When Israel became an independent Jewish state in 1948 were Arabs forcibly removed or did they leave on their own because their leaders told them to ?
The Palestinians did not “leave” their villages as much as they were forced out of them through various means. According to Salman Abu Sitta, and based on a wide array of sources, the majority of Palestinian villages (54%) were abandoned due to military assaults by Zionist militias. The second largest reason was direct expulsion by Zionist forces (24%). Panic caused by the atrocities committed in other fallen villages inspired mass panic that resulted in the abandonment of (10%) of the villages. Fear of Zionist attack resulted in a further (7%) of the villages being abandoned, while (2%) were abandoned due to psychological terror campaigns, dubbed “whispering” campaigns.
Despite the popularity -and convenience- of the claim that Palestinians left on Arab orders, there is no evidence to corroborate the existence of any blanket calls for mass Palestinian evacuation. As a matter of fact, there were calls to the opposite, and borders were often closed to Palestinian refugees, especially men of fighting age. The only villages that were partially evacuated by the Arab armies for various reasons amount to less than 1% of the ethnically cleansed communities.
It should be stressed, however, that the technicalities or reasons why the refugees left are irrelevant, as they have a right to return to their homes regardless.
This is thoroughly addressed in my previous answer below: