Jigael Jadin

Jigael Jadin, recorded between 1949 and 1952

Jigael Jadin (originally Jigael Sukenik ; Hebrew יגאל ידין; mostly Yigael Yadin ; * March 20, 1917 in Jerusalem ; †  June 28, 1984 in Hadera ) was an Israeli archaeologist , politician and the second chief of staff of the Israeli armed forces .

He adopted his cover name Jadin in 1939 to cover up his activities for the Hagana from the British authorities.

Military career

Jadin was the son of the archaeologist and epigrapher Eliezer Sukenik . He joined the Hagana at the age of 15 and served in a variety of positions. At the age of 23, he was appointed his personal assistant by Yaakov Dori , who had just taken the newly created post of Chief of Staff of the Hagana. After a dispute with his commander Yitzhak Sadeh over the introduction of a machine gun as part of the standard equipment, Jadin left the Hagana in 1946. Shortly before Israel's declaration of independence in 1947 - he was studying at the Hebrew University at the time - he was recalled to active service by David Ben Gurion . On June 21, 1948, on Ben Gurion's orders, he had the Irgun terrorist organization 's ship Altalena storm.

He served in various posts during the Israeli War of Independence and was responsible for some of the key decisions of the war.

Jadin was appointed Chief of Staff of the Zahal on November 9, 1949 after Yaakov Doris resigned and held this position for the next three years. In this function he organized the professional army, the reserve and the system of compulsory military service.

On December 7, 1952, he resigned from his post after disagreements with Defense Minister Ben Gurion over defense budget cuts. At the age of 35, he finished his military career.

The archaeologist

After his military service, Jadin devoted himself to scientific studies and began his life's work in archeology. Jadin's father, Elieser Sukenik, was also an archaeologist. In 1956 he received the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies for his doctoral thesis (from 1955) on the Dead Sea Scrolls . He excavated major sites in the region such as Qumran , Masada , Hazor , Gezer and Tel Megiddo .

He also made a chance find in the caves of Nachal Chever , where he found letters from the Jewish freedom fighter Bar Kochba , legal documents and household items from this period. In 1970 Jadin became professor at the Archaeological Institute of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem .

Jadin was forced to steal important artifacts ; also by well-known political and military personalities of the country. In a case where the theft was blamed on the famous (one-eyed) General Moshe Dayan , he remarked, “I know who did this and I won't say who it is, but if I get him I'll be his other Also tear out the eye. "

Even as an archaeologist, Jadin never completely withdrew from politics. On the eve of the Six Day War he served as a military advisor to Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and after the Yom Kippur War he was a member of the Agranat Commission , which was supposed to investigate the errors of the government that led to the war.

In 1966 he was elected a corresponding member of the British Academy .

Political career

Menachem Begin and Jigael Jadin, 1980

In 1976 Jadin founded the Tnu'a Demokratit LeSchinui (known by the Hebrew acronym Dash) together with Professor Amnon Rubinstein , Shmuel Tamir , Meir Zorea , Meir Amit , and other well-known personalities.

The new party appeared to be an excellent solution for those Israelis who were dissatisfied with the alleged corruption in the Labor Party that was being discussed at the time: the Ascher Jadlin affair , the suicide of housing minister Avraham Ofer and Leah Rabin's illegal dollar account in the USA . The Dash was also a response to the growing sense of frustration and despair after the 1973 war and its consequences for the social and political system.

Many believed Jadin to be a fighter and a scholar and thus the prototype of the ideal Israeli who could lead the country on a new path unaffected by corruption.

In the 1977 election, the party did remarkably well for first running. She won 15 of the 120 seats in the Knesset and the chairman of the Likud , Menachem Begin , was able to form a coalition government with her, which for the first time in Israeli history Labor Party excluded.

As the new Deputy Prime Minister, Jadin played a key role in many of the government's decisions, particularly those relating to contacts with Egypt that led to the Camp David Accords and the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty .

Nevertheless, the Dash was unable to maintain itself in the party landscape of Israel; it split up into various factions, so that the party no longer ran for the 1981 election in its original composition. In the same year, Jadin withdrew from politics.

Jadin died on June 28, 1984 in Hadera.

Works (selection)

• The temple scroll. The hidden Torah of the Dead Sea. Knaus, Munich et al. 1985, ISBN 3-8135-0600-2 (English original: The temple scroll ).
• Masada. The last battle for Herod's fortress. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1983, ISBN 3-455-08700-0 .
• Hazor. The rediscovery of King Solomon's citadel. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1976, ISBN 3-455-08969-0 .
• Bar Kochba. Archaeologists on the trail of the last prince of Israel. Hoffman and Campe, Hamburg 1971, ISBN 3-455-08702-7 .

Web links

Commons : Jigael Jadin  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Jigael Jadin in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ Fellows: Yigael Yadin. British Academy, accessed August 24, 2020 . 

predecessor	Office	successor
Yaakov Dori	Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces 1949–1952	Mordecai Maklef