Isaac rabbin
Isaac Rabin (Hebrew, יִצְחַק רָבִּין, romanized: Yitzhak Rabin, pronounced [(j)itsˈχak ʁaˈbin]; Jerusalem, March 1, 1922-Tel Aviv, November 4, 1995) was an Israeli military and politician. He was the seventh chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF, Tzahal) (1964-1967) and the fifth prime minister (1974-1977) —the first born in the country, you know — and again from 1992 to 1995. As prime minister, Rabin emphasized improving the economy and solving social problems. In 1975, Rabin reached the first Interim Peace Agreement with Egypt. In 1976, Rabin ordered Operation Entebbe for the rescue of kidnapped Air France passengers. In 1994, he managed to sign the first peace treaty between Israel and Jordan with King Hussein. In 1994, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to achieve peace that culminated in the Oslo Accords and was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation.
Youth
His parents, Nehemiah and Rosa, were pioneers of the third Aliyah. Nehemia Rubichov, born in a small Ukrainian town in 1886, lost his father when he was very young and from a young age worked to support his family. At the age of 18, he immigrated to the United States, where he joined the Poalei Zion (Workers of Zion) party and changed his last name to Rabin. In 1917 he went to Palestine with the volunteers of the Hagdud Ha'ivri (Jewish Legion), determined to settle Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel). Isaac's mother, Rosa Cohen, was born in 1890 in Maguilov in Belarus. Her father, a rabbi, opposed the Zionist movement, and sent Rosa to a Christian secondary school for girls in Homel, enabling her to acquire a broad general education. From a young age, Rosa took an interest in political and social causes, to be pioneer and activist in the Socialist Movement[citation required]. In 1919, she made her aliyah to Palestine on the famous ship Rouslan , the first olim ship after World War I. After working on a kibbutz on the banks of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), she moved to Jerusalem.
Rabin was just 7 years old in 1929, when 135 Jews were murdered in cities and settlements at the hands of Arab vandals, during the Hebron Massacre. Another violent wave of rebellion against the Jewish settlements began in 1936 and continued for three years. During that episode, 630 Jews were killed and their possessions set on fire. That feeling of small settlements in a continuous fight for their survival stayed with him for many years.
Identified with the Zionist ideal, from his youth he studied and graduated from the "Kaduri" Galilee, at the foot of Mount Tabor. His dream was to travel to the United States to study Irrigation Systems Engineering, in order to solve one of Israel's great problems. But instead, in 1941 he joined the Haganah, the Hebrew underground army during the last years of the British Mandate for Palestine, and especially its elite corps, the Palmach. And so he joined the Palmach Forces as a graduate of the Agricultural School.
The issue of security came to occupy a central place in the life of the young Rabin. "The reality of our people and of our lives urged us to always be on the defensive."
Stamina
On June 29, 1946, he was apprehended by British authorities for being a Palmach activist along with his father, and put behind bars for five months. At that time, Rabin was involved in Aliyah (immigration). The British Mandate rulers prohibited Jewish immigration. They also did not allow the immigration of refugees from Europe after the end of World War II. And it was through Aliyah Beth (clandestine immigration) that the Jews were able to enter Israel. Those who were caught by the British forces were first imprisoned in the Atalit detention camp, to be later transported to a concentration camp in Cyprus. In a daring military maneuver commanded by Rabin, the Atalit camp was attacked. Rabin was the first to enter the camp and the last to leave. Rabin commented on this rescue of olim: «[...] I placed a child on my shoulders and I had a strange sensation. Carrying a Jewish child with me, shocked, paralyzed with fear. A child of the holocaust [...]».
Military career
Promoted quickly, he commanded the "Har'el" during the Liberation War (1948-49), whose main role was the conquest of West Jerusalem. Between November 29, 1947, the date on which the decision was made at the United Nations on the rise of a Jewish State in Eretz Israel, and until the proclamation of Israel's Independence on May 14, 1948, Jerusalem became center of confrontations between Arabs and Jews, whose parties were well aware of the importance of victory in them.
Between Jerusalem and the surrounding valleys there was almost no Jewish population and the city was subject to an external supply of food, water, fuel and ammunition. Rabin's responsibility was heavy. He had to ensure the communication link to Jerusalem to allow the passage of the caravans of supplies to the besieged city. Rabin was not defending one position or another, but the entire city. Within the framework of Operation Dani, which involved the Israeli conquest of the Arab cities of Lydda and Ramle, Rabin signed the expulsion order for the 50,000 inhabitants of both cities.
Appointed by Prime Minister and Defense Minister David Ben-Gurion, he participated in the Rhodes talks between Israel and Egypt, which drafted the terms of the armistice and ceasefire between the two countries. This was his first experience in negotiations concerning Peace.
At the height of the fighting, in 1948, he married Leah Labit Schlusberg, to whom he was married for 47 years. Dalia, his first daughter, was born in 1950, and five years later, Yubal, his second son.
After the war of independence, he continued his military career in the Haganah, converted since the creation of the State into the Israel Defense Army (צה"ל, Tzahal, for its acronym in Hebrew). As part of the rapid process of consolidating the army, he participated in the controversial 1948 bombing and sinking of the armed secessionist ship 'Altalena', by order of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, an act that ended up shutting down dissenting voices. of ex-militiamen headed by Menájem Begin, and sealed the unity of the factions around the Tzáhal.
The Commander in Chief, Mordechai Maklef, decided that in order to train the young Rabin to command the Tzáhal, he would have to receive high military studies abroad. In 1952 the young officer left for England to the Camberley Command and Headquarters College. He was surprised when he arrived and saw that the chief of officers of the school was none other than the same British commander who arrested him that "black Saturday"; in the year 1946.
Moshé Dayán, appointed Commander-in-Chief, instead of Maklef, ordered the return of Rabin, to name him thus in charge of instruction of the Tzahal. The then Colonel Rabin received the rank of general and at the age of 31 was the youngest general in the history of the Israeli army.
He participated in the second Arab-Israeli war, the Sinai Campaign of 1956.
In 1961 he was appointed deputy commander in chief and in 1964 he was appointed chief of staff, a position from which he reorganized the army.
The victory of the Six Day War
Three weeks before the Six-Day War, in 1967, the Ramatcal (Commander-in-Chief) did not think that a new war between Israel and the Arab countries was possible. On May 15, Egyptian forces began to build up in the Sinai and tensions grew. The Egyptians ordered the UN forces, which had been inspecting the borders since the Sinai War in 1956, to withdraw, which they did very quickly. Egypt, in another bellicose action, also proclaimed the closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli ships making their way to Eilat.
In view of the events, Rabin ordered the preparation of the military device in southern Israel and called the reserve units.
Nasser, then President of Egypt, visiting soldiers at the Sinai bases, proudly proclaimed: “Rabin threatens us with war? Our answer is "Ahalan Usahalan" (welcome).» The Arab Union was strengthened when Syria and Jordan joined forces.
War was inevitable. On the morning of June 5, 1967, Rabin was given the "green light" to open a war of prevention. In a single brief, efficient and crushing blow, the Israeli Air Force shot down almost all of the enemy's planes. The control of the airspace was then total.
During the first day, Rabin ordered action against the Egyptian front in Sinai and the Gaza Strip. In just 4 days the unconditional surrender was received and the Tzahal was located on the eastern shore of the Suez Canal.
As the Israel Defense Forces crossed to the west bank of the canal, bitter encounters were taking place in Jerusalem. The Jordanians opened fire along the border between the two parts of the city on the first day of the war. Jordanian Legion forces seized the High Commissioner's Castle, used as a headquarters by United Nations observers. The Israeli response was forceful and decisive. From then on, the war spread throughout Jerusalem.
After three arduous days of fighting, he relinquished the Jordanian front as far as the Jordanian Bridge. The entrance of the Commander in Chief, Isaac Rabin, together with the Minister of Defense of Israel, Moshe Dayán and the General in charge of the Central Zone, Uzi Narkis, to the old city was historic.
The last link in the war was the fight against the Syrians. Rabin wanted to deal heavy blows to them, but Defense Minister Moshe Dayan delayed the order. Finally the "green light" arrived, and the attack came on the fifth day of fighting. The ceasefire came when the Tzahal dominated the entire Golan, including the southern part of Mount Hermon.
The ceasefire lines created new boundaries. At that moment, the Commander in Chief of the Army, Rabin, decided to change his tactic of prevention and distance from the enemy, to another tactic of containment front.
The triumphant Rabin declared during his speech on the liberated Mount Scopus, at the time he received the Honorary Title of Doctor of Philosophy:
- "The victory was achieved by the courageous spirit of our forces of the Tzahal. This army, of which I had the opportunity and the honor to meet his head, of the people comes and returns to the people. A people who stood up in hours of oppression and who can face every enemy through their ethical, spiritual preparation and level, in moments of true testing. "
Isaac Rabin was called The Commander of the Six-Day War, who retired from his duties a few months after the war. For him, 27 years of military service ended. In 1968, he was appointed Ambassador of Israel to the United States of America.
Ambassador Isaac Rabin
In 1968 he was appointed ambassador of Israel to the United States, a position he held until 1973, and during which he acquired a broad vision of international relations, and established a personal relationship with the political leadership of Washington.
Rabin was not one of those ambassadors whose diplomacy was an inseparable part of his being. He didn't know the protocols and even the cocktails were strange to him. Rabin created a personal, open and sincere contact. Relations of trust grew between the two congresses and they liked to listen to their analyses.
Rabin concentrated his efforts on convincing the government of the need to supply the Tzahal with the most sophisticated weapons. Rabin explained:
- "We can observe, in the short term, that the Arabs have not yielded to their goal of non-conciliation with Israel, that is, their objective of destruction of Israel. The risks that this poses to the Arabs themselves are limited, without being decisive. However, in the present reality of the Middle East, Israel's failure would mean its destruction.".
The ambassador recognized that it was not possible to reach a complete military surrender, but that it was necessary to solidify the security and power of Israel, to achieve peace with the Arab states as the ultimate goal.
Isaac Rabin returned from his ambassadorial post to Washington in the spring of 1973.
From diplomat to prime minister
On his return to Israel, he joined the Israeli Labor Party; although the Yom Kippur War of October 1973, he found him without any public charge.
In the December 1973 elections, he was elected to the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament, and became part of the Labor government of Prime Minister Golda Meir, whose trust he had earned by serving as ambassador, who appointed him Minister of Labor.
Towards the end of his term, in 1976, the Rabin government began to show signs of crisis: rising inflation as a result of the global energy crisis that followed the Yom Kippur War; renowned corruption cases, such as the one that culminated in the suicide of its Minister of Construction, Abraham Ófer; and finally, the vote of no confidence on the part of the religious parties of his government coalition, motivated by the arrival of the first F-15 planes of the Israeli Air Force once Shabbat had already begun, which forced him to call early elections., for May 17, 1977.
Oppositionist and minister
Infighting and intense rivalry between Peres and Rabin marked his next years as opposition deputy (1977-1984). During those years of low public and political profile, Rabin wrote his autobiography at this time: & # 34; Record of Service & # 34; (פנקס שירות, Pinkás Sherut ), famous for his staunch criticism of Shimon Peres, whom he calls in his book "tireless intriguer", faithful to his direct vocabulary and no holds barred.
Between 1984 and 1990, he held the post of Defense Minister of two national coalition governments, alternately chaired by Peres and Yitzjak Shamir, which established a rotation system for the posts of prime minister; This was not the case for Rabin, who continued in his ministerial position without interruption until the dissolution of the bipartisan coalition in 1990. During his tenure, he ordered the almost complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Lebanon (1985), except for a security strip along the border that would not be evacuated until the year 2000; and the first Palestinian intifada broke out on December 9, 1987. Between 1990 and 1992, he again occupied his seat in the Knesset as an opposition deputy.
Second term as Prime Minister
Isaac Rabin defeated Shimon Peres in a primary election, and was chosen as the Labor Party's candidate for prime minister, handing it a resounding electoral victory, its first in 18 years. Isaac Rabin assumed his second term as Prime Minister of Israel on July 13, 1992, at the age of 70, also keeping the Defense portfolio in his hands. Despite their long rivalry bordering on enmity, he appointed Peres as his Foreign Minister, who decided to revive the ailing talks in Madrid, through secret negotiations held in Oslo, initially between Israeli intellectuals and members of the Organization for the Liberation of Palestine (PLO), and later with the intervention of official Israeli representatives, headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs himself.
Peres managed to convince Rabin to overcome his natural aversion to PLO leader Yasser Arafat, whom he considered the head of a terrorist gang; and with a large dose of pragmatism and with the endorsement of the United States, he agreed to the secret negotiations in Oslo, which led to the Oslo accords signed in Washington on September 13, 1993. Following the accords, Arafat returned to Gaza as the holder of an autonomous government with authority initially over the Gaza Strip and Jericho, which would later extend to other territories in the West Bank. Rabin also signed the Peace Treaty reached with King Hussein of Jordan on October 26, 1994. His efforts were recognized with the award, together with Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres, of the Nobel Peace Prize for the year 1994, and of the Prince of Asturias Award for Concord of the same year, jointly with Arafat. One of the side effects of the peace process was the reconciliation between Rabin and Peres, who became confidants and close collaborators, with the same goal in common.
During his second and crucial term in government, Rabin underwent a profound metamorphosis, moving from a purely military conception of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, maintained until his firm fight against the intifada as minister of Defense, to a convinced promoter of the difficult rapprochement with the Palestinians in search of peace in the region. His "peace in exchange for territories" formula aspired to provide Israel with secure borders, normal relations with neighboring countries and acceptance by the international community, in exchange for ceding to the Arabs part of the territories conquered in successive warfare.
However, the years that followed Oslo saw the country sink into a gradual process of tension, fueled by the first major suicide terrorist attacks perpetrated by Islamic extremists (22 dead on the line 5 bus in Tel Aviv, (October 19, 1994); 21 dead in the double attack on Bet Lid, (January 22, 1995), among others); as well as by the growing opposition of the Israeli right to the successive Israeli withdrawals and concessions to the Palestinians; and the discrepancies between the parties regarding the implementation of the agreements, among other causes.
The climate of exaltation and revolt experienced in Israel during the year 1995, was fomented by the nationalist right opposed to the policies of the Rabin government, which launched a campaign of delegitimization directed personally against the president, calling for demonstrations in that Rabin was treated as a traitor or other similar insults. The atmosphere was exacerbated by the relatively quick language of the prime minister, who referred to his detractors and opponents with a hint of contempt, and by the position taken by certain rabbis, who insinuated that Jewish law effectively equated the handing over of land to the Palestinians to a betrayal, which had to be avoided at all costs.
Nobel Peace Prize
The 1994 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Isaac Rabin, Shimon Peres and Yasir Arafat. All three politicians played a big role in the search for peace in the Middle East, and have been rewarded for their efforts since the Oslo Accords. In his speech at the awards ceremony, Rabin described his own development "from hero of war to hero of peace."
After the signing of the Declaration of Principles, extremists who oppose the peace process began a campaign of terrorist attacks. Isaac Rabin pledged to continue the peace process as if there were no terrorism, while the fight against terrorism continued as if there were no peace process. On May 4, 1994, Rabin signed the Gaza and Jericho Agreement, which granted autonomy to the Palestinians in Gaza and Jericho. The IDF withdrew from Jericho and the Gaza Strip, but continued to defend Jewish settlements in the territories. On September 24, 1995, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo B Accords, which expanded the areas under the control of the new Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. On October 26, 1994, a Peace Treaty was signed between Israel and Jordan, the culmination of the Middle East peace process.
Death
On Saturday, November 4, 1995, with the aim of reinforcing supporters of the peace process, a massive event was called in the Kings of Israel Square (today Yitzhak Rabin Square), in Tel Aviv, with the slogan "Yes to peace, no to violence", with the participation of artists and politicians from the center-left and left, led by the prime minister himself. In his last speech addressed to the thousands of participants stated:
"I was a gunman for 27 years. While there was no opportunity for peace, multiple wars developed. Today, I am convinced of the opportunity we have to realize peace, great opportunity. Peace carries intrinsic pains and difficulties in order to be achieved. But there is no way without those pains”.
At the end of the assembly, and after singing “The Song of Peace” (שיר לשלום) at 9:40 p.m., Rabin proceeded to leave the place, descending from the podium by some side stairs, at the end of which Yigal Amir was waiting for him, who shot him in the back moments before getting into his official car. Isaac Rabin, badly wounded, was rushed to the nearby Ijilov hospital, where he was pronounced dead within 40 minutes of being admitted.
The farewell
The burial of the assassinated prime minister took place two days after his assassination, on November 6, 1995, in the Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem, and was one of the largest in the modern state of Israel.. That day all activity ceased and the entire nation dressed in mourning. Heads of state and prime ministers from around the world participated in it: United States President Bill Clinton, King Hussein of Jordan, Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, the French President Jacques Chirac, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin or UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, among many others. Rabin's granddaughter, Noa, delivered a heartfelt speech. “Shalom, friend” (שלום חבר), with these words the American president fired him. King Hussein of Jordan declared: “For as long as I live, I will be proud to have known him, I worked with him as a colleague, as a brother”. The Israeli parliament declared the day of Rabin's assassination a mandatory commemoration for the entire country.
Appointments and recognitions
| Predecessor: Tzvi Tzur | Commander of the Israel Defense Forces 1964 - 1968 | Successor: Chaim Bar-Lev |
| Predecessor: Avraham Harman | Ambassador of Israel to the United States 1968 - 1973 | Successor: Simcha Dinitz |
| Predecessor: Golda Meir | Leader of the Israel Labour Party 1973 - 1977 | Successor: Shimon Peres |
| Predecessor: Golda Meir | Prime Minister of Israel 1974 - 1977 | Successor: Menájem Beguin |
| Predecessor: Moshe Arens | Minister of Defence of Israel 1984 - 1990 | Successor: Yitzhak Shamir |
| Predecessor: Yitzjak Shamir | Prime Minister of Israel 1992-1995 | Successor: Shimon Peres |
| Predecessor: Moshe Arens | Minister of Defence of Israel 1992-1995 | Successor: Shimon Peres |
| Predecessor: Shimon Peres | Leader of the Israel Labour Party 1992-1995 | Successor: Shimon Peres |
| Predecessor: Nelson Mandela Frederik de Klerk |  1994 | Successor: Joseph Rotblat |
| Predecessor: Blue Helmets of the United Nations Organization for Yugoslavia |  Prince of Asturiasde International Cooperation Award together with Yasir Arafat 1994 | Successor: Mário Soares |