Yitzchak Rabin, an Israel military commander, diplomat and prime minister was born in Jerusalem. He graduated from Kadoorie Agricultural College, joined the Palmah when it was founded in 1940 and participated in the Allied invasion of Syria in 1941. In 1944, as second in command of a Palmah battalion, he took part in underground actions against the British Mandatory regime and on June 29, 1946-"Black Saturday"-he was arrested and imprisoned in the Rafah detention camp for six months. In 1947 he was appointed deputy commander of the Palmah. In 1948, during the War of Independence, he was appointed commander of the Harel Brigade, which was prominent in the fight for Jerusalem. Later that year he became deputy to Yigal Allon during the operations in the Lydda-Ramleh area. His next appointment was chief of operations of the Southern Command until the Armistice Agreement with Egypt, being himself a member of the Israel truce delegation to the Rhodes armistice talks.

After the War of Independence Rabin was given various assignments and graduated from the British Staff College in 1953. After he served as C.O. Northern Command from 1956 to 1959, he was appointed head of the General Staff Branch and, in 1961, deputy chief of staff. He became the seventh chief of staff on January 1, 1964. During his term of duty, the Israel Defense Forces were victorious in the Six-Day War of 1967. After the war he was awarded an honorary degree by the Hebrew University at a ceremony on Mount Scopus and delivered an address which made a deep impression by virtue of its humanistic tone. He retired from the army on January 1, 1968, to become Israel ambassador to the U.S.

Rabin's term of office as Israeli ambassador to the United States terminated on March 1, 1973, and he decided to enter politics. He was elected to the 8th Knesset on the Labor-Mapam Alignment list and was appointed minister of labor in the government of Mrs. Golda Meir. When Mrs. Meir resigned, following the publication of the Agranat Report in April 1974, he was nominated by the central council of the Labor Party as candidate for the premiership obtaining 298 votes against 254 cast for Shimon Peres. He presented his cabinet on June 3rd.

He succeeded in rehabilitating the army, the economy, and the public morale which had been affected by the Yom Kippur War. He negotiated the 1975 Interim Agreement with Egypt, achieved through the mediation of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Cases of corruption in the Labor Party, growing inflation, and the revelation that his wife had an illegal bank account in the U.S. combined to force his resignation in March 1977 which automatically involved the resignation of the government and precipitated new elections, which were held in May 1977, in which the Likkud came to power. Rabin has remained active in the Labor Party although his challenge of Mr. Peres for leadership at the party conference in December 1980 failed, when Rabin received less than 30% of the votes.

In 1979, he published his autobiography, The Rabin Memoirs. From 1984 to 1988, he was Israel minister of defense. In early 1992, he was chosen head of the Labor party and after the elections in June became prime minister for the second time. He instituted a change of priorities, particularly in cutting back support for the settlements in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

In August 1993, he announced mutual Israel-PLO recognition and his government began negotiations towards a peace settlement with the Palestinians and with countries bordering Israel. Rabin's government firmly pursued a Peace Process. The agreement with the PLO was followed by a peace treaty with Jordan and the beginning of ties with various Arab countries, including Morocco and Tunisia. The Arab lands made considerable concessions in their economic boycott of Israel and international attitudes became more favorable. For his efforts toward regional peace, Rabin was the recipient, along with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat, of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.

At the same time that they were viewed favorably by a large number of people, Rabin's concessions - with the indication of more to come - aroused considerable opposition inside Israel, some of it reaching fanaticism. The anti-Rabin vilification reached its climax on November 4, 1995, when a young nationalist Israeli, Yigal Amir, assassinated Rabin as he was leaving a mass peace rally he had addressed in Tel Aviv. His funeral turned into a worldwide tribute to Rabin and support for the Peace Process. The graveside speakers included King Hussein of Jordan, President Clinton, and the Russian prime minister.

Photo Gallery

Yitzchak Rabin