Rehavam Ze'evi
This article may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. (October 2023) |
Rehavam Ze'evi | |
---|---|
Minister of Tourism | |
Faction represented in the Knesset | |
1988–1999 | Moledet |
1999–2001 | National Union |
Personal details | |
Born | 20 June 1926 Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine |
Died | 17 October 2001 (aged 75) Jerusalem |
Rehavam Ze'evi (Hebrew: רחבעם זאבי ⓘ; 20 June 1926 – 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the right-wing nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating population transfer.[1]
He was assassinated by Hamdi Quran of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades in retaliation for Israel's assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa, the Secretary General of the PFLP.
Biography
Ze'evi was born on 20 June 1926 in Jerusalem to a religious Jewish family from the Yemin Moshe neighborhood that had lived in Jerusalem for six generations, and raised on a collective farm.[2][3] He joined the Palmach in 1942, and served in the Israel Defense Forces after the creation of the State of Israel.
During his youth, Ze'evi went to school in
Military career
In 1948, Rehavam Ze'evi was a
Ze'evi, known for his concern for Israel's captured or missing soldiers, wore a military identity disc with their names around his neck.[7]
It was revealed in 2004 that Ze'evi had been chosen to be responsible for the building of the Singapore Armed Forces at a time when he was deputy head of the Operations Branch in IDF.[8] After a secret visit in 1965, he appointed then Colonel Yaakov (Jack) Elazari to be head of the team of secret military delegation, along with then Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda Golan and other IDF officers to train and build up Singapore Armed Forces. They were nicknamed "Mexicans" during their stay in Singapore.
Political career
In 1974, Ze'evi became consultant on combating terrorism, in the government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.[9] The following year he became the prime minister's adviser on matters of intelligence. Ze'evi resigned from this position in 1977, when Likud's Menachem Begin became prime minister. In 1988, Ze'evi established the Moledet (Homeland) party advocating the population transfer of Arabs from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the neighboring Arab countries.[9] In the election of that year, he won a seat in the Knesset which he held until his death.[10][additional citation(s) needed]
After the
In 1999, Moledet united with
Eretz Yisrael Museum
In 1981, Ze'evi was appointed director of what was then the Israel Museum in
Assassination
Ze'evi was shot in the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, formerly called at the time, the Jerusalem
In December 2007, Hamdi Quran confessed in an Israeli court to assassinating Ze'evi together with Basel al-Asmar after being instructed by PFLP member Majdi Rahima Rimawi.[14] He was sentenced to life imprisonment.[18][19]
In August 2007, Basel al-Asmar was convicted of murder by an Israeli court. In May 2008, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison.[20]
In July 2008, Majdi Rahima Rimawi was convicted of murder by an Israeli court for his part in planning the assassination. According to the verdict, Rehima was the one who supplied the gunmen with a photo of Ze'evi, details of the hotel in which he would be staying and information on the hotel layout.[21] He was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 80 years.[22]
In December 2008, Ahad Olma, head of the PLFP's military wing at the time of the assassination, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in instigating and planning the assassination.[15]
In December 2008, an Israeli military court sentenced Ahmad Sa'adat, leader of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), to 30 years in prison for heading an "illegal terrorist organization" and for his responsibility for all actions carried out by his organization.[17]
Political views
A few days after the Six Day War, Ze'evi submitted a plan for the creation of a Palestinian state called the State of Ishmael, with Nablus as its capital.[23] He urged Israel's leaders to establish this state as soon as possible, claiming that: "Protracted Israeli military rule will expand the hate and the abyss between the residents of the West Bank and Israel, due to the objective steps that will have to be taken in order to ensure order and security."[23]
Ze'evi later advocated the population transfer by agreement of 3.3 million residents of the West Bank and Gaza to Arab nations.[2][4] He believed this could be accomplished by making life difficult, so they would relocate on their own, through use of military force during wartime, or by agreement with Arab nations.[24] In July 1987, Ze'evi presented his ideas at a forum in Tel Aviv, describing the plan as a voluntary transfer and the only way to make peace with the Arabs.[25] After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, Ze'evi proposed transferring Palestinians to the east side of the Jordan River to serve as a buffer zone against any Iraqi attempt to attack Israel.[25]
In a radio interview in July 2001, Ze'evi stated that 180,000 Palestinians worked and lived illegally in Israel. He described them as a "cancer," and said Israel should rid itself of those who were not Israeli citizens "the same way you get rid of lice."
Reporting his assassination, the BBC described Ze'evi as "one of the most controversial politicians in Israel" who "repeatedly called for Arabs to be transferred out of the state and is notorious for using the line: 'Let the Arabs go back to Mecca'".
Controversy
In 1975, Ehud Olmert, later Prime Minister of Israel, accused Ze'evi of protecting organized crime figures. Ze'evi sued Olmert for libel but lost the case.[31] In September 1991, while serving as Minister without Portfolio, he called then US President George H. W. Bush an "anti-Semite."[25][32]
In 1997, he called then US Ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk a "yehudon" (Hebrew for "Jewboy") and challenged him to a fistfight. Indyk responded by calling him a "son of a bitch".[25] The insult was apparently because the ambassador was urging Israel to make concessions in talks with the Palestinians.[33]
A report in 2016 by a television news magazine aired allegations that Ze'evi killed unarmed Bedouins, conspired in an attempted murder of a reporter, and raped a soldier under his command.[34][35] The publication drew calls for an end to government funding for programs that honor the late minister.[36]
Legacy and commemoration
In July 2005, the
also bear his name.See also
References
- ^ a b "Zeevi profile". the Guardian. 18 October 2001.
- ^ a b Joffe, Lawrence (18 October 2001). "Rehavam Zeevi". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ "Obituary Rehavam Ze'evi, 75, Known as Staunch Zionist and Ultra-hawk". 18 October 2001.
- ^ a b Rehavam Ze'evi: A controversial figure Archived 5 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CNN (28 April 2002)
- ^ Rechavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi (1926–2001) Knesset biography (retrieved 8 August 2006)
- ^ Rehavan (Gandhi) Ze'evi Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine MSN News (in Hebrew)
- ^ Israel separated from Rehavam Ze'evi Yedioth Ahronoth, 18 October 2001 (in Hebrew)
- ^ A deep, dark, secret love affair Amnon Barzilai, 16 July 2004
- ^ a b c d "Obituary: Rehavam Zeevi". BBC. 17 October 2001. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ "Rehavam Ze'evi". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "Abu Ali Mustafa: 'Right to struggle'". BBC News. 27 August 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
- ^ "A politician's peril". Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
- ^ CBS Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Arafat Siege Could End Soon 29 April 2002
- ^ a b Zino, Aviram (27 July 2008). "Rehavam Ze'evi's killer pleads guilty". Ynetnews. YNET.
- ^ a b c "Last of Ze'evi killers gets life in prison". The Jerusalem Post. 1 December 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ McGreal, Chris (15 March 2006). "A sudden exit, a jail is stormed – and Israel's long wait is over". The Guardian.
- ^ YNET.
- ^ Mandel, Roi (3 December 2007). "Arabs look at Israel as weak". Ynetnews. YNET.
- ^ "Israeli minister's killer jailed". BBC. 4 December 2007.
- ^ Zino, Aviram (2 May 2007). "Rehavam Ze'evi's killer sentenced to 45 years in jail". Ynetnews. YNET.
- ^ Glickman, Aviad (29 July 2008). "Mastermind behind Ze'evi assassination convicted of murder". Ynetnews. YNET.
- ^ "Mastermind of Ze'evi assassination gets life". The Jerusalem Post. 22 September 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b The 2-state solution, Haaretz
- ^ Israel mints ultranationalist hero, Christian Science Monitor (10 October 2002)
- ^ a b c d "A man who loved his country", Obituary, The Jerusalem Post, (18 October 2001)
- ^ "Israel's tourism minister calls Palestinians 'lice'", Associated Press (2 July 2001)
- ^ Sharon's "guard dog" bares his teeth The Guardian (7 March 2001)
- ^ "Israeli minister shot dead". BBC. 17 October 2001.
- ^ Benny Elon: Ze'evi didn't hate Arabs Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine MSN News, 2 November 2005 (in Hebrew)
- ^ Morello, Carol (6 January 2014). "A Poignant Controversy Over Israeli Burial Site A Muslim War Hero's Jewish Peers Speak Out". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 6 January 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
- ^ Avneri, Ariel.The Route. Tel Aviv, 1992
- ^ "Israeli Loan Dispute Turns Ugly; Rightist Calls Bush 'Anti-Semite'", New York Times (16 September 1991)
- ^ "Rehavam Ze'evi". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
- ^ "After rape charge, Israeli lawmakers vow to nix state honors for slain general". 15 April 2016.
- ^ "הסודות של גנדי | עובדה". mako. 14 April 2016.
- ^ "N12 – "נפעל לביטול מפעל ההנצחה"". 14 April 2016.
- ^ Law to commemorate Rehavam Ze'evi, 2005 Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Knesset (in Hebrew)
External links
- Rehavam Ze'evi on the Knesset website
- Rehavam Ze'evi collected news and commentary at The New York Times
- PM Ariel Sharon's remarks on the 3rd Anniversary of the Assassination of Minister Rehavam Ze'evi z"l an address before the Knesset on 19 October 2004
- Knesset commemorates Ze'evi[permanent dead link] The Jerusalem Post, 2 November 2005
- Guestbook in Memory of Rehavam Ze'evi Knesset website