|
|
Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem, in March 1922. His father, Nehemiah, had immigrated to Israel from the United States, and served as a volunteer in the Jewish Legion in the first World War. His mother, Rosa, was one of the First members of the Haganah. Yitzhak Rabin attended primary school in Tel Aviv, and the Kedourie Agricultural College in the lower Galilee, from which he graduated with distinction. After completing his studies, he volunteered for the Palmach, where he began his military career. He served in the Palmach and the IDE for 27 years. In 1949, he was a member of the Israeli delegation to the first negotiations with Egypt.
Yitzhak Rabin held the following military positions: 1941-1947 Member of the Palmach, 1947 Operations Officer of the Palmach, 1948 Commander of the Harel Brigade, 1953-1956 Commander, IDE Training Branch, 1956-1959 OC Northern Command, 1959-1963 IDE Deputy Chief of Staff, 1964-1968 IDE Chief of Staff.
On 1 Januaty 1966, he retired from active duty in the IDF. Shortly afterwards, he was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United States. During his years of service as Ambassador in Washington, he cultivated and consolidated ties between the two countries.
In the spring of 1973, he returned to Jerusalem and became active in the Labour Party. In the December 1973 elections, he was elected to the 8th Knesset. When Golda Meir formed her government in April 1974, he became the Minister of Labour.
On 2 June 1974 in the Knesset, there was a vote of confidence in the new government headed by Yitzhak Rabin.
During his first tenure as Prime Minister, special emphasis was put on improving Israel's economy, solving its social problems, and on strengthening the IDE With American mediation, Prime Minister Rabin conducted the negotiations which led to the 1975 interim agreement with Egypt. As a result of these negotiations, the first Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Israel and the United States.
In June 1976, the government headed by Yitzhak Rabin ordered the Entebbe operation.
Following the May 1977 elections for the 9th Knesset, Yitzhak Rabin served as an MK in the opposition (Labour) and was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committwe. He filled these positions until the formation of the National Unity Government, following the 1984 elections for the 10th Knesset.
In 1985, Defence Minister Rabin presented the Government with the proposal for the IDE withdrawal from Lebanon, and the establishment of a security zone to guarantee peace for the communities along lsraels northern border.
In May 1989, the Israeli Government adopted his plan for an arrangement with the Palestinians, in stages, which served as the blueprint for subsequent peace-making efforts.
He served as Minister of Defence in successive National Unity Governments, from September 1984 until 15 March 1990, when the Labour Party returned to opposition. Yitzhak Rabin was elected Chairman of the Israel Labour Party, in its first nation-wide primaries, in February 1992.
He led the Labour Party to victory in the June 1992 elections for the 13th Knesset and formed a government the following month. As Prime Minister, he declared a new set of national priorities - different from that of previous governments - that included peace first and foremost.
On 13 September 1993, he signed the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles.
On 25 July 1994, he signed the document which formally ended the state of belligerency between the State of Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan with King Hussein of Jordan.
On 10 December 1994, he received the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.
On 28 September 1995, he signed the Israeli-Palestinian Interm Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by a lone assassin on Saturday, 4 November 1995, shortly after speaking at a peace rally in Tel Aviv's Malchel Yisrael Square, which has now been renamed Yitzhak Rabin Square.
