Yigal Allon was a major contributor to the nation building process of the State of Israel. He did so from multiple positions he held in government. Between 1961 and 1968 he served as Labor Minister. In 1968 he became the Absorption minister and from 1969 to 1974 he served as Minister of Education. In his last role, 1974–1977, he held Israel’s foreign policy helm, encouraging countries and leaders to engage with Israel. Throughout his 17 years in government, Allon was a pivotal player in the cabinet’s security and foreign relations endeavours. From 1968 to 1977 he was also vice prime minister.
This fabulous career notwithstanding, his political legacy has been ignored. In 2004 a long anticipated biography of Allon was published in Hebrew by historian Anita Shapira, 24 years after his sudden death, when he was 62. However, this eloquently written and well documented biography only covered Allon’s military career to the end of Israel’s War of Independence in 1949. The 2004 biography ended by claiming that Allon’s next 31 years (1949–1980) – his political years – was not worth a historical account. Yigal Allon: A Neglected Political Legacy, 1949–1980 sets the record straight, and reverses the injustice of ignoring his multi-faceted political talent in the service of the State of Israel. This English-language edition is a revised and smaller edition based on the widely acclaimed and reviewed Hebrew version (2016). Allon’s perceptions regarding the Territories have been borne out; equally critical, he foresaw that government policies would lead to a decline in Israel’s international status, and that Israel would be held accountable for lack of peace in the region.