Leah Rabin to Visit Campus

Leah Rabin to Visit Campus

BY MICHAEL
CINELLI

Rice News Staff

May 7, 1998

Leah Rabin will visit campus later this month to
formally dedicate the Yitzhak Rabin Fellowship in Peace and Security
at Rice’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy in honor of
her husband, whose efforts to secure a lasting peace in the Middle
East were ended by an assassin’s bullet in 1995.

Leah Rabin will give remarks at a reception on May
28 for donors to the Rabin Fellowship program. A total of $1.4
million was raised to support this endowed research position. The
goal is to reach $1.7 million.

“We are honored to have Leah Rabin come to the
Baker Institute to take part in our establishing this program to pay
tribute to the legacy of her husband, Yitzhak Rabin, who played a
major role in Israeli history in terms of both war and peace. He is a
classic example of the warrior-turned-statesman who dedicated his
last years to obtaining peace with security between Israel and all
its Arab neighbors,” said Baker Institute Director Edward Djerejian,
who served as U.S. ambassador to Israel while Rabin was Israel’s
prime minister.

“The Baker Institute has focused part of its
foreign policy research agenda on conflict resolution in the Middle
East. It produced a study on the Israel-Palestinian negotiation and
is now embarked on a study of the Israeli, Syrian and Lebanese
negotiations,” Djerejian added.

Major General Uri Sagie, the recently retired
director of military intelligence and former commander of ground
forces for Israel, is the first Rabin Fellow. Sagie earned his
bachelor’s degree in history from Tel Aviv University and his
master’s degree in political science from Haifa University. He had a
long and distinguished career in Israel’s armed forces, including
serving as a brigade commander in the Entebbe operation.

Sagie will have a major role in the institute’s
research on the strategic relationship between Israel and Syria,
Djerejian said.

“Faculty research interests in Middle East affairs
and in conflict resolution have led us to designate the region as a
major research agenda item,” he said. “We are privileged to have such
a prominent and experienced individual as the first Rabin Fellow.
Sagie will serve as a catalyst to bring scholars together to grapple
with one of the region’s most important relationships.

“We can think of no better way to honor Yitzhak
Rabin’s memory than to have established this endowed position
dedicated to realizing the ideals he pursued so tirelessly throughout
his life.”

For related information visit the following Web
site:

James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy: http://riceinfo.rice.edu/projects/baker/index.html