Leah Rabin, born Leah Schlossberg, was born in western Prussia in 1928. In 1933, the Schlossberg family came to Palestine. In 1945, she joined the Palmach. She met Yitzhak Rabin in 1944. They were married on August 28, 1948. In 1949, their daughter Dalia was born, and in 1956, their son Yuval followed.
In 1977, Leah Rabin was at the center of a scandal that caused the resignation of then Prime Minister Rabin. This was due to foreign currency violations committed by Mrs. Rabin who had opened two US bank accounts when Yitzhak Rabin served as ambassador to the US, but failed to close them upon their return to Israel, as required at that time by Israeli law. Leah Rabin went to trial and was sentenced to pay a fine of one-quarter of a million Israeli pounds.
On November 4, 1995, the Rabins celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. After Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination on November 5, 1995 by Yigal Amir, a student opposed to the Rabin-initiated peace process, Leah Rabin entered a new phase of her life. She continued to be active, setting up the Yitzhak Rabin Center for Israel Studies and was often critical of those who did not support of her late husband's policies. In particular, she never forgave Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud party for creating what she considered an environment of incitement.
Earlier this year, Mrs. Rabin was diagnosed with lung cancer. Due to a mild heart attack Mrs. Rabin did not attend last week’s memorial services that marked the fifth anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. She slipped into a coma this morning and died around 2:00 in the afternoon.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on November 12, 2000.