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Rabin of Israel: Warrior for Peace
The historic elevation of Yitzhak Rabin to prime minister of Israel in 1992 brought new hope for lasting peace in the Middle East. His Labor party's triumph signaled a new attitude on the part of the Israeli people, a desire for an end to decades of wearying conflict.Yet this man in whom so many have placed their hopes remains an enigma. Rabin, a fierce and uncompromising military leader whose actions as chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces during the Six Day War led to Israeli control of the West Bank and the Golan Heights, seemed poised to surrender at least part of those gains in the name of peace.Robert Slater, whose acclaimed biography of Moshe Dayan was nominated for the National Jewish Book Award, gives us a fully realized portrait of Rabin based on interviews with Rabin's colleagues, friends, family and Rabin himself, in this, the first biography of the prime minister.Rabin emerges as a shy, diffident, even mysterious man, whose changing fortunes seem to echo the contradictions within himself. His first tenure as prime minister during the mid-1970s was marked by both his resolute actions during the Entebbe hostage crisis and his ignominious resignation as the result of a petty financial scandal. Yet Rabin was returned to office at one of the most crucial moments in Israel's history.
526 pages, Paperback
First published May 7, 1993
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About the author
Robert Slater
86 books12 followersRobert Slater was an American author and journalist known for over two dozen books, including biographies of political and business figures such as Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, George Soros, and Donald Trump.
Slater was born in Manhattan and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, with a degree in political science. In 1967 he received a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He worked for United Press International (UPI) from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Jerusalem, where he worked for UPI until 1974; and for Time magazine in Jerusalem from 1976 to 1996. From 1987 and 1990 he was chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. In his later years he was a columnist for The Jerusalem Report, and mentored young journalists at The Jerusalem Post. He lived for much of his life in Israel, and with his wife, Elinor, co-authored the books Great Jewish Women and Great Jewish Men.
Slater was born in Manhattan and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, with a degree in political science. In 1967 he received a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He worked for United Press International (UPI) from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Jerusalem, where he worked for UPI until 1974; and for Time magazine in Jerusalem from 1976 to 1996. From 1987 and 1990 he was chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. In his later years he was a columnist for The Jerusalem Report, and mentored young journalists at The Jerusalem Post. He lived for much of his life in Israel, and with his wife, Elinor, co-authored the books Great Jewish Women and Great Jewish Men.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 16, 2023
Yitzhak Rabin was definitely a great man. He was the hero of the Six Day War : Under his command the IDF defeated the combined forces of Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.
He also served as Israeli ambassador to Washington, and did sterling work to cement ties between Israel and her greatest ally,the USA.
Unfortunately he also made the greatest mistake in Israeli history.
Rabin, in a desire for peace, and under intense international pressure, signed accords with arch-murderer Yasser Arafat and his terrorist gang, the PLO, allowing the PLO to return to Israeli territory, and set up terror networks, with the aim of Israel's destruction.
Rabin miscalculated,not realizing that the PLO never had any intention of recognizing Israel, but saw territorial concession as just another step leading to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of her Jews.
Just three months after Rabin's murder at the hands of a far right zealot,Yigal Amir ( a horrible and execrable deed), Arafat made plain his aim of destroying Israel, at a secret meeting after a dinner of 40 Arab diplomats, on January 30, 1996, in the Grand Hotel Stockholm, Sweden:
"We of the PLO will now concentrate on splitting Israel psychologically into two camps. Within five years we will have six to seven million Arabs living on the West Bank and in Jerusalem. All Palestinian Arabs will be welcomed back by us. You must understand that we plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a purely Arab Palestinian State".
"We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. Jews will not wish to live among Arabs. I have no use for Jews. They are and remain Jews.
"We now need all the help we can get from you for a united Palestine under total Arab Muslim domination".
Rabin had seen too much bloodshed and had been put under intense pressure by the international community, who threatened to impose sanctions on Israel, when she deported 450 Hamas terrorists, with Jewish blood on their hands in 1993.
But it is still a mystery how a statesman and warrior, like Rabin, could be hoodwinked by modern day Hitler Arafat.
The book deals with key events in Rabin's life and career, as well as key events in Israel during the life and times of Rabin, such as the Arab pogroms against Jews in the Land of Israel, in 1920, 1921,1929 and 1936-1939.
Terrorist attacks across Israel's borders by the Fedayeen and later PLO, from the establishment of Israel, President Nixon's wise warning to Israel in 1968 to Israel to never return the Golan Heights to Syria, or to withdraw from disputed territories until there was a peace settlement and the Entebbe rescue raid into Uganda in 1976, under Rabin's premiership.
There are parts of the book when Slater is off the rails though such as his seeming condemnation of Israeli actions during the First Intifada, not realizing the ruthless nature of Palestinian aims and strategies, and his naive belief that the First Intifada was not directed by the PLO, Syria. Iraq and Iran, and was somehow 'spontaneous'-rubbish.
Overall it is a great read of Rabin's military, diplomatic and political career, the latter giving an insight into Israel's vibrant multiparty democracy, which should be a model for the entire developing world!
He also served as Israeli ambassador to Washington, and did sterling work to cement ties between Israel and her greatest ally,the USA.
Unfortunately he also made the greatest mistake in Israeli history.
Rabin, in a desire for peace, and under intense international pressure, signed accords with arch-murderer Yasser Arafat and his terrorist gang, the PLO, allowing the PLO to return to Israeli territory, and set up terror networks, with the aim of Israel's destruction.
Rabin miscalculated,not realizing that the PLO never had any intention of recognizing Israel, but saw territorial concession as just another step leading to the destruction of Israel and the genocide of her Jews.
Just three months after Rabin's murder at the hands of a far right zealot,Yigal Amir ( a horrible and execrable deed), Arafat made plain his aim of destroying Israel, at a secret meeting after a dinner of 40 Arab diplomats, on January 30, 1996, in the Grand Hotel Stockholm, Sweden:
"We of the PLO will now concentrate on splitting Israel psychologically into two camps. Within five years we will have six to seven million Arabs living on the West Bank and in Jerusalem. All Palestinian Arabs will be welcomed back by us. You must understand that we plan to eliminate the State of Israel and establish a purely Arab Palestinian State".
"We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. Jews will not wish to live among Arabs. I have no use for Jews. They are and remain Jews.
"We now need all the help we can get from you for a united Palestine under total Arab Muslim domination".
Rabin had seen too much bloodshed and had been put under intense pressure by the international community, who threatened to impose sanctions on Israel, when she deported 450 Hamas terrorists, with Jewish blood on their hands in 1993.
But it is still a mystery how a statesman and warrior, like Rabin, could be hoodwinked by modern day Hitler Arafat.
The book deals with key events in Rabin's life and career, as well as key events in Israel during the life and times of Rabin, such as the Arab pogroms against Jews in the Land of Israel, in 1920, 1921,1929 and 1936-1939.
Terrorist attacks across Israel's borders by the Fedayeen and later PLO, from the establishment of Israel, President Nixon's wise warning to Israel in 1968 to Israel to never return the Golan Heights to Syria, or to withdraw from disputed territories until there was a peace settlement and the Entebbe rescue raid into Uganda in 1976, under Rabin's premiership.
There are parts of the book when Slater is off the rails though such as his seeming condemnation of Israeli actions during the First Intifada, not realizing the ruthless nature of Palestinian aims and strategies, and his naive belief that the First Intifada was not directed by the PLO, Syria. Iraq and Iran, and was somehow 'spontaneous'-rubbish.
Overall it is a great read of Rabin's military, diplomatic and political career, the latter giving an insight into Israel's vibrant multiparty democracy, which should be a model for the entire developing world!
February 4, 2020
Beautifully written
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews