Former president of TAU wins Washington Institute Book Prize

Prof. Itamar Rabinovich's book “Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman” was awarded the gold medal in The Washington Institute's 2017 Book Prize competition, the Middle East policy think tank announced today. Prof. Rabinovich is a world-renowned historian and professor emeritus of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Middle Eastern and African History. He has previously served as Tel Aviv University’s sixth president, as well as Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

In its gold prize commendation, the judges wrote: “Rabinovich, a distinguished historian, rescues Rabin from the many self-serving legends of Rabin. His is an unfailingly accurate portrait that draws upon new documents, but also distills four years of personal observation: The author served as Rabin’s ambassador in Washington. Rare insights abound in this admiring but acute telling of Rabin’s unlikely journey from hawkish soldier to world statesman. While the peace Rabin sought remains elusive, not so Rabin, whose puzzle has been solved by Israel’s leading scholar-witness.”

The book “Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman” is published by Yale University Press. Prof. Rabinovich will receive a $25,000 prize, as part of the gold medal award.

About the Washington Institute Book Prize

The year 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of the Book Prize, which honors outstanding scholarship on the Middle East in the English language. “The Washington Institute Book Prize has always highlighted books that both illuminate the Middle East for an American audience and provide practical insights for policymakers,” said Institute Executive Director Robert Satloff, the Howard P. Berkowitz Chair in U.S. Middle East Policy. “It is fitting that Ambassador Rabinovich, a man who is both a scholar and a diplomat, receives the gold prize for this outstanding work.”