This is an article from the December 1 1967 edition of the Bnai Brith Messenger, announcing the upcoming visit of Gen. Yitzhak Rabin to an Israel Bond event in Los Angeles. The article, entitled “Rabin: The Victor,” describes Rabin as a “military genius” and a “hero of heroes.” According to the article, Rabin was to be honoured at the event and the newspaper “proudly adds its greetings.” The article includes three photographs from Rabin’s life. The top photograph shows Rabin in military uniform receiving an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew University. The president of Israel, Zalman Shazar, can also be seen in the photograph. The middle photograph shows Israeli tanks in the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War with the explanation that Rabin was the architect of the victory, which was achieved at a high price. The bottom photograph shows tanks rolling into Jerusalem during the Six-Day War. The tank seems to be pictured next to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, the cathedral of the Russian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem. The caption describing this photograph refers to Jerusalem as General Rabin’s hometown and mentions the bitter fighting that took place there until the third day of the war, after which all of Jerusalem was in Israel's hands.
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Yitzhak Rabin – Yitzhak Rabin was born in Jerusalem in 1922. After high school, Rabin volunteered to join the Haganah’s elite fighting unit, the Palmach, where he rose to become chief operations officer. Upon the establishment of the State of Israel, Rabin joined the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and served for 27 years. During the War of Independence, Rabin was the commander of the Harel Brigade which fought on the road to Jerusalem as well as in battles in the city. He continued to serve in different military roles over the years, and in 1967 he was appointed chief of staff. Under Rabin’s command, the IDF achieved victory in the Six-Day War of 1967. After retiring from the IDF, Rabin became Israeli ambassador to the United States. Upon his return from the United States, he joined the Labour Party and was elected to the Knesset in 1973. He was appointed minister of labour and subsequently, after Golda Meir’s resignation in 1974 due to the Yom Kippur War investigation, he became prime minister. He held this position until 1977, when he resigned due to the discovery of an illegal international bank account he held jointly with his wife. Rabin served a second term as prime minister from 1992 until his assassination in 1995. Yitzhak Rabin was the first Sabra (native-born Israeli) to be prime minister. Some of the major events in his career included ordering Operation Entebbe, signing the Oslo Accords, being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Yasser Arafat and Shimon Peres, and signing a peace treaty with Jordan. The Israeli public was very divided in its opinion of the Oslo peace treaties and the concept of trading land for peace. This controversy culminated in Yigal Amir’s assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on November 4, 1995, while he was attending a peace rally in Tel Aviv. After his death, a blood-soaked piece of paper with the lyrics to “Shir L’Shalom” (The Song for Peace), which he had sung during the rally, was found in his pocket. Rabin’s funeral at Mt. Herzl was attended by heads of state from all around the world.
Six Day War - Since May 1967 there had been tension along the borders of Israel. Egypt moved troops into Sinai and unilaterally closed the Straits of Tiran, which blocked off Israel’s supply route with Asia. Likewise, Syria deployed troops in the Golan Heights. After months of threats and aggression, the Israeli cabinet approved a pre-emptive attack on Egypt. On June 5, 1967, Israel’s air force bombed Egyptian airfields and destroyed their entire fleet of airplanes while still on the ground. The Syrian, Jordanian, and Iraqi air forces were also attacked, and over the next few days battles took place on the Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian fronts. On June 6 fighting began in the divided city of Jerusalem at Ammunition Hill. The Old City of Jerusalem was liberated the following day, June 7, by forces led by Colonel Motta Gur who radioed the message: “The Temple Mount is in our hands and our forces are by the [Western] Wall.” At the Western Wall, the IDF chaplain, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, blew a shofar to celebrate the event, which was broadcast live on Kol Yisrael, the Israeli radio station. The fighting was over after six days. Despite the many casualties, there was also a sense of euphoria. Jerusalem was reunified, and Israel had captured the Golan Heights and the Sinai Peninsula along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip. While much has changed in the area in the ensuing years, the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Golan Heights (Israel disengaged from the Gaza Strip in 2005) remains a matter of controversy both in Israel and around the world.
