| Original, signed copies of the armistice agreements
between the State of Israel and neighboring countries:
The Arab Republic of Egypt, 24 February 1949
The Republic of Lebanon, 23 March 1949
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 3 April 1949
The Syrian Arab Republic, 20 July 1949 |
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| 24 בפברואר 1949 |
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| Original, signed copies of the Israel-Lebanon, Israel-Syria, and Israel-Egypt armistice agreements: the Rhodes Agreements
In a resolution dating from the 16th of November, 1948, the United Nations Security Council called upon Israel and the Arab states to conduct armistice negotiations. Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria all responded positively. Negotiations with Egypt began under UN auspices on the island of Rhodes in early January 1949. The negotiations were overseen by Dr. Ralph Bunche, the acting UN mediator in Palestine at the time. These talks ended with the signing of an armistice agreement in Rhodes on February 24, 1949. The agreement with Lebanon was signed at Rosh Haniqra on the Israel-Lebanon border on March 23. The agreement with Jordan was signed in Rhodes on April 3, and with Syria, the event took place at the B'not Ya'akov Bridge over the Jordan River on July 20 of the same year. Maps were attached to the latter three agreements.
The armistice agreements marked the end, for all practical purposes, of Israel's War of Independence. They also created the legal international framework for relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. There was an underlying assumption that the transitional period ultimately leading to official peace treaties would be short. It was therefore decided that each agreement would in essence be a military understanding that would not prejudice the rights and demands of the various sides to the conflict in any future peace negotiations. The armistice lines were almost identical to the ceasefire lines, and it was decided that these must not be regarded as official state or territorial borders. After the signing of the documents, multilateral committees were established to supervise the armistice agreements, and the accompanying arrangements that were set down in these agreements. The final page of the armistice agreement with Syria is on display here.
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| National State Archives, א-394/5 |
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