Israeli soldier and Prime Minister. Born in Jerusalem, he was a member of the Palmach and took part in the Allied invasion of Syria, then under the control of Vichy France. During the War of Independence he commanded Israeli forces as they defended the outskirts of Jerusalem. In 1949, he took part in the Rhodes armistice negotiations. He became deputy chief of staff of the Israeli Army in 1960 and chief of staff in 1964. He was responsible for the strategy employed by the Israeli army during the Six-Day War of 1967. In 1968, he was appointed Israeli ambassador to the U.S. In 1974, he joined the Israeli cabinet as Minister of Labor and succeeded Golda Meir as Prime Minister, serving until 1977. He was reelected Prime Minister in 1992. In 1993, he signed the Oslo Agreement, recognizing Yasser Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian Arabs, and began working with him on establishing a Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip, Jericho, and parts of the West Bank. Soon after, he signed a peace treaty with Jordan. For his peace efforts he received the Nobel Peace Prize. In 1995, during a peace rally, he was assassinated by a right-wing Israeli who opposed the return of land to Arabs.