• Biography
  • born in Jerusalem in 1922; he studied at the Kadoorie Agricultural College
  • his military career began in 1940 when he joined the “Palmach”, the elite unit of the Haganah
  • during the War of Independence (1948-1949), he commanded the Harel Brigade, deployed on the Jerusalem front.
  • until 1968, he served with the IDF as O.C. Northern Command (1956-1959); as Chief of Operations and Deputy Chief of Staff (1959-1964) and as Chief of Staff (1964-1968), commanding the IDF during the Six-Day War
  • on January 1, 1968, he retired from military service and shortly afterwards was appointed ambassador to the United States
  • during this time as ambassador in Washington, he promoted and consolidated the ties between the two countries
  • 1973, Rabin returned to Israel and became active in the Labour Party as an member of parliament
  • in Golda Meir 1974 government he was Minister of Labour
  • later this year he headed fr the first time the government as a Prime Minister
  • during Rabin’s premiership, the government placed special emphasis on strengthening the economy, solving social problems and reinforcing the IDF
  • with American mediation, disengagement agreements were signed with Egypt and Syria (1974), followed by an interim agreement with Egypt in 1975, later in 1975, the first Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the governments of Israel and the United States
  • in June 1976, Rabin’s government issued the order for “Operation Entebbe”, liberating the hijacked Air France passengers.
  • following the May 1977 elections, and until the formation of the National Unity Government in September 1984, Rabin served as a Knesset Member of the Labour Party in opposition and was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
  • in the National Unity Governments (1984-1990), Rabin served as Minister of Defense. In January 1985, he presented the proposal for the withdrawal of IDF forces from Lebanon and the establishment of a security zone to guarantee peace to the settlements along Israel’s northern border
  • Jitzhak Rabin was elected chairman of the Israel Labour Party in its first nationwide primaries conducted in February 1992 and led the party to victory in the June 1992 Knesset elections.
  • in July 1992, Rabin formed Israel’s 25th government and became its 11th Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, and acting Minister of Religious Affairs and Labour and Social Affairs.
  • September 1993, Rabin sent Arafat a letter officially recognizing the PLO. After the historical handshake with Yasser Araft, Rabin said, on behalf the Israeli people:

“We who have fought against you, the Palestinians, we say to you today, in a loud and a clear voice, enough of blood and tears … enough!”

  • for his role in the creation of the Oslo Accords, Rabin was awarded the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize, together with Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres
  • on 4 November 1995 , Rabin was assassinated by Jigal Amir, a radical right-wing orthodox jew, who opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords
  • the shooting took place in the evening as Rabin was leaving a mass rally in Tel Aviv in support of the Oslo Process

Rabin’s assassination came as a great shock to the Israeli public and much of the rest of the world. Hundreds Young people, in particular, turned out in large numbers, lighting memorial candles and singing peace songs. Rabin’s funeral was attended by many world leaders, among them U.S. president Bill Clinton, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and King Hussein of Jordan. After his assassination begun to stuck.

Source:

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1994/rabin.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzchak_Rabin