Editing Yitzhak Rabin (section)

===Palmach===
[[File:Flickr - Israel Defense Forces - Life of Lt. Gen. Yitzhak Rabin, 7th IDF Chief of Staff in photos (19).jpg|150px|thumb|left|Rabin shortly before joining the Palmach]]
In 1941, during his practical training at kibbutz [[Ramat Yohanan]], Rabin joined the newly formed [[Palmach]] section of the [[Haganah]], under the influence of [[Yigal Allon]]. Rabin could not yet operate a machine gun, drive a car, or ride a motorcycle, but [[Moshe Dayan]] accepted the new recruit.<ref>Kurzman, p. 82</ref> The first operation he participated in was assisting the [[Syria-Lebanon Campaign|allied invasion of Lebanon]], then held by [[Vichy French]] forces (the same operation in which Dayan lost his eye) in June–July 1941.<ref>Slater, pp. 46–47</ref> Allon continued to train the young Palmach forces.

As a Palmachnik, Rabin and his men had to lie low to avoid arousing inquiry from the British administration. They spent most of their time farming, training secretly part-time.<ref>Kurzman, p. 88</ref> They wore no uniforms and received no public recognition during this time.<ref>Slater, p. 50</ref> In 1943, Rabin took command of a platoon at [[Kfar Giladi]]. He trained his men in modern tactics and how to conduct lightning attacks.<ref>Slater, p. 49</ref>

After the end of the war the relationship between the Palmach and the British authorities became strained, especially with respect to the treatment of Jewish immigration. In October 1945 Rabin planned a Palmach raid on the [[Atlit detainee camp]] in which 208 [[Aliyah Bet|Jewish illegal immigrants]] who had been interned there were freed. In the [[Operation Agatha|Black Shabbat]], a massive British operation against the leaders of the Jewish Establishment in the British Mandate of Palestine and the Palmach, Rabin was arrested and detained for five months. After his release he became the commander of the second Palmach battalion and rose to the position of Chief Operations Officer of the Palmach in October 1947.