The Jerusalem Emergency Committee (Vaadat Hamosadot Le-Inyanai Youshalayim) was a seven-man group set up in December 1947 by the Jewish Agency for Israel to take over the civil administration of Jewish Jerusalem as the British mandate over

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

came to an end. Originally

Golda Meyerson Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...

was to have been a member. It was partly in reaction to the creation of a similar group by Vaad Hakehilla, the city's Jewish Community Council. The committee consisted of

David Aboulafia David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

Daniel Auster Daniel Auster ( he, דניאל אוסטר ‎, 7 May 1893 – 15 January 1963) was Mayor of Jerusalem in the final years of Mandatory Palestine, the first Jewish mayor of the city, and the first mayor of Jerusalem after Israeli independence. Bi ...

Charles Passman Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

Hayim Salomon The name ''Haim'' can be a first name or surname originating in the Hebrew language, or deriving from the Old German name '' Haimo''. Hebrew etymology Chayyim ( he, חַיִּים ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''H ...

, Reuven Shari, Yitzhak Rafael (Werfel), and was headed by

Dov Joseph Dov Yosef ( he, דב יוסף, 27 May 1899 – 7 January 1980) was an Israeli statesman. During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, he was in charge of Jerusalem. He later held ministerial positions in nine Israeli governments. Biography Bernard Jos ...

. Its main responsibility was the supply and distribution of food and fuel to the Jewish population of Jerusalem. In March local Palestinian militias succeeded in closing the road to the city for all Jewish traffic except heavily armoured convoys. The committee introduced unpopular rationing and price controls on bread and meat. With the departure of the British Army the committee established a police force consisting of 400 former members of the Palestine Police Force. It also took charge of the postal service, schools and radio station. At the end of May the committee re-housed 1,500 refugees from the Old City in empty houses in Katamon. ,

DanielAuster22.jpg,

Haim Salomon.jpg, Reuven Sheri.jpg, Reuven Shari Yitzhak Refael.jpg, Yitzhak Rafael (Werfel) Dov Yosef.jpg,

The committee's headquarters were located in the Sansur Building on

Zion Square Zion Square ( he, כיכר ציון, ''Kikar Tziyon'') is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street. The square is one of the vertices o ...

. A week before the beginning of the first truce in June 1948 a telegraph link with Tel Aviv was made and on June 17 the postal service with the rest of Israel was resumed. During the truce civilians could only leave the city if they had a permit from the committee.

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Zionist organizations 1948 Arab–Israeli War

See also

References

Bibliography