David Ben Gurion, upholding the statehood principle and the enforcement of the state authority over all pre-state paramilitary organizations, decided in September 1949 to order the disbandment of the Palmach and its assimilation within the IDF.
When it became clear that the Palmach convention to be convened in October 1949 would deal with political matters and have a military character, Ben Gurion forbade soldiers of all ranks to participate in it.
Despite Chief of Staff, Jacob Dori, instruction to avoid participation in the convention, some officers chose to participate.
The IDF and Defense Establishment Archive presents for the first time the documents pertaining to the affair, including the protocols of the trials held against Colonel Yitzhak Rabin, Major Zvi Zamir, Major David Elazar, and Major Haim Bar-Lev.