Summary
Swedish count, president of the Swedish Red Cross and UN mediator in Palestine from 20 May 1948, the one UN emissary who, in Pappe’s account, was different: he demanded the unconditional return of all the Palestinian refugees, repeated the demand in his final report, and was murdered by Jewish terrorists in September 1948 for it; UN General Assembly Resolution 194 of December 1948 is his posthumous legacy.
Details
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As president of the Swedish Red Cross, Bernadotte had been instrumental in saving Jews from the Nazis during the Second World War, which was why the Israeli government had agreed to his appointment as UN mediator; they had not expected him to try to do for the Palestinians what he had done for the Jews only a few years before (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.190).
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He arrived in Palestine on 20 May 1948 and brokered the first truce, in effect from 11 June to 8 July 1948, and negotiated the second, which came into effect on 18 July (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.180-181, p.189).
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He had already called for the refugees’ repatriation during the first truce, which was ignored, and proposed to re-divide the country in half and demand the unconditional return of all the refugees; when he repeated his recommendation in the final report he submitted to the UN, he was assassinated (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.189-190).
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Thanks to Bernadotte, in December 1948 the UN General Assembly posthumously adopted his legacy and recommended the unqualified return of all the refugees Israel had expelled, one of a host of UN resolutions Israel has systematically ignored (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.190).
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His pressure potential is why, from July 1948, the Israeli government involved its diplomats and Foreign Ministry directly in a public relations campaign to stymie adverse international responses to the cleansing (The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, PDF p.190).
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In Manna, Bernadotte as UN mediator sought a cease-fire and unlimited armistice after July 1948 and proposed that Israel either annex the entire Galilee or the western and southern portions it had occupied — after Israel, Jordan was the second beneficiary of his proposals and the Palestinians the main losers; the competing Arab states could not reach a common position on them (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.77).
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His assassination by the terrorist Lehi organization (Stern gang) cut short his attempts; his successor Ralph Bunche accused the Israeli leadership of responsibility for the hostile atmosphere that led to the assassination; Israel feared increased return pressure afterwards, but its concerns dissipated quickly (Nakba and Survival, PDF p.78).