Yigal Allon

1918 - 1980

Israeli politician; deputy prime minister, 1969 - 1974.

Born in Kfar Tabor, Palestine, Yigal Allon was originally named Yigal Paicovitch. He changed his name to Allon - which means oak, to symbolize his commitment to Israel - in 1948, at the time the state of Israel was proclaimed. Allon's early education took place in Palestine, at the Kadoorie Agricultural School and the Hebrew University, but he subsequently attended St. Anthony's College in Oxford. In 1937, he was one of the cofounders of Kibbutz Ginossar, on the western shore of Lake Tiberias.

From 1937 to 1939 he served in the Haganah; at the same time, he was working for the British as an officer in the Jewish Settlement Police. Along with Moshe Dayan, Allon was one of the leading forces in the creation of the Palmah, the commando unit of the Haganah, and in 1945 he attained the rank of commander in the unit. During World War II, he fought with Allied forces to liberate Vichy-held Syria and Lebanon and in 1948 was made brigadier general. A senior officer in the Israel Defense Forces at the time of the Arab - Israel War of 1948, he fought in a number of campaigns in that conflict.

Allon was a member of Knesset throughout Israel's early years. In 1960, he resigned his seat in order to attend Oxford University for a year, but in 1961 he was reelected and continued to serve. He was minister of labor from 1961 to 1967, deputy prime minister from 1966 to 1968, minister of education and culture from 1969 to 1974, and minister of foreign affairs from 1974 to 1977. From 26 February to 17 March 1969, he served as acting prime minister following the death of Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, until Golda Meir received a vote of confidence from the Knesset and took over the position of prime minister.

During Meir's term in office, Allon, who remained deputy prime minister, was an important adviser to the prime minister. The role he played during the period leading up to the Arab - Israel War of 1973, however, and his agreement with the position taken by Meir that Israel should never again engage in a preemptive strike against its Arab neighbors (even if they were threatening to attack) made him a nonviable candidate to succeed Meir when she resigned in 1974. Yitzhak Rabin, a war hero un-tainted with any part of the blame for the decision in 1973, was chosen by the Labor Party to succeed Meir, and Allon was appointed foreign minister. In 1975, during the era of Henry Kissinger's famous shuttle diplomacy, Allon actively participated in the peace talks, but his efforts were not repaid by substantive results.

Allon may best be remembered for suggesting, in discussions on Israeli defense, that since the Jewish people had a clear right to the lands on the West Bank of the Jordan River, it was necessary to act strategically to make sure Israel would be secure. The Allon Plan, as it became known, called for Israel to keep the Jordan River valley as its own territory (while returning about 70 percent of the West Bank to Jordan). In addition, Allon recommended that the Gaza Strip should also become part of Israel.

Although Allon did not reject the idea of a Palestinian state, he argued that it should not come about at the expense of Israel's security or its right to exist. His endorsement of the idea of a dense belt of Jewish villages along the Jordan River that would provide security for Israel continues to be cited to this day.

Bibliography

Allon, Yigal. My Father's House, translated by Reuven BenYosef. New York: Norton, 1976.

Ben-Gurion, David. Israel: A Personal History, translated by Nechemia Meyers and Uzy Nystar. New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1971.

Sachar, Howard M. A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, 2d edition. New York: Knopf, 1996.

— GREGORY S. MAHLER

Yigal Allon
Date of birth	10 October 1918(1918-10-10)
Place of birth	Kfar Tavor, Mandate Palestine
Date of death	29 February 1980 (aged 61)
Knesset(s)	3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th
Party	Alignment
Former parties	Ahdut HaAvoda
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Interim Prime Minister Deputy Prime Minister Minister of Labour Minister of Immigrant Absorption Minister of Education and Culture Minister of Foreign Affairs

Yigal Allon (Hebrew: יגאל אלון‎, 10 October 1918 – 29 February 1980) was an Israeli politician, a commander of the Palmach, and a general in the IDF. He served as one of the leaders of Ahdut HaAvoda party and the Israeli Labor party, acting Prime Minister of Israel, as well as being a member of Knesset and government minister from the tenth through the seventeenth Knessets.

Contents 1 Early life and military career 2 Political career 2.1 Knesset 2.2 Government roles 3 References

Early life and military career

Allon was born in Kfar Tavor, British Mandate of Palestine. In 1937 he graduated from Kadoorie Agricultural High School, and joined kibbutz Ginosar. His military activities began when he served as commander of a field unit of the Haganah, 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 Palmach. 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 War, Allon led several of the major operations of the war, on all three fronts, including Yiftach, Danny, Yoav, and Horev. Operation Danny was the first one were several brigades (Yiftach, Harel, the 8th Armored Brigade and two battalions from the Kiryati and Alexandroni) 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 Lydda 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^[1]. The second phase of the operation failed after several costly attacks on Arab Legion positions at Latrun and the threat of a UN imposed cease fire.

His last military role was commander of the Southern (Egyptian) Front.^[2] He retired from active service in 1950.^[3].

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.

Political career

Knesset

After ending his military career, Allon embarked on a political career. He became a prominent leader in Ahdut HaAvoda, and was first elected to 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.^[4]

Government roles

He served as the Minister of Labour 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 Absorption. In 1967 he was a part of the group that planned the Six-Day War.

Allon served briefly as interim Prime Minister following the death of Levi Eshkol on 26 February 1969. He held office until 17 March 1969, when Golda Meir took over. He became the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Culture 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.^[5][6]

At the time of his sudden death in 1980, he was a candidate for the leadership of the Alignment, challenging the incumbent party head Shimon Peres.

Allon was the architect of the Allon Plan, a proposal to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank with a negotiated partition of territories. A major road in the West Bank, leading north-eastwards from Jerusalem, is named after him.

References

1. ^ Morris, Benny. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge University Press, 2004, p. 424-436.
2. ^ Sabtai Teveth Ben Gurions Spy Columbia University Press ISBN 0-231-10464-2 p 19
3. ^ Yigal Allon Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
4. ^ Knesset Member, Yigal Allon Knesset
5. ^ Allon, Yigal (1918-1980) Jewish Agency for Israel
6. ^ Yigal Allon Jewish Virtual Library

v • d • e Prime Ministers of Israel Ben-Gurion (1948–53) · Sharett (1953–55) · Ben-Gurion (1955–63) · Eshkol (1963–69) · Allon (acting) · Meir (1969–74) · Rabin (1974–77) · Begin (1977–83) · Shamir (1983–84) · Peres (1984–86) · Shamir (1986–92) · Rabin (1992–95) · Peres (1995–96) · Netanyahu (1996–99) · Barak (1999–01) · Sharon (2001–06) · Olmert (2006–09) · Netanyahu (2009–present)

v • d • e Education Ministers of Israel Shazar (1949–50) · Remez (1950–51) · Ben-Gurion (1951) · Dinur (1951–55) · Aran (1955–60) · Eban (1960–63) · Aran (1963–69) · Allon (1969–74) · Yadlin (1974–77) · Hammer (1977–84) · Navon (1984–90) · Hammer (1990–92) · Aloni (1992–93) · Rabin (1993) · Rubinstein (1993–96) · Hammer (1996–98) · Levy (1998–99) · Sarid (1999–2000) · Barak (2000–01) · Livnat (2001–06) · Sheetrit (2006) · Tamir (2006–09) · Sa'ar (2009–)

v • d • e Foreign Affairs Ministers of Israel Sharett (1948–56) · Meir (1956–66) · Eban (1966–74) · Allon (1974–77) · Dayan (1977–79) · Shamir (1980–86) · Peres (1986–88) · Arens (1988–90) · Levy (1990–92) · Peres (1992–95) · Barak (1995–96) · Levy (1996–98) · Sharon (1998–99) · Levy (1999–2000) · Ben-Ami (2000–01) · Peres (2001–02) · Netanyahu (2002–03) · Shalom (2003–06) · Livni (2006–09) · Lieberman (2009–)

v • d • e Immigrant Absorption Ministers of Israel Shapira (1948-51) · Allon (1968-69) · Peres (1969-70) · Peled (1970-74) · Rosen (1974-77) · Levy (1977-81) · Abuhatzira (1981-82) · Uzan (1982-84) · Tzur (1984-88) · Peretz (1988-92) · Tzaban (1992-96) · Edelstein (1996-99) · Barak (1999) · Tamir (1999-2001) · Sharon (2001-03) · Livni (2003-06) · Boim (2006-07) · Edri (2007-08) · Aflalo (2008-09) · Landver (2009-)

v • d • e Labour Ministers of Israel Bentov (1948-49) · Meir (1949-56) · Namir (1956-59) · Yoseftal (1959-61) · Allon (1961-68) · Almogi (1968-74) · Rabin (1974) · Baram (1974-77)

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