born May 20, 1915, Deganya, Palestine
died Oct. 16, 1981, Tel Aviv–Yafo, Israel
Israeli soldier and statesman.
Born of Russian parents in Israel's first kibbutz, he became a guerrilla fighter against Arab raiders during the period of the British mandate. Although jailed briefly by the British for his involvement with the Suez Crisis (1956) and later agriculture minister (1959–64). He was appointed defense minister just before the Six-Day War (1967), and the Israeli victory brought him widespread adulation; he served until 1974. He joined the Likud party government as foreign minister when it came into power in 1977 and helped broker the 1978 Camp David Accords .