Yitzhak Rabin (March 1, 1922 ~ November 4, 1995)

Yitzhak Rabin served two terms as Israeli Prime Minister. He was assassinated on November 4, 1995, during his second term.

He was a native Israeli, born in Jersualem in 1922. His parents were Russian Jews who had moved to what would become Israel during the Third Aliyah.

Rabin grew up in Tel Aviv, where his parents moved when he was very young. He married Leah Schlossberg in 1948. They had two children, Dalia and Yuval.

In 1941, Rabin joined the Palmach section of the Haganah. The Palmach was the unofficial Jewish Army during the British Mandate. Many of its members later formed the Israeli Defense Forces.

While in Palmach, Rabin participated in assisting the allied invasion of Lebanon, then held by Vichy French forces in the summer of 1941. In the fall of 1945, Rabin was responsible for planning and executing the liberation of Jewish immigrants from the Atlit detainee camp.

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Rabin was in charge of IDF operations in Jerusalem. By 1949, Rabin was a member of the Israeli delegation to discuss peace talks with Egypt. He became the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces in 1964, under Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.

Rabin became Prime Minister of Israel in June 1974. One of his major achievements as Prime Minister was the Sinai Interim Agreement between Israel and Egypt, which was signed in September 1975. The Agreement was a first step towards the Camp David Accords of 1978 and the peace treaty with Egypt, which was ultimately signed in 1979.

Rabin was very involved in the Oslo Accords, which created the Palestine National Authority and granted it partial control over parts of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Because of his efforts in the Oslo Accords, Rabin, Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

The Oslo Accords, however, caused great friction in Israel. Many right wing Israelis viewed Rabin as a traitor for giving the PLO land. Yigal Amir, a radical right-wing Orthodox Jew, who had opposed the signing of the Oslo Accords, assassinated Rabin on November 4, 1995 during a mass rally in Tel Aviv. The Rally was in support of the Oslo Process. Ironically, shortly before he was shot, Rabin had been singing a song entitled “Song for Peace.”
Yitzhak Rabin was succeeded by Shimon Peres as Israeli Prime Minister.

The location of his assassination is now called Rabin Square. Each year on the anniversary of his death, there is a memorial for Rabin. In the Hebrew calendar, this event is held on the 12th of Cheshvan, which in the secular calendar year 2011, falls on November 9.