Yigael Yadin

Yigael Yadin was born in 1917 in Jerusalem

Yigael Sukenik, later Yadin, was born in Jerusalem in 1917. He was the eldest son of archaeologist Eleazar Sukenik and Hasya Sukenik-Feinsold, a teacher. His brother Yossi Yadin became an actor.

He studied at the Hebrew Gymnasium and finished in 1934. In 1935 he began studying archaeology at the Hebrew University, and he completed his master's degree in 1945.

He joined the Haganah in 1933 and held training and command roles. He led its operations branch during the War of Independence and planned Plan Dalet. On 9 November 1949 he became Chief of Staff of the IDF and resigned in 1952 over budget cuts.

He then turned to archaeology. He won the Israel Prize in 1956 for his work on the Dead Sea Scrolls and excavated sites such as Masada, Hazor and Megiddo. He also sat on the Agranat Commission after the Yom Kippur War.

In 1976 he founded the Democratic Movement for Change, which won 15 seats in 1977. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and retired from politics in 1981. He died in 1984 and was buried on Mount Herzl.