Editing Rehavam Ze'evi (section)

==Biography==
Ze'evi was born on 20 June 1926 in [[Jerusalem]] to a religious Jewish family from the [[Yemin Moshe]] neighborhood that had lived in Jerusalem for six generations. He was raised on a collective farm.<ref name=obguardian>{{cite news|last=Joffe|first=Lawrence|title=Rehavam Zeevi|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/oct/18/guardianobituaries.israel|access-date=18 November 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 October 2001}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jta.org/2001/10/18/archive/obituary-rehavam-zeevi-75-known-as-staunch-zionist-and-ultra-hawk|title = Obituary Rehavam Ze'evi, 75, Known as Staunch Zionist and Ultra-hawk|date = 18 October 2001}}</ref> He joined the [[Palmach]] in 1942, and served in the [[Israel Defense Forces]] (IDF) after the creation of the State of Israel.

During his youth, Ze'evi went to school in [[Givat HaShlosha]]. One night he shaved his head, wrapped a towel round his waist and entered the food hall. The shaved head and towel around his waist gave an appearance reminiscent of [[Mohandas Gandhi]] and earned him "Gandhi" as his nickname, which stuck with him for the rest of his life. The nickname is also attributed to a long Arab dress he wore during his underground days in the Palmach.<ref name="cnn20020408"/><ref>[https://www.knesset.gov.il/vip/Ze'evi/eng/Ze'evi.htm Rechavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi (1926–2001)] Knesset biography (retrieved 8 August 2006)</ref> Ze'evi had five children, named Palmach, Sayar, Masada, Tze'ela and Arava.<ref>[http://business.msn.co.il/news/general/PersonInNews/2004080113048.htm Rehavan (Gandhi) Ze'evi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728133735/https://www.msn.com/?redirfallthru=http%3a%2f%2fbusiness.msn.co.il%2fnews%2fgeneral%2fPersonInNews%2f2004080113048.htm%3f |date=28 July 2020 }} MSN News (in Hebrew)</ref> Palmach is also a member of Moledet and competed with [[Binyamin Elon]] for the party's leadership.

=== Military career ===
[[File:C.O. OF CENTRAL COMMAND RECHAVAM ZEEVI AND SERGEANT SHAUL MOFAZ (AT HIS RIGHT), AFTER A PURSUIT IN THE JORDAN RIFT.jpg|thumb|Major Rehavam Ze'evi with Sergeant [[Shaul Mofaz]] (on his right) at the end of a chase in the Jordan Rift Valley]]
In 1948, Ze'evi was a [[platoon commander]] in the IDF. From 1964 to 1968, he served as Chief of the Department of Staff in the [[Israeli General Staff]]. In the late 1960s, Ze'evi formed the elite [[Sayeret Kharuv]], an anti-terror battalion. This came at the time when [[Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces|IDF Chief of Staff]] [[Haim Bar-Lev]] had begun to focus manpower and budget on [[armoured tank]] units, resulting in huge cutbacks in infantry forces. Over the next five years he served as the Commander of the [[Central Command (Israel)|Central Military District]] ({{lang|he|אלוף פיקוד המרכז}}). He retired in September 1973, but rejoined the army when the [[Yom Kippur War]] broke out on 6 October 1973. A close friend of IDF Chief of Staff [[David Elazar]], he was appointed Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff. He retired with the rank of {{lang|he|[[Aluf]]}} (Major-General) in 1974.{{citation needed|date=September 2012}}

Ze'evi, known for his concern for Israel's captured or missing soldiers, wore a military identity disc with their names around his neck.<ref>[http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-1211169,00.html Israel separated from Rehavam Ze'evi] Yedioth Ahronoth, 18 October 2001 (in Hebrew)</ref>

It was revealed in 2004 that Ze'evi had been chosen to be responsible for the building of the [[Singapore Armed Forces]] at a time when he was deputy head of the Operations Branch in IDF.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/a-deep-dark-secret-love-affair-1.128671 A deep, dark, secret love affair] [[Amnon Barzilai]], 16 July 2004</ref> After a secret visit in 1965, he appointed then Colonel {{ill|Jacob Elazari|he|יעקב אלעזרי|lt=Yaakov (Jack) Elazari}} to be head of the team of secret military delegation, along with then Lieutenant Colonel {{ill|Yehuda Golan|he|יהודה גולן}} and other IDF officers to train and build up the Singapore Armed Forces. They were nicknamed "Mexicans" during their stay in Singapore.

=== Political career ===
In 1974, Ze'evi became a consultant on combating terrorism in the government of Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref name=bbcobituary>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Rehavam Zeevi|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1603857.stm|access-date=18 November 2012|newspaper=BBC|date=17 October 2001}}</ref> The following year he became the prime minister's adviser on matters of intelligence. Ze'evi resigned from this position in 1977, when Likud's [[Menachem Begin]] became prime minister. In 1988, Ze'evi established the [[Moledet]] (Homeland) party advocating the population transfer of Arabs from the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]] to the neighboring Arab countries.<ref name=bbcobituary/> In the election of that year, he won a seat in the [[Knesset]] which he held until his death.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rehavam Ze'evi |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/rehavam-ze-evi |access-date=17 Oct 2023 |website=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=October 2023|reason=Jewish Virtual Library cites Wikipedia as one of the sources of its info although it also cites another source.}} <!--The Jewish Virtual Library entry states as one of the sources Wikipedia, but it may or may not be a circular reference regarding the seat won because it's not mentioned in the Wikipedia article at the time of this inclusion although it could have been in an earlier version or not. The other source the JVL cites is the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.}}-->

After the [[Madrid Conference]] of 1991, Ze'evi withdrew from the [[Likud]] government of [[Yitzhak Shamir]]. He would remain in the opposition for a decade. He disagreed strongly with the [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour]] governments of 1992{{endash}}1996 led by [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and [[Shimon Peres]] and 1999{{endash}}2001 led by [[Ehud Barak]]. However, he looked favourably on the [[Benjamin Netanyahu|Netanyahu]] government of 1996{{endash}}1999 and supported it from the outside.

In 1999, Moledet united with [[Herut – The National Movement]] and [[Tkuma (political party)|Tkuma]] into a single faction, the [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]]. Following the election of [[Ariel Sharon]] in February 2001, Ze'evi joined the coalition and was appointed as [[Tourism Minister of Israel]].<ref name=bbcobituary/> Just two days before his killing he tendered his resignation from the post of Tourism Minister.<ref name=bbcobituary/>

=== Eretz Yisrael Museum ===
In 1981, Ze'evi was appointed director of what was then the Israel Museum in [[Tel Aviv]] and was instrumental in its name being changed to the [[Eretz Israel Museum]]. The change had political connotations, given the associations with [[Eretz Israel]]. In 1987, he co-edited a series of books describing various aspects of the [[Land of Israel]], based on artifacts from the museum. Ze'evi was famous for having one of the largest collections of books about Israel and its history.

=== Assassination ===
{{Main|Assassination of Rehavam Ze'evi}}
[[File:Regency Jerusalem Hotel.JPG|thumb|Hyatt Hotel, Mount Scopus]]
Ze'evi was shot in the Dan Jerusalem Hotel, at the time called the Jerusalem [[Hyatt]] Hotel, in [[Mount Scopus]] on 17 October 2001 by four Palestinian gunmen. He was taken to the [[Hadassah Medical Center]] hospital where he died before 10&nbsp;am. He was buried in the military cemetery in [[Mount Herzl]] in Jerusalem. The [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]] (PFLP) took credit for the killing and stated that it was in revenge for the assassination of their secretary-general [[Abu Ali Mustafa]], who was killed by Israel in August that year.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/1511739.stm|work=BBC News|title=Abu Ali Mustafa: 'Right to struggle'|date=27 August 2001|access-date=22 May 2010}}</ref> Israel alleged that [[Ahmed Saadat]] ordered Ze'evi's assassination. Thousands took part in his funeral.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/011029/archive_019425.htm |title=A politician's peril |access-date=10 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121013034607/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/011029/archive_019425.htm |archive-date=13 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The four gunmen, [[Hamdi Quran]], Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma, fled to the [[Palestinian National Authority]]. Israel placed [[Yasser Arafat]] under siege in the [[Ramallah]] [[Mukataa|compound]] to force the handing over of the suspects. In April 2002 the United States brokered a plan where the suspects were to be jailed in Jericho instead.<ref>[https://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/29/world/main507467.shtml CBS] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023201858/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/04/29/world/main507467.shtml |date=23 October 2012 }} Arafat Siege Could End Soon 29 April 2002</ref> The four killers were arrested together with the head of PFLP, [[Ahmad Sa'adat]].<ref name=ynet2778>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3442527,00.html|
title=Rehavam Ze'evi's killer pleads guilty|
newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=27 July 2008|
last1=Zino|
first1=Aviram}}</ref> They were imprisoned in a jail in Jericho and guarded by American and British forces.<ref name=jpost>{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702391025&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|title=Last of Ze'evi killers gets life in prison|newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=1 December 2008}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 14 March 2006, the American and British guards left the jail, charging that the Palestinian Authority was not adhering to the agreement reached with Israel. Israel then launched [[Operation Bringing Home the Goods]], in which it raided the Jericho prison and seized the five.<ref name=asudden>{{Cite news
| last = McGreal
| first = Chris
| title = A sudden exit, a jail is stormed – and Israel's long wait is over
| work = The Guardian
| date = 15 March 2006
| url = https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/mar/15/israel1
}}</ref><ref name=jpost/><ref name = "ynet saadat">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3644555,00.html|title=Israel sentences PFLP leader to 30 years in prison|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=[[YNET]]|date=26 December 2008|last1=Weiss|first1=Efrat}}</ref>
 
In December 2007, Hamdi Quran confessed in an Israeli court to assassinating Ze'evi together with Basel al-Asmar after being instructed by PFLP member Majdi Rahima Rimawi.<ref name=ynet2778/> He was sentenced to life imprisonment.<ref name = "ynet weak">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3478369,00.html|
title=Arabs look at Israel as weak|
newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=3 December 2007|
last1=Mandel|
first1=Roi}}</ref><ref name = "bbc Quran">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7125686.stm|title=Israeli minister's killer jailed|publisher=[[BBC]]|date=4 December 2007}}</ref> 
 
In August 2007, Basel al-Asmar was convicted of murder by an Israeli court. In May 2008, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison.<ref name = "ynet Asmar">{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3502983,00.html |title=Rehavam Ze'evi's killer sentenced to 45 years in jail|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=2 May 2007|last1=Zino|first1=Aviram}}</ref>
 
In July 2008, Majdi Rahima Rimawi was convicted of murder by an Israeli court for his part in planning the assassination. According to the verdict, Rahima was the one who supplied the gunmen with a photo of Ze'evi, details of the hotel in which he would be staying and information on the hotel layout.<ref name = "ynet rehima">{{cite news|
url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3574769,00.html|title=Mastermind behind Ze'evi assassination convicted of murder|newspaper=Ynetnews|publisher=YNET|date=29 July 2008|last1=Glickman|first1=Aviad}}</ref> He was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 80 years.<ref name="jpost Rimawi">{{cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1222017351051|title=Mastermind of Ze'evi assassination gets life|newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]]|date=22 September 2008}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
 
Ahad Olma, who was the head of the PLFP's military wing at the time of the assassination, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in instigating and planning the assassination in December 2008.<ref name=jpost/>
 
In December 2008, an Israeli military court sentenced [[Ahmad Sa'adat]], leader of the PFLP, to 30 years in prison for heading an "illegal terrorist organization" and for his responsibility for all actions carried out by his organization.<ref name = "ynet saadat"/>