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{{seealso| Hamdi Quran | assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi }}
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{{Short description|Israeli politician (1926–2001)}}
'''{{Audio|He-Rehavam_Zeevi.ogg|Rehavam (Gandhi) Zeevi}}''' (רחבעם זאבי-גנדי)(], ] - ] ]) was an ]i general, ] and historian who founded the right-wing nationalist ] party. He was ]ated by the ] (PFLP), becoming the only Israeli politician to be assassinated during the ].
{{copyedit|date=October 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
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{{Infobox officeholder
| image= Rehavam Ze'evi.jpg
| birth_date = 20 June 1926
| birth_place = {{Nowrap|], ]}}
| death_date = 17 October 2001 (aged 75)
| death_place = ]
| office1 = Ministerial roles
| subterm1 = 1991–1992
| suboffice1 = ]
| suboffice2 = ]
| subterm2 = 2001
| office3 = Faction represented in the ]
| suboffice3 = ]
| subterm3 = 1988–1999
| suboffice4 = ]
| subterm4 = 1999–2001
}}


'''Rehavam Ze'evi''' ({{langx|he|רחבעם זאבי}} {{Audio|He-Rehavam_Zeevi.ogg|listen}}; 20 June 1926 – 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist ] party, mainly advocating for cleansing of the complete Palestinian population through ].<ref name="guardianprofile">{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/18/israel2|title=Zeevi profile|date=18 October 2001|website=the Guardian}}</ref>
Rehavam Zeevi was born in 1926 in ]. He joined the ] in ], and served in the ] after the creation of Israel. From ] to ] he carried out the duties of the Chief of the Department of Staff in the Israeli General staff. For the next 5 years he served as the Commander of the Central Military District (Hebrew: &#1488;&#1500;&#1493;&#1507; &#1508;&#1497;&#1511;&#1493;&#1491; &#1492;&#1502;&#1512;&#1499;&#1494;). He retired in September 1973, only to rejoin the army at the beginning of the ] (], ]). He then served for several more months as the Chief of the Department of Staff. He finally retired, with the rank of major-general (&#1488;&#1500;&#1493;&#1507;) in 1974.


He was ] by ] of the ] (PFLP) ] in retaliation for Israel's assassination of ], the Secretary General of the PFLP.
Immediately afterwards, he became Prime Minister ]'s consultant on combatting terrorism. The following year, 1975, he was appointed as the prime minister's adviser on matters of ]. Zeevi resigned from this position in 1977, when Likud's ] became prime minister. In 1981, Zeevi was appointed the director of the Israel Museum in ]. In 1987, he co-edited a series of books describing various aspects of the ], based on artifacts from the museum.


==Biography==
In 1988, Zeevi established Moledet. His movement's platform consisted mainly in the ] of Palestinian Arabs to the neighboring Arab countries. Zeevi was greatly disappointed by the ] of 1991, and consequently withdrew from the ] government of ]. He stayed in opposition for the following ten years. He disagreed strongly with the ] governments of 1992-1996 (led by ] and ]) and 1999-2001 (]), however, he looked favourably on the ] government of 1996-1999 and supported it from the outside.
Ze'evi was born on 20 June 1926 in ] to a religious Jewish family from the ] neighborhood that had lived in Jerusalem for six generations, and raised on a collective farm.<ref name=obguardian>{{cite news|last=Joffe|first=Lawrence|title=Rehavam Zeevi|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/oct/18/guardianobituaries.israel|access-date=18 November 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 October 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2001/10/18/archive/obituary-rehavam-zeevi-75-known-as-staunch-zionist-and-ultra-hawk|title = Obituary Rehavam Ze'evi, 75, Known as Staunch Zionist and Ultra-hawk|date = 18 October 2001}}</ref> He joined the ] in 1942, and served in the ] after the creation of the State of Israel.


During his youth, Ze'evi went to school in ]. One night he shaved his head, wrapped a towel round his waist and entered the food hall. The shaved head and towel around his waist gave an appearance reminiscent of ] and earned him ''Gandhi'' as his nickname, which stuck with him for the rest of his life. The nickname is also attributed to a long Arab dress he wore during his underground days in Palmach.<ref name="cnn20020408"/><ref> Knesset biography (retrieved 8 August 2006)</ref> Ze'evi had five children, Palmach, Sayar, Masada, Tze'ela and Arava.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728133735/https://www.msn.com/?redirfallthru=http%3a%2f%2fbusiness.msn.co.il%2fnews%2fgeneral%2fPersonInNews%2f2004080113048.htm%3f |date=28 July 2020 }} MSN News (in Hebrew)</ref> Palmach is also a member of Moledet and competed with ] for the party's leadership.
Zeevi made it quite clear that he supported ]. He famously compared Palestinians to "lice" and "cancer". On different occasions, Zeevi also called for the invasion and conquest of ] and the resettlement of Palestinians into it]. It should be noted that Jordan had already signed a formal peace treaty with Israel at the time. More often than not, other Moledet party members had to follow up on these declarations with apologetic explanations that he was misunderstood and in fact Moledet supports only voluntary transfer.


=== Military career ===
In 1999, his Moledet movement united with ] and ] into a single fraction &mdash; the ]. Following the election of ] ] in February 2001, Zeevi joined the governing coalition and was made the minister of tourism on ], ]. On ] Zeevi declared that his party would quit the government following the withdrawal of the ]s from the Abu-Sneina neighborhood in ]. His resignation was to become active on ], ], at 11 a.m.
] (on his right) at the end of a chase in the Jordan Rift Valley]]
In 1948, Rehavam Ze'evi was a ] in the IDF. In 1964–1968, he served as Chief of the Department of Staff in the ]. In the late 1960s, Ze'evi formed the elite ], an anti-terror battalion, at the time when ] ] had begun to focus manpower and budget on ] units, resulting in huge cutbacks in infantry forces. Over the next five years he served as the Commander of the ] (Hebrew: אלוף פיקוד המרכז). He retired in September 1973, but rejoined the army when the ] broke out on 6 October 1973. A close friend of IDF Chief of Staff ], he was appointed Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. He retired with the rank of ] in 1974.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}


Ze'evi, known for his concern for Israel's captured or missing soldiers, wore a military identity disc with their names around his neck.<ref> Yedioth Ahronoth, 18 October 2001 (in Hebrew)</ref>
Zeevi was shot on Wednesday, ], ] by four gunmen. He was rushed to the Hadassah hospital where he died several minutes before 10 a.m. The ] took responsibility for the killing and stated that it was in revenge for the assassination by Israel of ], killed by Israel in August that year.


It was revealed in 2004 that Ze'evi had been chosen to be responsible for the building of the ] at a time when he was deputy head of the Operations Branch in IDF.<ref> ], 16 July 2004</ref> After a secret visit in 1965, he appointed then Colonel {{ill|Jacob Elazari|he|יעקב אלעזרי|lt=Yaakov (Jack) Elazari}} to be head of the team of secret military delegation, along with then Lieutenant Colonel {{ill|Yehuda Golan|he|יהודה גולן}} and other IDF officers to train and build up Singapore Armed Forces. They were nicknamed "Mexicans" during their stay in Singapore.


== Obscured Legacy == === Political career ===
In 1974, Ze'evi became consultant on combating terrorism, in the government of Prime Minister ].<ref name=bbcobituary>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Rehavam Zeevi|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1603857.stm|access-date=18 November 2012|newspaper=BBC|date=17 October 2001}}</ref> 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 ] became prime minister. In 1988, Ze'evi established the ] (Homeland) party advocating the population transfer of Arabs from the ] and the ] to the neighboring Arab countries.<ref name=bbcobituary/> In the election of that year, he won a seat in the ] which he held until his death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehavam Ze'evi |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rehavam-ze-evi |access-date=17 Oct 2023 |website=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=October 2023|reason=Jewish Virtual Library cites Misplaced Pages as one of the sources of its info although it also cites another source.}} <!--The Jewish Virtual Library entry states as one of the sources Misplaced Pages, but it may or may not be a circular reference regarding the seat won because it's not mentioned in the Misplaced Pages article at the time of this inclusion although it could have been in an earlier version or not. The other source the JVL cites is the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.}}-->


After the ] of 1991, Ze'evi withdrew from the ] government of ], remaining in the opposition for a decade. He disagreed strongly with the ] governments of 1992–1996 (led by ] and ]) and 1999–2001 (]), however, he looked favourably on the ] government of 1996–1999 and supported it from the outside.
Zeevi's political views have since the 1980s overshadowed both his military career and personality. One of the most bizarre tidbits was the fact that he once arrived in a toga with a lion to a party during his military service for the festival of Purim, earning his nickname since then, Ghandi, ironic for a person considered one of the least conciliatory in Israeli-Arab relations.


In 1999, Moledet united with ] and ] into a single faction – the ]. Following the election of ] in February 2001, Ze'evi joined the coalition and was appointed ].<ref name=bbcobituary/> Just two days before his killing he tendered his resignation from the post of tourism minister.<ref name=bbcobituary/>
Zeevi's most bitter political enemy was Likud Knesset Member and one-time Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, though their mutual hatred had no connection with their views on state policy. In 1975, the young Olmert called a press conference declaring that he had a list of organize crime figures in the capital that he would recommend for investigation. One was a businessman who had been under Zeevi's command during his military service named Betzalel Mizrahi. The allegations soon included a literal accusation of Zeevi's protection of Mizrahi and other criminals. Zeevi soon sued Olmert for libel, an action that scared the young legislator whose allegations had been baseless and were calculated to increase press exposure so as to heighten his prestige in the Likud. Coincidentally, today four years after Zeevi's death Olmert is Finance Minister and second-in-command to Premier Ariel Sharon, though his name has been tied to far more serious public corruption scandals.


=== Eretz Yisrael Museum ===
As a soldier, Zeevi's name was connected to the era in the 1960's-70's known as HaMerdafim (The Incursions/Pursuances). As Commander of the Central Military District, Zeevi was tasked with defending the new Jordan Valley settlements from PLO guerrilla actions and pacifying the newly occupied Arab-Palestinian population. This was expected despite massive buildups in the Southern Command along the Suez Canal and throughout the Sinai Peninsula, as well as in the Northern Command on the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon. Zeevi formed the elite Sayeret Kharuv in the late 1960's, an anti-terror company sized batallion. The success of the effort earned Zeevi widespread praise. At the time IDF Chief of Staff Chaim Bar-Lev had begun to focus IDF manpower and budget on armoured tank units, a factor that made Zeevi's achievement all the more extraordinary due to the massive cutbacks in infantry forces (this disastrous move by Bar-Lev, along with his placement of defensive positions too close to the Suez Canal and insufficient manning of Golan Heights defense posts aided Arab forces in October 1973 in causing the following initial successes: huge tank casualties, incursions; and in the Golan Heights capture of highly developed radar and technological equipment.)
In 1981, Ze'evi was appointed director of what was then the Israel Museum in ] and got its name changed to the ] – the change having political connotations, given the associations with ]. In 1987, he co-edited a series of books describing various aspects of the ], based on artifacts from the museum. Ze'evi was famous for having one of the largest collection of books about Israel and its history.


=== Assassination ===
Moledet never realized the vision Zeevi had for it. Instead of drawing masses away from the centre-right Likud, Zeevi's party was seen as just another military personality party, just as Shlomzion (]), Telem (]), and Yahad (]) before it, and Tzomet (]) and countless others after it. The factionalization of Israel's extreme right as a result of small ideological differences was not helped by Zeevi's defection from Tehiya.
{{Main|Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi}}
]
Ze'evi was shot in the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, formerly called at the time, the Jerusalem ] Hotel, in ] on 17 October 2001 by four Palestinian gunmen. He was taken to the ] hospital where he died before 10&nbsp;am. He was buried in the military cemetery in ] in Jerusalem. The ] took credit for the killing and stated that it was in revenge for the assassination of their secretary-general ], killed by Israel in August that year.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1511739.stm|work=BBC News|title=Abu Ali Mustafa: 'Right to struggle'|date=27 August 2001|access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> Israel alleges that ] ordered Ze'evi's assassination. Thousands took part in his funeral.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/011029/archive_019425.htm |title=A politician's peril |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013034607/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/011029/archive_019425.htm |archive-date=13 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The four gunmen, ], Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma, fled to the ]. Israel placed ] under siege in the ] ] to force the handing over of the suspects. In April 2002 the US brokered a plan where the suspects were to be jailed in Jericho instead.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023201858/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/29/world/main507467.shtml |date=23 October 2012 }} Arafat Siege Could End Soon 29 April 2002</ref> The four killers were arrested together with the head of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), ].<ref name=ynet2778>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3442527,00.html|
title=Rehavam Ze'evi's killer pleads guilty|
newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=27 July 2008|
last1=Zino|
first1=Aviram}}</ref> They were imprisoned in a jail in Jericho and guarded by American and British forces.<ref name=jpost>{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702391025&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Last of Ze'evi killers gets life in prison|newspaper=]|date=1 December 2008}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 14 March 2006, the American and British guards left the jail, charging that the Palestinian Authority was not adhering to the agreement reached with Israel. Israel then launched ], in which it raided the Jericho prison and seized the five.<ref name=asudden>{{Cite news
| last = McGreal
| first = Chris
| title = A sudden exit, a jail is stormed – and Israel's long wait is over
| work = The Guardian
| date = 15 March 2006
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/15/israel1
}}</ref><ref name=jpost/><ref name = "ynet saadat">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3644555,00.html|title=Israel sentences PFLP leader to 30 years in prison|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=]|date=26 December 2008|last1=Weiss|first1=Efrat}}</ref>
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.<ref name=ynet2778/> He was sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref name = "ynet weak">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3478369,00.html|
title=Arabs look at Israel as weak|
newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=3 December 2007|
last1=Mandel|
first1=Roi}}</ref><ref name = "bbc Quran">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7125686.stm|title=Israeli minister's killer jailed|publisher=]|date=4 December 2007}}</ref>
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.<ref name = "ynet Asmar">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3502983,00.html |title=Rehavam Ze'evi's killer sentenced to 45 years in jail|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=2 May 2007|last1=Zino|first1=Aviram}}</ref>
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.<ref name = "ynet rehima">{{cite news|
url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3574769,00.html|title=Mastermind behind Ze'evi assassination convicted of murder|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=29 July 2008|last1=Glickman|first1=Aviad}}</ref> He was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 80 years.<ref name="jpost Rimawi">{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1222017351051|title=Mastermind of Ze'evi assassination gets life|newspaper=]|date=22 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
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.<ref name=jpost/>
In December 2008, an Israeli military court sentenced ], 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.<ref name = "ynet saadat"/>


==Political views==
To this day, Zeevi is controversial, and efforts to define him to young history students are the subject of fierce arguments in the educational establishment. His critics call him a bigoted military strongman who deserved to be vilified. Apologists argue that unlike most soldiers turned politicians in Israel across the spectrum,Zeevi was able to remain uncorrupted, and legal processes proved so. Complicating the argument is the fact that he was murdered while still serving as a minister and legislator. Ghandi's Road highway in the Jordan Valley is named after him in honour of his service to the region, an honour resented by Palestinian and Bedouin residents of the Valley.
{{Conservatism in Israel|Politicians}}
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 ] as its capital.<ref name="haaretz.com">, ]</ref> 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."<ref name="haaretz.com"/>


Ze'evi later advocated the population transfer by agreement of 3.3 million residents of the West Bank and ] to Arab nations.<ref name=obguardian/><ref name="cnn20020408"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405190849/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/10/17/israel.zeevi.profile/?related |date=5 April 2007 }}, CNN (28 April 2002)</ref> 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.<ref>, Christian Science Monitor (10 October 2002)</ref> 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.<ref name="jpost20011018">"A man who loved his country", Obituary, ''The Jerusalem Post'', (18 October 2001)</ref> After the ] in 1990, Ze'evi proposed transferring Palestinians to the east side of the ] to serve as a buffer zone against any Iraqi attempt to attack Israel.<ref name="jpost20011018"/>
==Footnotes==
# Source: Suzanne Goldenberg, "Sharon's Guard Dog' Bares His Teeth; Minister In New Cabinet Wants All Palestinians Expelled", The Guardian (London), March 7, 2001.


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."<ref>"Israel's tourism minister calls Palestinians 'lice'", Associated Press (2 July 2001)</ref> He called for denying the vote to Arab citizens who did not serve in the army. He believed that ] historically belonged to the ] – ], ], and ].<ref> The Guardian (7 March 2001)</ref> Zeevi urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to "lay waste to the Palestinian Authority" and assassinate PLO leader Yasser Arafat.<ref name="guardianprofile"/>
Source: Avneri, Ariel.''The Route''. Tel Aviv, 1992. An indepth account of the gradual corruption of Israeli governments after the 1977 electoral revolution, this includes details of the Zeevi-Olmert fued.


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'".<ref name=bbc20011017>{{cite news|title=Israeli minister shot dead|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1603862.stm|newspaper=BBC|date=17 October 2001}}</ref> ], leader of the ] party after Ze'evi's murder, maintains that Ze'evi did not hate Arabs.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728133736/https://www.msn.com/?redirfallthru=http%3a%2f%2fbusiness.msn.co.il%2fnews%2fStatePoliticalMilitary%2fPolitical%2f200511%2f20051102134000.htm%3f |date=28 July 2020 }} MSN News, 2 November 2005 (in Hebrew)</ref> Despite being accused of racism, one of Ze'evi's closest friends was the Muslim ] officer and war hero ]. Ze'evi and Yarkoni had worked together in the ], and after Yarkoni's death Ze'evi loudly criticised the decision not to bury him in a military cemetery for '']'' reasons.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Morello|first=Carol|date=6 January 2014|title=A Poignant Controversy Over Israeli Burial Site A Muslim War Hero's Jewish Peers Speak Out|work=]|url=http://articles.philly.com/1993-12-31/news/25940346_1_israeli-army-jewish-soldier-israeli-jews|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140106031558/http://articles.philly.com/1993-12-31/news/25940346_1_israeli-army-jewish-soldier-israeli-jews|url-status=dead|archive-date=6 January 2014|access-date=16 May 2021}}</ref>
==External links==
* an adress before the ] on October 19, 2004
* by ] and ], published in the ] November 2, 2005


==Controversy==
]
In 1975, ], later ], accused Ze'evi of protecting organized crime figures. Ze'evi sued Olmert for libel but lost the case.<ref>Avneri, Ariel.''The Route''. Tel Aviv, 1992</ref> In September 1991, while serving as Minister without Portfolio, he called then US President ] an "anti-Semite."<ref name="jpost20011018"/><ref>"Israeli Loan Dispute Turns Ugly; Rightist Calls Bush 'Anti-Semite'", New York Times (16 September 1991)</ref>

In 1997, he called then US Ambassador to Israel, ] a "yehudon" (Hebrew for "Jewboy") and challenged him to a fistfight. Indyk responded by calling him a "son of a bitch".<ref name="jpost20011018"/> The insult was apparently because the ambassador was urging Israel to make concessions in talks with the Palestinians.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rehavam Ze'evi|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4266321/Rehavam-Zeevi.html|website=The Telegraph|date=18 October 2001 |publisher=Telegraph Media Group Limited|access-date=17 June 2015}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2016/04/15/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/following-rape-charge-israeli-lawmakers-vow-to-cancel-state-honors-for-rehavam-zeevi|title = After rape charge, Israeli lawmakers vow to nix state honors for slain general|date = 15 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mako.co.il/tv-ilana_dayan/2016-2659ae10426f3510/Article-7a7cca401651451006.htm|title=הסודות של גנדי &#124; עובדה|date=14 April 2016|website=mako}}</ref> The publication drew calls for an end to government funding for programs that honor the late minister.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mako.co.il/news-military/politics-q2_2016/Article-9f556d039361451004.htm?sCh=3d385dd2dd5d4110&pId=1434139730|title = N12 – "נפעל לביטול מפעל ההנצחה"|date = 14 April 2016}}</ref>

== Legacy and commemoration ==
In July 2005, the ] passed a law to commemorate Ze'evi's memory.<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303211549/http://www.knesset.gov.il/privatelaw/data/16/3/75_3_3.rtf |date=3 March 2016 }} The Knesset (in Hebrew)</ref> ] was renamed Gandi's Road in his honor. ]'s ] was named for him and there is a life-size statue of him there as well. The ] of ] and the ] ] ] also bear his name.

==See also==
{{Div col}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
{{Div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{MKlink|id=51}}
*{{NYTtopic|people/z/rehavam_zeevi}}
* an address before the ] on 19 October 2004
* {{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Jerusalem Post, 2 November 2005
* Knesset website


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Latest revision as of 08:26, 19 December 2024

See also: Hamdi Quran and assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi Israeli politician (1926–2001)
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Rehavam Ze'evi
Ministerial roles
1991–1992Minister without Portfolio
2001Minister of Tourism
Faction represented in the Knesset
1988–1999Moledet
1999–2001National Union
Personal details
Born20 June 1926
Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine
Died17 October 2001 (aged 75)
Jerusalem

Rehavam Ze'evi (Hebrew: רחבעם זאבי listen; 20 June 1926 – 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating for cleansing of the complete Palestinian population through population transfer.

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. 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 Givat HaShlosha. One night he shaved his head, wrapped a towel round his waist and entered the food hall. The shaved head and towel around his waist gave an appearance reminiscent of Mohandas Gandhi and earned him Gandhi as his nickname, which stuck with him for the rest of his life. The nickname is also attributed to a long Arab dress he wore during his underground days in Palmach. Ze'evi had five children, Palmach, Sayar, Masada, Tze'ela and Arava. Palmach is also a member of Moledet and competed with Binyamin Elon for the party's leadership.

Military career

Major Rehavam Ze'evi with Sergeant Shaul Mofaz (on his right) at the end of a chase in the Jordan Rift Valley

In 1948, Rehavam Ze'evi was a platoon commander in the IDF. In 1964–1968, he served as Chief of the Department of Staff in the Israeli General Staff. In the late 1960s, Ze'evi formed the elite Sayeret Kharuv, an anti-terror battalion, at the time when IDF Chief of Staff Haim Bar-Lev had begun to focus manpower and budget on armoured tank units, resulting in huge cutbacks in infantry forces. Over the next five years he served as the Commander of the Central Military District (Hebrew: אלוף פיקוד המרכז). He retired in September 1973, but rejoined the army when the Yom Kippur War broke out on 6 October 1973. A close friend of IDF Chief of Staff David Elazar, he was appointed Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. He retired with the rank of major-general (אלוף) in 1974.

Ze'evi, known for his concern for Israel's captured or missing soldiers, wore a military identity disc with their names around his neck.

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. After a secret visit in 1965, he appointed then Colonel Yaakov (Jack) Elazari [he] to be head of the team of secret military delegation, along with then Lieutenant Colonel Yehuda Golan [he] 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. 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. In the election of that year, he won a seat in the Knesset which he held until his death.

After the Madrid Conference of 1991, Ze'evi withdrew from the Likud government of Yitzhak Shamir, remaining in the opposition for a decade. He disagreed strongly with the Labour governments of 1992–1996 (led by Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres) and 1999–2001 (Ehud Barak), however, he looked favourably on the Netanyahu government of 1996–1999 and supported it from the outside.

In 1999, Moledet united with Herut – The National Movement and Tkuma into a single faction – the National Union. Following the election of Ariel Sharon in February 2001, Ze'evi joined the coalition and was appointed Tourism Minister of Israel. Just two days before his killing he tendered his resignation from the post of tourism minister.

Eretz Yisrael Museum

In 1981, Ze'evi was appointed director of what was then the Israel Museum in Tel Aviv and got its name changed to the Eretz Israel Museum – the change having political connotations, given the associations with Eretz Israel. In 1987, he co-edited a series of books describing various aspects of the Land of Israel, based on artifacts from the museum. Ze'evi was famous for having one of the largest collection of books about Israel and its history.

Assassination

Main article: Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi
Hyatt Hotel, Mount Scopus

Ze'evi was shot in the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, formerly called at the time, the Jerusalem Hyatt Hotel, in Mount Scopus on 17 October 2001 by four Palestinian gunmen. He was taken to the Hadassah Medical Center hospital where he died before 10 am. He was buried in the military cemetery in Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine took credit for the killing and stated that it was in revenge for the assassination of their secretary-general Abu Ali Mustafa, killed by Israel in August that year. Israel alleges that Ahmed Saadat ordered Ze'evi's assassination. Thousands took part in his funeral. The four gunmen, Hamdi Quran, Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma, fled to the Palestinian National Authority. Israel placed Yasser Arafat under siege in the Ramallah compound to force the handing over of the suspects. In April 2002 the US brokered a plan where the suspects were to be jailed in Jericho instead. The four killers were arrested together with the head of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa'adat. They were imprisoned in a jail in Jericho and guarded by American and British forces. On 14 March 2006, the American and British guards left the jail, charging that the Palestinian Authority was not adhering to the agreement reached with Israel. Israel then launched Operation Bringing Home the Goods, in which it raided the Jericho prison and seized the five.

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. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

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.

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. He was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 80 years.

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.

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.

Political views

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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. 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."

Ze'evi later advocated the population transfer by agreement of 3.3 million residents of the West Bank and Gaza to Arab nations. 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. 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. 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.

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." He called for denying the vote to Arab citizens who did not serve in the army. He believed that Jordan historically belonged to the Tribes of Israel – Gad, Reuven, and Menashe. Zeevi urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to "lay waste to the Palestinian Authority" and assassinate PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

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'". Binyamin Elon, leader of the Moledet party after Ze'evi's murder, maintains that Ze'evi did not hate Arabs. Despite being accused of racism, one of Ze'evi's closest friends was the Muslim Israeli-Arab officer and war hero Amos Yarkoni. Ze'evi and Yarkoni had worked together in the IDF, and after Yarkoni's death Ze'evi loudly criticised the decision not to bury him in a military cemetery for halakhic reasons.

Controversy

Highway 90 renamed Derekh Gandi

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. In September 1991, while serving as Minister without Portfolio, he called then US President George H. W. Bush an "anti-Semite."

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". The insult was apparently because the ambassador was urging Israel to make concessions in talks with the Palestinians.

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. The publication drew calls for an end to government funding for programs that honor the late minister.

Legacy and commemoration

In July 2005, the Knesset passed a law to commemorate Ze'evi's memory. Route 90 was renamed Gandi's Road in his honor. Eilat's promenade was named for him and there is a life-size statue of him there as well. The community settlement of Merhav Am and the West Bank settlement Ma'ale Rehav'am also bear his name.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Zeevi profile". the Guardian. 18 October 2001.
  2. ^ Joffe, Lawrence (18 October 2001). "Rehavam Zeevi". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  3. "Obituary Rehavam Ze'evi, 75, Known as Staunch Zionist and Ultra-hawk". 18 October 2001.
  4. ^ Rehavam Ze'evi: A controversial figure Archived 5 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine, CNN (28 April 2002)
  5. Rechavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi (1926–2001) Knesset biography (retrieved 8 August 2006)
  6. Rehavan (Gandhi) Ze'evi Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine MSN News (in Hebrew)
  7. Israel separated from Rehavam Ze'evi Yedioth Ahronoth, 18 October 2001 (in Hebrew)
  8. A deep, dark, secret love affair Amnon Barzilai, 16 July 2004
  9. ^ "Obituary: Rehavam Zeevi". BBC. 17 October 2001. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  10. "Rehavam Ze'evi". Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  11. "Abu Ali Mustafa: 'Right to struggle'". BBC News. 27 August 2001. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
  12. "A politician's peril". Archived from the original on 13 October 2012. Retrieved 10 September 2017.
  13. CBS Archived 23 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine Arafat Siege Could End Soon 29 April 2002
  14. ^ Zino, Aviram (27 July 2008). "Rehavam Ze'evi's killer pleads guilty". Ynetnews. YNET.
  15. ^ "Last of Ze'evi killers gets life in prison". The Jerusalem Post. 1 December 2008.
  16. McGreal, Chris (15 March 2006). "A sudden exit, a jail is stormed – and Israel's long wait is over". The Guardian.
  17. ^ Weiss, Efrat (26 December 2008). "Israel sentences PFLP leader to 30 years in prison". Ynetnews. YNET.
  18. Mandel, Roi (3 December 2007). "Arabs look at Israel as weak". Ynetnews. YNET.
  19. "Israeli minister's killer jailed". BBC. 4 December 2007.
  20. Zino, Aviram (2 May 2007). "Rehavam Ze'evi's killer sentenced to 45 years in jail". Ynetnews. YNET.
  21. Glickman, Aviad (29 July 2008). "Mastermind behind Ze'evi assassination convicted of murder". Ynetnews. YNET.
  22. "Mastermind of Ze'evi assassination gets life". The Jerusalem Post. 22 September 2008.
  23. ^ The 2-state solution, Haaretz
  24. Israel mints ultranationalist hero, Christian Science Monitor (10 October 2002)
  25. ^ "A man who loved his country", Obituary, The Jerusalem Post, (18 October 2001)
  26. "Israel's tourism minister calls Palestinians 'lice'", Associated Press (2 July 2001)
  27. Sharon's "guard dog" bares his teeth The Guardian (7 March 2001)
  28. "Israeli minister shot dead". BBC. 17 October 2001.
  29. Benny Elon: Ze'evi didn't hate Arabs Archived 28 July 2020 at the Wayback Machine MSN News, 2 November 2005 (in Hebrew)
  30. 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.
  31. Avneri, Ariel.The Route. Tel Aviv, 1992
  32. "Israeli Loan Dispute Turns Ugly; Rightist Calls Bush 'Anti-Semite'", New York Times (16 September 1991)
  33. "Rehavam Ze'evi". The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group Limited. 18 October 2001. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  34. "After rape charge, Israeli lawmakers vow to nix state honors for slain general". 15 April 2016.
  35. "הסודות של גנדי | עובדה". mako. 14 April 2016.
  36. "N12 – "נפעל לביטול מפעל ההנצחה"". 14 April 2016.
  37. Law to commemorate Rehavam Ze'evi, 2005 Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Knesset (in Hebrew)

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