Page "Qibya massacre" Paragraph 7

According to the former Time correspondent to Jerusalem, Donald Neff, the decisive calculation was as follows: Force had to be used to demonstrate to the Arabs that Israel was in the Middle East to stay, Ben Gurion believed, and to that end he felt strongly that his retaliatory policy had to be continued. Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon gave the order, in coordination with Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

The Israeli elected governing cabinet was not informed, and though Foreign Affairs Minister Moshe Sharett was privy to prior deliberations on whether or not such a punitive raid ought to be conducted, he expressed strong disapproval of the proposal, and was deeply shocked when informed of the outcome.