Yigal Allon was an
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i politician, a commander of the
PalmachThe Palmach was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
, and a general in the
IDFThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are Israel's military forces, comprising the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. He served as one of the leaders of
Ahdut HaAvodaAhdut HaAvoda was a political party that existed during several spells in Mandate Palestine and Israel. It is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party.-Ahdut HaAvoda:...
party and the Israeli Labor party, acting
Prime Minister of IsraelThe Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
, as well as being a member of
KnessetThe Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets.
Early life and military career
Allon was born in
Kfar TavorKfar Tavor is a village in the Lower Galilee region of northern Israel, at the foot of Mount Tabor. Founded in 1901, it was awarded local council status in 1949. In 2003, Kfar Tavor had a population of 2,300.-History:...
, British occupied Palestine. In 1937 he graduated from Kadoorie Agricultural High School, and joined kibbutz
GinosarGinosar is a kibbutz on the western banks of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Located north of Tiberias on Highway 90, it falls under the jurisdiction of Emek HaYarden Regional Council...
. His military activities began when he served as commander of a field unit of the
HaganahHaganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...
, and then as a commander of a regiment during the Arab riots of 1936-39. In 1941 he became one of the founding members of the
PalmachThe Palmach was the regular fighting force of the Haganah, the unofficial army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
. That same year he took part in the British invasion of Lebanon and Syria. In 1943 he became the Deputy Commander of the organization, and served in this post until 1945, when he became Commander in Chief.
During the
1948 Arab-Israeli WarThe 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known by Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation and by Palestinians as the Catastrophe , was the first in a series of wars fought between the newly declared State of Israel and its Arab neighbours in the long-running Arab-Israeli conflict.The war...
, Allon led several of the major operations of the war, on all three fronts, including
YiftachOperation Yiftach was a Haganah offensive between 28 April and 29 May 1948 aimed at capturing the eastern Galilee. The central objectives were the capture of Safed, securing the Lebanese and Syrian borders, and that the operation should be completed before the British Mandate ended on 14 May 1948...
,
DannyOperation Danny was an Israeli military offensive launched at the end of the first truce of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The objectives were to capture territory East of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and relieve the Jewish population and forces in Jerusalem...
,
YoavOperation Yoav was an Israeli military operation carried out from 15 October - 22 October, 1948 in the Negev Desert, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Its goal was to drive a wedge between the Egyptian forces along the coast and the Beersheba-Hebron-Jerusalem road and ultimately to conquer the...
, and
HorevDuring the Israeli War of Independence in October 1948, Operation Horev was a wide scale attack against the Egyptian army in the Western Negev. The operation started on December 22, 1948 and ended on January 7, 1949, with the Israeli Defence Forces putting foot into the Sinai peninsula.The name is...
. Operation Danny was the first one were several brigades (
YiftachThe Yiftach Brigade was an Israeli infantry brigade...
, Harel, the 8th Armored Brigade and two battalions from the Kiryati and
AlexandroniThe Alexandroni Brigade is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that fought in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. Along with the 7th Armoured Brigade both units had 139 killed during the first battle of Latrun - Operation Ben Nun....
) were involved, and was carried out under Palmach command. It was held at the end of the first truce, July 9-19, 1948. The objectives were to capture territory East of Tel Aviv and then to push inland and relieve the Jewish population and forces in Jerusalem.
The first phase of the operation succeeded, capturing the two towns of
LyddaLydda can refer to:*Lod, also named Lydda*Exodus from Lydda and Ramla, the Palestinian exodus from the city in July 1948...
and Ramle and putting the international airport at Lydda and the strategic railway station in Israeli hands. Following the capture of the two towns there was an exodus of their Arab population and only a few hundred of the 50,000 to 70,000 residents remained. The second phase of the operation failed after several costly attacks on
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th Century.-Creation:...
positions at
LatrunLatrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...
and the threat of a UN imposed cease fire.
His last military role was commander of the Southern (Egyptian) Front. He retired from active service in 1950..
He was fluent in Arabic and made efforts to go into Arab villages and make peace. He was believed to be a close friend of the elder King Hussein of Jordan.
Knesset
After ending his military career, Allon embarked on a political career. He became a prominent leader in
Ahdut HaAvodaAhdut HaAvoda was a political party that existed during several spells in Mandate Palestine and Israel. It is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Israeli Labor Party.-Ahdut HaAvoda:...
, and was first elected to the
KnessetThe Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
in 1955, where he served until his death. He was a member of the Economic Affairs Committee, Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, Education and Culture Committee, Joint Committee on the Motion for the Agenda Regarding Sports in Israel, and the Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee.
Government roles
He served as the
Minister of LabourThe Labour Minister of Israel was the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Labour and a position in the Israeli cabinet. The post was established in 1948 as the Minister of Labour and Construction...
from 1961-67. In this role he worked to improve the state employment service, extend the road network, and fought to get legislation on labor relations passed. From 1967-69 he served as the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Immigrant AbsorptionThe Immigrant Absorption Minister of Israel , known until 1951 as the Minister of Immigration , is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption and a minor position in the Israeli cabinet...
. In 1967 he was a part of the group that planned the
Six-Day WarThe Six-Day War of June 5-10, 1967 was a war between the Israel army and the armies of the neighboring states of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The Arab states of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria also contributed troops and arms. At the war's end, Israel had gained control of the...
.
Allon served briefly as interim Prime Minister following the death of
Levi Eshkol' served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. He was the first Israeli Prime Minister to die in office.-Early life:...
on 26 February 1969. He held office until 17 March 1969, when
Golda MeirGolda Meir was the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel....
took over.
He became the Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Education and CultureThe Minister of Education in Israel is the political head of the Ministry of Education, and a member of the cabinet. The post has previously been known as the Minister of Education and Culture and the Minister of Education, Culture and Sport .-List of Ministers:*1949-1950 Zalman...
in Meir's government, and served in that post until 1974. In 1974 he was a part of the delegation to the Separation of Forces Agreement. He became the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1974, and held this post until 1977.
At the time of his sudden death in 1980, he was a candidate for the leadership of the
AlignmentThe Alignment was an alliance of the major left-wing parties in Israel between the 1960s and 1990s. It was established in 1965 as an alliance of Mapai and Ahdut HaAvoda but was dissolved three years later when the two parties and Rafi formally merged into the Israeli Labor Party...
, challenging the incumbent party head
Shimon Peres' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
.
Allon was the architect of the
Allon PlanThe Allon Plan was a proposal to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank with a negotiated partition of its territories between Israel and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
, a proposal to end the Israeli occupation of the
West BankThe West Bank is a landlocked territory and is the eastern part of the Palestinian territories; on the west bank of the River Jordan in the Middle East. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel, which maintains the security of this area. To the east,...
with a negotiated partition of territories. A major road in the West Bank, leading north-eastwards from Jerusalem, is named after him.