Rabin, Yitzhak (yĭtskhäk` räbēn`), 1922–95, Israeli general and statesman, b. Jerusalem, the first native-born prime minister of Israel (1974–77, 1992–95). His extensive military experience began in 1940 when he joined the Haganah (Jewish militia) and thereafter fought in the British army. He rose in rank from brigade commander in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Arab-Israeli Wars, conflicts in 1948–49, 1956, 1967, 1973–74, and 1982 between Israel and the Arab states. Tensions between Israel and the Arabs have been complicated and heightened by the political, strategic, and economic interests in the area of the
..... Click the link for more information. to chief of staff in 1964 and was credited with Israel's military success in the Six Day War (1967). After serving as envoy to Washington (1968–73), Rabin was elected as a Labor representative to the Knesset (Israeli parliament). In Mar., 1974, he joined Golda Meir Meir, Golda (māēr`), 1898–1978, Israeli political leader, b. Kiev, Russia, originally named Golda Mabovitch.
..... Click the link for more information. 's cabinet as labor minister; after her resignation in May, Rabin succeeded her as prime minister. One of his most formidable challenges was the 1976 Entebbe raid, in which he authorized the operation of Israeli commandos in the rescue of more than 100 Jews held hostage there. Rabin resigned as prime minister in 1977 prior to Labor's loss at the polls. He was succeeded as party leader by Shimon Peres Peres, Shimon (shē`mōn pâr`ĕs), 1923–, Israeli politician, b. Vishniva, Poland (now in Belarus) as Shimon Perski.
..... Click the link for more information. . As defense minister (1984–90) in the Labor-Likud coalition government, Rabin ordered a harsh crackdown in the West Bank West Bank, territory, formerly part of Palestine , after 1949 administered by Jordan, since 1967 largely occupied by Israel (2005 est. pop. 2,386,000), 2,165 sq mi (5,607 sq km), west of the Jordan River, incorporating the northwest quadrant of the Dead Sea.
..... Click the link for more information. in the late 1980s in an effort to end the Arab uprising there (see Intifada Intifada (ĭntēfă`dĕ) [Arab.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Rabin ousted Peres as Labor party leader in 1992 and led Labor to victory in the national elections, becoming prime minister and defense minister. Rabin played a key role in peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and in 1993 he endorsed a historic peace agreement with the Palestine Liberation Organization Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), coordinating council for Palestinian organizations, founded (1964) by Egypt and the Arab League and initially controlled by Egypt.
..... Click the link for more information. (PLO), providing for mutual recognition and a transition to Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. Rabin, along with Peres and PLO leader Yasir Arafat Arafat (äräfät`) or Arafa
..... Click the link for more information. , received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994. In 1994, Rabin signed a peace treaty with Jordan, and a 1995 agreement with the PLO expanded Palestinian self-rule. He was assassinated Nov. 4, 1995, by an Israeli law student with links to right-wing extremist groups.

Bibliography

See I. Rabinovich, Waging Peace (1999).

Rabin, Yitzhak

(born March 1, 1922, Jerusalem—died Nov. 4, 1995, Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel) First native-born prime minister of Israel. He fought in the first Arab-Israeli War and became chief of staff in 1964. His strategies helped win the Six-Day War in 1967. After retiring from the army (1968), he served as ambassador to the U.S. (1968–73). As head of the Israel Labour Party, he twice served as prime minister (1974–77, 1992–95). During his first tenure, he secured a cease-fire with Syria in the Golan Heights and ordered the raid at Entebbe, Ugan. (see Entebbe raid). As defense minister (1984–90) he responded forcefully to the Palestinian first intifadah. In 1993 secret negotiations with the Palestinians yielded a political settlement that called for limited Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, for which he shared the 1994 Nobel Prize for Peace with Shimon Peres and Yasir 'Arafat. He was assassinated by a right-wing Jewish extremist.