This page is subject to the extended confirmed restriction related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.Rehavam Ze'evi (Hebrew: רחבעם זאבי listenⓘ; 20 June 1926 – 17 October 2001) was an Israeli general and politician who founded the far-right nationalist Moledet party, mainly advocating for cleansing of the complete Palestinian population through population transfer.

In the late 1960s, Ze'evi formed the elite Sayeret Kharuv, an anti-terror battalion, at the time when IDF Chief of Staff Haim Bar-Lev had begun to focus manpower and budget on armoured tank units, resulting in huge cutbacks in infantry forces.

[citation needed] Ze'evi, known for his concern for Israel's captured or missing soldiers, wore a military identity disc with their names around his neck.

[7] It was revealed in 2004 that Ze'evi had been chosen to be responsible for the building of the Singapore Armed Forces at a time when he was deputy head of the Operations Branch in IDF.

[10][additional citation(s) needed] After the Madrid Conference of 1991, Ze'evi withdrew from the Likud government of Yitzhak Shamir, remaining in the opposition for a decade.

Following the election of Ariel Sharon in February 2001, Ze'evi joined the coalition and was appointed Tourism Minister of Israel.

[12] The four gunmen, Hamdi Quran, Basel al-Asmar, Majdi Rahima Rimawi, and Ahad Olma, fled to the Palestinian National Authority.

[15] On 14 March 2006, the American and British guards left the jail, charging that the Palestinian Authority was not adhering to the agreement reached with Israel.

[16][15][17] In December 2007, Hamdi Quran confessed in an Israeli court to assassinating Ze'evi together with Basel al-Asmar after being instructed by PFLP member Majdi Rahima Rimawi.

[20] In July 2008, Majdi Rahima Rimawi was convicted of murder by an Israeli court for his part in planning the assassination.

"[23] Ze'evi later advocated the population transfer by agreement of 3.3 million residents of the West Bank and Gaza to Arab nations.

[2][4] He believed this could be accomplished by making life difficult, so they would relocate on their own, through use of military force during wartime, or by agreement with Arab nations.

[24] In July 1987, Ze'evi presented his ideas at a forum in Tel Aviv, describing the plan as a voluntary transfer and the only way to make peace with the Arabs.

[27] Zeevi urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to "lay waste to the Palestinian Authority" and assassinate PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

[29] Despite being accused of racism, one of Ze'evi's closest friends was the Muslim Israeli-Arab officer and war hero Amos Yarkoni.

[30] In 1975, Ehud Olmert, later Prime Minister of Israel, accused Ze'evi of protecting organized crime figures.