The Time Tunnel - Rabin's Biography

No Path Without Pain

Amal Remembers Yitzhak Rabin and His Struggle for Peace

The Time Tunnel - Rabin's Biography

You might be interested in doing some Suggested Activities for Rabin's Biography

If you need more information go to Time Line Bibliography & Links or No Path
Without Pain Resources

Rabin's Biography - Contents


	Childhood
	Youth
	Family
	Army
	Politics

CHILDHOOD

Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem on March 1,
1922.

Rabin was a shy, introverted, modest, quiet child. Usually lonely

He attended the Beit Hinuch Leyaldei Ovdim elementary school in Tel Aviv. This was
the school where the children of Labour Party members studied. The emphasis at
the school was on love of nature and the Land of Israel. The school day was long
and included lunch. The pupils would take turns preparing the meals and washing up
afterwards. His third grade teacher, Eliezer Smoli, made the greatest impression on
him and helped to pull him out of his shyness. Rabin graduated in grade 8, and
then studied two years at the Givat Hashlosha regional school.

YOUTH

At the age of 15 ½ he started studies at the Kadoorie Agricultural School. He was
convinced that the best way to serve his country was to prepare himself to become
a farmer. They say that Rabin was quiet here too, excelling in his studies, not
interested in girls.

Rabin had problems being accepted to the school. A few months before school
started he failed the entrance exam in math. He took intensive private lessons which
helped him pass the second time. Rabin explained many years later: "The hit on the
head that I got when I failed the first exam, was what really pushed me during my
life. The feeling of how could it be that I failed, spurred me on more than anything
else. It wasn't by chance that I later won the High Commissioner's prize for
excellence. The most important lesson I ever learned during my entire life was how
to come to conclusions about myself."

The school exams were brought from the mandate government. The teacher would
write the questions on the blackboard and leave the room. Yitzhak never cheated by
copying from his friends. That's the type of kid he was.

Rabin was a favorite of the school principal. Whenever special guests would come
to visit the school, Rabin was among those the principal invited to meet them.

Rabin's mother died when he was 16 years old. He returned to school a few days
after the funeral. He remembered that he had never cried so much before or
after, as he had then.

The year his mother died Arabs attacked the Kadoorie school many times, and the
students helped to defend the school. At the end of that year, the mandate closed
down the school. Rabin spent the year guarding Kibbutz Ginosar. The school was
reopened in October of 1939.

During his years at Kadoorie Rabin belonged to a group of friends who loved
sports and classical music. Rabin excelled in sports as a football player. First he
was a goal keeper, and later became center scout.

He had plans to study hydraulic engineering at the University of California when he
completed his studies at Kadoorie in 1940, but he joined the Haganah instead
because of WWII.

At Kadoorie he met Yigal Alon, who became a close friend.

FAMILY

Parents

His father, Nehemiah Rubitzov, had immigrated from the United States to Israel. He
served as a member of the Jewish Legion during WW I. Nehemia was shy and quiet,
with a good sense of judgment

His mother, Rosa Cohen, immigrated from Russia in 1919. After becoming sick on
Kibbutz Kinneret, she moved to Jerusalem to recuperate. In Jerusalem she became
one of the first members of the Haganah. When members of the Jewish Legion came
to defend the city in 1920, Rabin's parents met. They were married in 1921 and
moved to Haifa. Rosa wanted to give birth to her first child in Jerusalem. She
returned to Haifa about a month after he was born, and from there the family
moved to Tel Aviv. The family first lived in the Shabazi neighborhood and later
moved to the center of the city.

Yitzhak and his sister Rachel, who was 3 years younger than him, grew up at 5
Hamagid St. in Tel Aviv, in a 2 room apartment.

Nehemia worked for the electric company.

Rosa was never a housewife. She always worked for her living, first as a
bookkeeper, and later devoted herself to education. She was also involved in
politics and public service, and served on the Tel Aviv municipal council. Since she
was never home, the household duties were divided between Yitzhak and his sister.

Rosa suffered from a week heart, but what finally caused her death was cancer.
She died when Yitzhak was 16 years old.

Sister

Rachel Ya'akov lives on Kibbutz Manara in the Upper Galilee. Married to Rafi.

Wife

Yitzhak and Leah met outside an ice-cream store on Allenby St. in Tel Aviv in
1943. Leah was 16 years old at the time, a student at Tichon Hadash. When she
saw the handsome young Yitzhak on the street, she decided she had to speak to him.
They found it difficult to have a relationship while Yitzhak was in the Palmach, as
he did not have many chances for days off. The relationship

bloomed when Leah joined the Palmach in 1945.

Yitzhak married Leah Shlosberg in 1948. She came from a bourgeois German
family. He was the son of laborers, a member of the Palmach. They had known each
other for almost 5 years before they finally married. Her parents found it hard to
accept him, at first, but later came to admire him.

The wedding took place on August 23, 1948, at Beit Shalom on Dizengoff St. in Tel
Aviv. There were only a few people present at the wedding - some friends from the
Palmach. Rabin arrived in an army uniform. Leah wore a white dress and "tanachi"
sandals. They did not go on a honeymoon. The next day Yitzhak returned to the
front.

Yitzhak and Leah lived at Leah's parents' home at first. Their daughter, Dalia, was
born there. Then the family moved to Zahala, where their son, Yuval, was born.

Children


	Dalia
	Yuval

Grandchildren


	Yonatan and Noa Ben Arzi (Dalia's children)
	Michael (Yuval's son)

ARMY

Haganah


	He was inducted into the Haganah by Moshe Dayan.
	He was promoted to platoon leader.
	In 1945, he was the deputy commander of the operation that freed 200 illegal immigrants from the Atlit detention camp.

Palmah


	In October 1947, Rabin was appointed deputy commander of the Palmah.
	During the War of Independence he commanded the Harel Brigade. He lead Operation Nahshon that liberated the Katamon neighborhood of the city.

IDF


	He studied at the Staff College in Britain until 1953.
	From 1954-1956 he was head of IDF's Training Branch.
	He was promoted to Brigadier General.
	From 1956-1959 he was OC Northern Command
	From 1959-1969 he was Chief of Operations
	In 1961 he became Deputy Chief of Staff
	On January 1, 1964 he became IDF Chief of Staff.
	As Chief of Staff he led the IDF to Victory in the Six Day War.
	He retired from the army in 1968.

POLITICS

1968-1977


	1968 he became Israel's ambassador to the United States, where he served for 5 years.
	1973 Rabin returned to Israel and was elected as a member of the Knesset in the elections that year.
	1974 Golda Meir appointed him as Minister of Labour.
	5th Prime Minister of Israel
	June 2, 1974 Golda Meir resigned. Yitzhak Rabin became the youngest Prime Minister of Israel, and the first "sabra" in that office.
	Rabin resigned in April 1977, after a scandal concerning an illegal foreign currency bank account his wife had kept in the United States.

1977-1984


	Rabin served as a Labour Party Knesset Member, and was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

1984-1995


	1984 he served as Minister of Defense in the National Unity Government

9th Prime Minister of Israel


	June 1992 was elected as Prime Minister. He formed Israel's 25th government and served as Minister of Defense as well.
	1993 Rabin shook the hand of Yasser Arafat, his biggest enemy.
	Rabin was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1994 along with Shimon Peres and Yasser Arafat.
	November 4, 1995 Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated after speaking at a peace rally.

You might be interested in doing some Suggested Activities for Rabin's Biography

If you need more information go to Time Line Bibliography & Links or No Path
Without Pain Resources

Comment? Questions? Write to us: english@amalnet.k12.il

Rabin Contents / Time Tunnel / Funeral / Imagine / I Remember / Crying For Israel /
Encounters of a Different Kind / Rabin Resources / Amalnet ERC

No Path Without Pain

Amal Remembers Yitzhak Rabin and His Struggle for Peace