Yitzhak Rabin and Anwar al-Sadat: Parallel lives
The juxtaposition of the lives of Yitzhak Rabin and Anwar al-Sadat is full of similartudes. From the times and places of their births to the choice of their early and later careers, from their engagement of embracing peace with their former enemy to their violent deaths at the hands of extremists of their own countrymen, the comparisons to be made of the lives and deaths of these two men are numerous.
Only four years distance their birth dates and an hour and a half flight their birth places. Sadat was born in the Nile Delta village of Abul al-Dwam in 1918 and Rabin in Jerusalem in 1922. This generational and geographical affinity may explain some of the likeness of their choices, although initially from opposing points of view. Both men chose military careers and both fought against the British for the independence of their countries and were jailed for their efforts in the early stages of their careers.
Sadat plotted against the British dominated Egyptian monarchy. Although he was acquitted after being charged with conspiring to assassinate a pro-British politician in 1946, on other occasions he had been jailed by the British. In 1952, he participated in the coup that ousted King Farouk. Rabin was part of the Jewish commando unit, Palmach, which fought against the British authorities in Palestine. He was jailed by the British in 1946. After his release in 1947, he was one of the leaders of the defense of Jeruselum in the War of independence. Both men participated in the Six Day War in 1967, though Sadat as the defeated and Rabin as the victor.
Sadat turned toward a political career after the death of Nasser in 1979 when he was elected president, the office he would hold until his death in 1981. Rabin entered the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, in January 1974, as a member of the Labor party. This, after a parenthesis between his military career early political careers, as ambassador to the United States from 1968 to 1973.
Both men made the remarkable resolution to espouse the cause for peace. In 1977, risking the wrath of other Arab states, Sadat traveled to Jeruselum offering recognition of Israel. This initiative was rewarded with a peace settlement which was signed in March 1979 and called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai Peninsula.
In 1993, following secret negotiations, another historical peace accord was signed between Rabin and longtime opponent Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. This agreement was to pave the way for limited Palestinian self-rule in Israeli-occupied territory, a process which is presently in the making.
Not only were both men awarded the Nobel Peace price for their exceptional efforts, but both shared that very prize with their former adversaries. In 1978, Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat was jointly awarded the prize together with Israeli Prime Minister Menahem Begin. Last year Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin shared the award with PLO leader, Yasir Arafat.
Ironically, it is the fact that these two former military leaders embraced the cause of peace with their prior foes that would sign their fates of a violent death at the hands of their own countrymen. On October 6, 1981, during the annual demonstration in Cairo in celebration of the restitution of the Sinai Peninsula, Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated by a group of Islamic fundamentalists within his own army. On November 4, 1995, following a peace demonstration in the square before the city hall in Tel Aviv, Yitzhak Rabin was shot by a young Israeli student, who found Rabin’s gesture of peace with the enemy a form of betrayal to Israel.
Today, just as 14 years ago, the world remained shocked by such a violent assassination, although the eventuality could have been foretold. Now, as then, the world is asking itself if the man who will step into the shoes of the deceased will have the courage and charisma to carry out the plan of peace.
November 1995
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