(1917–84) [Bi]
Israeli soldier, archaeologist, and politician. At the age of sixteen he joined Haganah, the defence force raised in Palestine by the Jewish community. Later he commanded Israel's armed forces as acting commandant and, in 1948, was involved with the establishment of the state of Israel. In 1949 he was appointed Chief of the General Staff with the rank of major-general. Preferring archaeology to the military life, he was appointed to the Chair of Archaeology in the Hebrew University in 1963. His excavations included work at Hazor, Megiddo, and Masada. In 1966 he published the popular book Masada: Herod's fortress and the Zealots' last stand (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson). In the early 1970s he entered politics and was eventually elected deputy prime minister, but he did not stand again after 1981.
[Obit.: Antiquity, 58 (1984), 169]
