Yadin (Sukenik), Yigael (1917

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Political Biography

Photo: The government table in the Knesset Plenum during a debate on the Camp David Accords, September 27, 1978.

The government table in the Knesset Plenum during a debate on the Camp David Accords, September 27, 1978. From left to right: Simha Erlich, Menahem Begin, Yigael Yadin, and Moshe Dayan.

Yadin (Sukenik), Yigael (1917–1984)

Archaeologist, the second IDF Chief of Staff, and member of the Ninth Knesset, Yigael Yadin was born in Jerusalem to his father, archaeologist Eliezer Lippa Sukenik and his mother Hasia, who opened the first modern Jewish pre-school in Eretz Yisrael. He studied in the Hebrew Gymnasium in Jerusalem, and at the age of fifteen joined the Haganah. In 1935 he began studying archaeology, history and Arabic at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which he left in 1936, following the breakout of the Arab riots and his dedication to active service in the Haganah.

In the Haganah, Yadin began his service in the Field Brigades and was appointed to various commanding roles. In 1939 he was made assistant to the senior Haganah commander Yitzhak Sadeh, and in 1943 appointed to head the Operations Directorate of the Haganah's general staff. Disputes with Sadeh led to his return to his studies, and in 1945 Yadin graduated with an MA in history and archaeology.

Shortly before the approval of the Partition Plan of the United Nations, in 1947, David Ben-Gurion had asked him to return to full active military service. Yadin held various posts during the War of Independence acting Chief of Staff in place of ailing Chief of Staff Yaakov Dori. At this period of time he objected to Ben-Gurion's decision regarding the occupation of Latrun and the dissolution of Palmach.

Yadin served as the military advisor to the Israeli delegation at the 1949 Armistice Agreement talks with Egypt, and participated in the following talks held in Lausanne with the other Arab countries.

Following Chief of Staff Dori's retirement, in 1949 Yadin was promoted as his replacement and became the second Chief of Staff of the IDF at the age of 32. In this post he reorganized the military forces to be comprised of both regular and reserve forces. He resigned in 1952 due to disputes with Prime Minister Ben-Gurion on cutbacks made to the IDF budget. In his retirement from public office he devoted his time to scientific work in archaeology and the research of Israel antiquities at the Hebrew University.

Yadin was made lecturer at the university in 1953, and in 1955 he received his PhD for his doctoral thesis on the Dead Sea Scroll "War of the Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness." For his thesis he received the 1956 Israel Prize for Jewish Studies. He was made associate professor in 1959 and full professor in 1963. Alongside his academic work, Yadin headed the archaeological excavations in Hazor (1955–1958 and later resumed in 1968), Qumran Caves at Judea Desert (1960–1961), Masada (1963–1965) and Megiddo (1966 – 1967).

In his excavations, Yadin worked with thousands of volunteers from Israel and abroad and trained a new generation of young archaeologists in Israel. As a renowned lecturer and broadcaster he helped spread the archaeological knowledge to the public. He gained international fame on his cipher of historical texts found among the Dead Sea Scrolls and in the Judean Desert, and with his creative approach he enlightened fundamental issues connected with Biblical, Mishnaic and Talmudic times. The Shrine of the Book was established at his initiative within the Israel Museum and serves for storage, preservation and the public display of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1968 Yadin was appointed as editor of the archaeological journal "Kadmoniot".

Prior to the Six Day War and until the appointment of Moshe Dayan as Minister of Defense, Yadin served as military advisor to Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Levi Eshkol. Following the Yom Kippur War he was a member of the national inquiry commission to investigate the events leading to the war.

Throughout the years Yadin rejected all offers to enter politics, despite heading a movement in the late 1950's calling for a change in the electoral system in Israel. However, in 1976 he was among the founding members of the Democratic Movement for Change, alongside Amnon Rubinstein, Shmuel Tamir, Meir Amit and others.

The Democratic Movement for Change joined Menahem Begin's government in 1977 and Yadin was appointed Deputy Prime Minister. The government had had a majority in the Knesset without the support of the Movement, and shortly thereafter it dissolved into numerous parliamentary groups. Yadin remained a member of the government throughout the Ninth Knesset, though his influence over its policy was minimal.

In August 1981 Yadin retired from the political life and returned to the academic world until his death in 1984.