|
|
|
Childhood:
Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem, on March 1, 1922.
He was raised by his parents, Nehemia Rabin and Rosa Cohen, who were active in
the political party, Ahdut Ha'avoda, according to the values of the Labor
movement. Nehemia was one of the first employees of Pinhas Rutenberg's
Electricity Corporation and Rosa was the first woman in the "Hagana" leadership
in Haifa.
Yitzhak Rabin studied at Beit Hinuch Leyaldei Ovdim (a school
for workers' children) in Tel Aviv and the agricultural school
Kedourie.
|
|
|
Army:
In the course of the Second World War he joined the
Palmah and participated in the British invasion of Lebanon and Syria.
In the
course of the War of Independence, Rabin commanded the Harel Brigade, which
inter alia was in charge of keeping the way to Jerusalem open for supply
convoys.
On January 13, 1949, he participated in the talks about the
armistice agreement between Israel and Egypt in Rhodes.
On December 5,
1963 Rabin was appointed as Israel's seventh Chief of Staff, and in June 1967,
commanded over the impressive military victory of the IDF in the Six Day War,
which led to the reunification of Jerusalem under Jewish sovereignty, for the
first time in 2000 years.
|
|
|
Politics:
In February 1968 Rabin was appointed as Israel's
Ambassador to Washington where he left a distinct mark on US-Israel relations.
After returning to Israel he was appointed Minister of Labor in the
Government, which Golda Meir formed after the Yom Kippur War, and in June 1974
was appointed Prime Minister. As Prime Minister Rabin had to contend with a
reality of political and party schisms and growing public criticism of the
political and military leadership. At the same time his government made a major
effort to strengthen the army and resolve some of the country's social and
economic problems.
Yitzhak Rabin signed the Interim Agreement with Egypt
in 1975, which involved the withdrawal of Israeli forces was part of the Sinai.
He also presided over the Entebbe Operation, in the course of which over 100
hijacked Israeli and Jewish Air-France passengers were released by Israeli
military forces in Uganda.
Rabin resigned the premiership in April 1977.
From June 1977 until the formation of the National Unity Government in
1984, Rabin served as a Labor MK and was member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs
and Security Committee. He was also active in the UJA and Israel
Bonds.
In 1984 Rabin was appointed Minister of Defense, in which capacity
he served until March 1990. In 1985 he initiated the withdrawal of the IDF from
most of Lebanon, leaving a security zone in the South.
|
|
|
1992-1995:
After regaining the Labor Party leadership in February
1992, Rabin was appointed Prime Minister and Minister of Defense in July.
On September 13, 1993, he signed the Declaration of Principles with PLO
chairman Yasir Arafat, which included mutual recognition between Israel and the
Palestinians and Palestinian self-rule in Gaza and Jericho. A later agreement,
signed in October 5, 1995, involved Israeli withdrawal from seven Palestinian
towns in the West Bank and called for the holding of elections in the
Palestinian authority.
An additional political achievement was the peace
treaty between Israel and Jordan, signed on October 26, 1994.
For their
efforts Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasir Arafat were granted the Nobel
Prize for Peace in December 1994.
|
|
|
Murder's day:
On November 4, 1995 Rabin was shot to death
by a Jewish assassin, at the end of a mass demonstration in Kikar Malchei
Yisrael in Tel Aviv in support of the peace process
|
Copyright (c) 1998-2009 Yaron Segman. All rights reserved.
Yizhak Rabin - יצחק רבין
Segmany@hotmail.com
|
