BENEDICT “ VIKTOR” GOMBOCZ

Yitzhak Rabin (1922-1995)

Early life, 1922-1948

Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem on March 1, 1922, to Rosa and Nechemia Rabin (Rubitzov).

Not long after he was born, his family moved to Tel Aviv, where he attended Beit Hinuch Leyaldei Ovdim (Worker’s Children School) elementary school, and from age fifteen, Kadoorie agricultural school.

While he initially flunked the Kadoorie entrance test, he later won the High Commissioner’s prize for educational brilliance.

At Kadoorie, he befriended Yigal Alon, later a Palmach leader; the Palmach was the Haganah underground’s elite strike force.

He was recruited into the Palmach underground in 1941.

He was deputy commander of the operation that liberated 200 illegal refugees from the Atlit detention camp, in 1945.

He became Deputy Commander of the Palmach in 1947.

He married Leah Schlossberg in 1948; they had two children, Yuval and Dalia.

Yigal Alon in the Palmach underground (left) and Atlit Detention Camp (right)

Founding of the State of Israel, May 1948

As the Harel unit’s commander, Rabin played a central role in defending Jerusalem, in 1948, especially in Operation Nachshon, which ended the blockade of Jerusalem in early April 1948, as well as the fighting in the Katamonim.

Through a habit of fate, Rabin was also the commander in charge in June 1948, when PM David Ben-Gurion issued the order to sink the Altalena, a ship supplying weapons for the Irgun underground, which Ben-Gurion and others believed was going to attempt a coup.

Sinking of the Altalena, June 1948

Education and Military Career, 1948-1967

Rabin studied at the Camberley Staff College in Britain until 1953.

He became head of the Israel Defence Forces Training Branch, having been appointed by Moshe Dayan, advancing to Brigadier General; he prepared the Israeli officers training college.

He was Chief of Operations of the Northern Command from 1956-1959; he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the IDF in 1961.

He was promoted to Chief of Staff of the IDF on January 1, 1964.

He planned the IDF methodically and played a role in Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War in June 1967, but at one point not long before the war, he experienced either a loss of nerve or nicotine poisoning and sat out for a day.

Right after the war, Rabin received an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Hebrew University.

Rabin’s acceptance speech, delivered in the background of the amphitheater of the recently freed Mount Scopus campus, came to represent the way Israelis saw that war’s victory and Rabin himself (See Yitzhak Rabin: Acceptance Speech for Honorary Doctorate, Mount Scopus, 1967).

Israeli troops in Sinai, 7 June 1967 (left) and Map of Israel before and after the Six-Day War (right)

Ambassador to the United States, 1968-1973

Rabin left the military in 1968. Despite not being an affiliate of

the Mapai party, he joined Mapai’s successor, Labor, and became ambassador to the United States, a political exile meant to prevent him from being a serious runner for office.

As ambassador, Rabin laid down the close friendship between Israel and the United States that evolved after the Six-Day War, which from his point of view needed to be based on common strategic concerns and Israel’s strategic value to the United States as opposed to appeals to the Jewish vote’s power.

Return to Israel and First Premiership, 1973-1977

Rabin returned to Israel in 1973 and was appointed Minister of Labor in PM Golda Meir’s cabinet.

After Meir resigned on June 3, 1974, Rabin became PM – the youngest in Israeli history, at age 52, and the first native-born Israeli (Sabra).

However, on April 22, 1977, Rabin resigned as PM and leader of the Labor party in goodwill toward Shimon Peres after it was discovered that Rabin’s wife Leah had illegally kept a foreign currency account holding almost $3,000 in the United States.

Defense Minister, 1984-1992

Rabin was Defense Minister in the unity governments of Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Shamir, from 1984.

He was liable for the evacuation from most of Lebanon; he was also liable for Israeli policy in the Intifada.

He is supposedly quoted as having said “We will break their bones” (about the Palestinians) but his wife Leah assured in her book Rabin – Our Life, His Legacy that he did not say that; other editions claim that Rabin did make the statement, but in order to persuade soldiers to abstain from shooting at rock-throwing Palestinians.

Second Premiership, Oslo I Accord and Peace Treaty with Jordan, 1992-1994

Rabin was selected as leader of the Labor party in 1992, in place of Shimon Peres.

He subsequently led Labor to victory ahead of the opposition Likud for the first time in fifteen years; he started his second, non-consecutive term as PM in July 1992, taking the position of Defense Minister also, with Peres as Foreign Minister.

Rabin’s unbeatable credentials as a war hero and senior statesman made him successful in prevailing over the troublesome internal politics of the Labor party, and in leading Israel to the 1993 Oslo peace agreement with the Palestinians and the 1994 peace treaty with Jordan.

Also in 1994, Rabin was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize, together with Shimon Peres and Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat in acknowledgement of their involvement in the Oslo peace process.

Rabin was known for his honesty, analytic mind and colorful informal Sabra idioms, given in his slow and deep bass voice that became a characteristic of encouragement to two generations of Israelis, but a source of frustration to political enemies.

PM Rabin and King Hussein of Jordan (left) at the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signing ceremony and Rabin winning the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Shimon

Peres and Yasser Arafat (right)

Failure of the Oslo I Accord

As the certainty of likely concessions of Israeli land came nearer, and at the same time, Palestinian terrorist groups launched more and more traps and terrorist attacks (although they were still relatively trivial at the time), Rabin’s popularity declined.

Violent protests depicted him as an SS officer; at one point, protesters damaged his official automobile.

A group of right-wing protesters assembled outside his Ramat Aviv residence every day, chanting insults and threats against him; the security apparatus made little effort to stop this action.

Ariel Sharon said that warnings of threats made against Rabin’s life were political inventions.

Rabin reacted by organizing a giant peace rally, with “Yes to Peace, No to Violence” as the idea.

Assassination and funeral, 1995

That rally took place in Tel Aviv’s main square on the evening of November 4, 1995; many attended.

Rabin shared the podium with his former competitor Shimon Peres, singing peace songs; Rabin announced his fortitude to carry on the peace agreements, and left to go to his vehicle.

As Rabin neared his car, Yigal Amir, a right-wing radical, who was aroused by incitement of fanatic settler rabbis, broke through the very negligent police security and fired several shots at the PM’s back.

Rabin was hurried to Ichilov hospital, where he died immediately thereafter.

Many world leaders attended his funeral, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, who made the saying “Shalom, Chaver” (adieu, comrade) well known, and most prominently, H.M. King Hussein of Jordan.

Yitzhak Rabin’s grave

Bibliography

Yitzhak Rabin Biography: http://www.zionism-israel.com/bio/Rabin_biography.htm

Other links: The Oslo Accords:

http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/middleeast/a/What-Were-The-Oslo Accords.htm

Nobel Peace Prize recipients of 1994: http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1994/

Yitzhak Rabin’s Doctorate Acceptance Speech: http://zionism-israel.com/hdoc/Rabin_Doctorate_Acceptance.htm