Rabin disobeyed Ben-Gurion to meet Palmach veterans, papers reveal
Former prime minister among officers who attended 1949 fighters’ conference despite ban on their attendance, documents released Tuesday show
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Previously unpublished documents revealed Tuesday show that former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was among a group of army officers who disobeyed then prime minister David Ben Gurion’s ban on attending a 1949 Palmach conference.
The documents were released by Israeli’s army archive in advance of a Tuesday evening ceremony commemorating 75 years since the establishment of the Palmach, the elite fighting force of Israeli pre-state Haganah militia.
The documents were from the first Palmach conference in 1949, which took place after the dismantling of the organization due to the establishment of the Israel Defense Forces with the establishment of the state.
The documents revealed that Ben-Gurion had initially allowed army officers to participate in the conference. After he discovered, however, that political subjects were to be discussed, he backtracked on his decision, fearing a lack of government control and possible factionalism.
Ben-Gurion told army chief of staff Yaakov Dori to ban soldiers from attending the conference.
However, in spite of the clear prohibition, a number of officers, including senior ones, decided to disobey the command and attend the meeting.
In addition to Rabin, some of the well-known officers include David Elazar and Chaim Bar-Lev, both who later served as chiefs of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, as well as Zvi Zamir, who later served as director of national intelligence agency the Mossad.
The majority of those who disobeyed the command received severe reprimands, including Rabin.
Dori decided to release two other officers from their service and to move another officer to a different position, according to Hebrew-language news site Ma’ariv.
“I admit to violating the command. I had a feeling of personal obligation toward my friends,” Rabin told Dori during the investigation.
The documents include the conference invitation, Ben-Gurion’s letter on the subject, Dori’s command banning the officers from attending and his letter to a judge regarding the officers’ misconduct.
The Times of Israel Community.