Israel will pay for the Arab-owned deserted lands in Israel.”

Context added by this archive

A foreign minister asked in Washington whether the refugees will be let back, and the answer printed in his own words. The number is disputed downward in the same paragraph. Printed beside a story headed “U. S. Ambassador Says No Zionists Executed in Iraq.”

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"Sharett Suggests Exchange of Arab Refugees for Jews Living in Arab Countries," The Jewish Press, 25 March 1949, p. 1. Covering Palestine archive, CP-1949-024. https://coveringpalestine.org/archive/cp-1949-024

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Last updated 2 November 2026

This record is part of Covering Palestine, an archive of American newspaper clippings about Palestinians, 1724 to 2023. Researched and assembled by Maria Robles.

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Something wrong here, or something you know about this clipping? The archive is still being built and corrections are wanted: maria@rozumstudio.com, quoting CP-1949-024.

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