Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol wanted to transfer Gazans to the West Bank

During the 1967 Six Day War, then-prime minister Levi Eshkol and Golda Meir, secretary-general of the ruling Mapai party, wanted to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, according to recently released government documents from the time.The documents were presented by Hagai Huberman and Dr. Miriam Billig at a seminar on Thursday sponsored by the Institute for National Security Studies and the Katif Center.The seminar focused on a study by the two journalists on the perception of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli government since the establishment of the state.Huberman also presented proof that internal meetings took place toward the end of the war – attended by then-prime minister Levi Eshkol, Maj.-Gen. (and future president) Chaim Herzog, Eshkol’s adviser in charge of communications with the Arab residents of the territories (and future ambassador to Egypt) Moshe Sasson, and Foreign Ministry employees Shaul Bar-Haim and David Kimhi – in which it was suggested to Eshkol, “The Arabs of the Gaza Strip be transferred to the Jordanian Kingdom.”