The Arab Higher Committee (Arabic: اللجنة العربية العليا) or the Higher National Committee was the central political organ of the Arab Palestinians in Mandatory Palestine. It was established on 25 April 1936, on the initiative of Haj Amin al-Husayni, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, and comprised the leaders of Palestinian Arab clans and political parties under the mufti's chairmanship. The Committee was outlawed by the British Mandatory administration in September 1937 after the assassination of a British official.
A committee of the same name was reconstituted by the Arab League in 1945, but went to abeyance after it proved ineffective during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. It was sidestepped by Egypt and the Arab League with the formation of the All-Palestine Government in 1948 and both were banned by Jordan.
The first Arab Higher Committee was formed on 25 April 1936, and National Committees were formed in all of the towns and some of the larger villages, during that month. Initially, the Committee included representatives of the rival Nashashibi and al-Husayni clans. The Committee was formed after the 19 April call for a general strike of Arab workers and businesses, which marked the start of the 1936-39 Arab revolt. On 15 May 1936, the Committee endorsed the general strike, calling for an end to Jewish immigration and nonpayment of taxes.Raghib al-Nashashibi, of the Nashashibi clan and member of the National Defence Party soon withdrew from the Committee.