Yitzhak Rabin

Yitzhak Rabin (Hebrew: יִצְחָק רַבִּין, IPA: [itsˈχak ˈʁabin]; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli statesman and general who was the prime minister of Israel, having served from 1974 to 1977 and again from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. He was the first prime minister to have been born in the region of Palestine, at the time under British control.

Rabin was born in Jerusalem to Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe and was raised in a Labor Zionist household. He learned agriculture in school and excelled as a student. As a teenager, he joined the Palmach, the commando force of the Yishuv. He eventually rose through its ranks to become its chief of operations during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In late 1948, he joined the newly formed Israel Defense Forces and continued to rise as a promising officer, with a 27-year career as a professional soldier. He ultimately attained the rank of Rav Aluf, the most senior rank in the Israeli Defense Force (often translated as lieutenant general). In the 1950s, Rabin helped shape the training doctrine of the IDF and he led its Operations Directorate from 1959 to 1963. He was appointed chief of the general staff in 1964 and oversaw Israel's victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Rabin served as Israel's ambassador to the United States from 1968 to 1973, during a period of deepening U.S.–Israel ties. He was appointed Prime Minister of Israel in 1974 after the resignation of Golda Meir. In his first term, Rabin signed the Sinai Interim Agreement and ordered the Entebbe raid. He resigned in 1977 in the wake of a financial scandal. Rabin was Israel's minister of defense for much of the 1980s, including during the outbreak of the First Intifada.