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Yigal Allon was born in 1918 at Kefar Tabor in the Upper Galilee. He attended the Kadoorie Agricultural School and was one of the founders of Kibbutz Ginossar with which he remained closely connected all his life.
From his early youth he was a military man. During the disturbances of 1936-39 he commanded a unit of the Galilee Mobile Defence Group; he was a member of the Hagana and commander of the Palmach. During the second World War he took part in special missions in Syria and Lebanon and took an active role in the struggle with the Mandate authorities over illegal immigration and the establishment of illegal settlements. During the War of Independence he commanded armies in the Galilee, Jerusalem, the coastal plain and the Negev, ending his military career with the rank of Aluf (General).
After the War of Independence was over, he went to study at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at Oxford.
In 1954 he entered the Knesset as a representative of the Achdut Avoda Poale Zion party and was one of the founders of the Israel Labour party. From 1961-68 he was Minister of Labour and worked for the improvement of labour relations. He was responsible for introducing special Labour Courts and set up a programme for directing people to the development areas. In 1968 he organized the Ministry of Absorption which dealt mainly with the Jewish immigrants from Russia.
From 1969-74 he served as Minister of Education and Culture and was responsible for introducing the educational reform which led to the establishment of Junior High Schools. He did much to foster the education of the very young: encouraged modifications of the existing elementary and secondary school syllabuses; introduced changes into Teachers' Training Colleges and set up a new pattern of government participation in higher education through the Council for Higher Education.
From 1974-77 he was Foreign Minister and was a signatory to the first interim agreement with Egypt. He worked hard to develop a political understanding with the USA and to reach agreement with the nations of Europe and the members of the Common Market. He was an outstanding military planner who worked all his life to foster greater understanding between Jews and Arabs. As an active member of the Knesset Defence Committee he helped prepare plans to ensure the country's preparedness for any emergency. After the Six-Day War he drew up a plan for discussion with the Arabs that was based on ensuring secure borders for Israel and territorial compromise with the Arabs. This plan was dubbed "the Allon Plan" and until 1977, settlement in the security areas was carried out on the basis of his plan. Yigal Allon was an upstanding representative of the pioneer State of Israel in the councils of World Jewry and on the international scene. He also found time to write a number of books, essays and articles which have been widely translated. He was loved by a wide circle of friends and colleagues.
Yigal Allon passed away in November 1980 and was buried at Ginossar, his home kibbutz, on the shore of Lake Kinneret.
