Rachel Rabin Yaakov, Sister of Yitzhak Rabin and Kibbutz Founder, Dies at 101

Rachel Rabin Yaakov, the younger sister of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and a founding member of Kibbutz Menara, passed away on Friday at the age of 101. A veteran educator and prominent figure in the kibbutz movement and the Upper Galilee region, Rabin Yaakov was born in Tel Aviv in 1925. She was among the founders of Kibbutz Menara in 1943, located in the Naftali Mountains near the Lebanese border.

During the 1948 War of Independence, Rabin Yaakov remained at the kibbutz to help defend it and treat the wounded, while many children and mothers were evacuated. Throughout her life, she held various roles at Menara, including educator, kibbutz secretary, and management board member. She was instrumental in establishing the "Har Ve'Gai" regional school and served in supervisory roles in the Ministry of Education's Settlement Education Department. She also chaired the association of academic colleges for education of the kibbutz movements, "Oranim" and "Seminarium Ha'Kibbutzim."

Rabin Yaakov received numerous awards for her contributions to education, including accolades from the Hebrew University and the Upper Galilee. In 2017, the Kibbutz Movement nominated her for the Israel Prize. In the early days of the "Swords of Iron" war, she was evacuated from Menara due to daily Hezbollah shelling and, due to her medical condition, has not returned to her home of over eight decades.

President Isaac Herzog eulogized Rabin Yaakov, calling her life a "model of educational and public endeavor." He acknowledged her role in establishing Menara and its defense during the War of Independence, and her decades as a "leading figure in Menara and the kibbutz movement." Herzog also noted her deep sorrow over her brother Yitzhak Rabin's assassination, while still choosing to "continue to adhere to public service."

Rabin Yaakov was married to Rafi Yaakov, who passed away in 2012. They had three children together, and the couple also adopted a son who fell in the Yom Kippur War. She will be laid to rest on Monday at the Menara cemetery.