Rabin Leaves; Dinitz Due

Yitzhak Rabin, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States since Feb. 28, 1968, terminated his assignment Friday and returned to Israel today. Mrs. Rabin departed for Jerusalem several days ago. Rabin will be succeeded by Simcha Dinitz, director general of the Prime Minister’s officer Dinitz will arrive to take up his ambassadorial duties towards the end of this month.

Dinitz, the personal choice of Israeli Premier Golda Meir for the post, will come here accompanied by his wife their son and two daughters. The new envoy, 44, was in the United States for 10 days during Mrs. Meir’s visit to the U.S. He had served previously at the Israeli Embassy here as Minister for Information in 1968-69, during Rabin’s first two years as Ambassador. In his student years Dinitz earned a political science degree at Georgetown University, the foremost Jesuit institution in America.

During the hiatus between Rabin’s departure and the arrival of Dinitz, the Embassy will be under the direction of Minister Avner. Idan as charge d’affaires. Idan has been here for the past 18 months, coming from Bonn where he also held the rank of minister.

While his departure had been posted several times in the past six months, Rabin had been expected to remain in Washington until mid-March. His departure this weekend came, therefore, as a mild surprise. He succeeded Avraham Harman, now president of Hebrew University, as Ambassador. As Chief of Staff of the Israeli. Armed Forces that triumphed over the Arab nations in the Six-Day War in 1967. Rabin shared in the tremendous acclaim for Israel’s brilliant military feat.

NIXON, ROGERS, PRAISE RABIN

Twice while with Mrs. Meir in the White House during the Premier’s recent visit, Rabin was praised by President Nixon. At the meeting with Mrs. Meir at the White House, Nixon referred to Rabin’s excellence as an Ambassador. At the dinner the President gave for Mrs. Meir at the White House, Nixon again lauded Rabin and remarked jocularly, “if you will change your citizenship we have a job for you.”

Secretary of State William P. Rogers saluted Rabin at a farewell dinner for the Ambassador sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in New York, saying, “you have earned the respect of all who have worked with you.” Newsweek magazine hailed him as one of Washington’s five top Ambassadors.

Often described as the “undiplomatic diplomat,” Rabin came under fire during the last Presidential campaign when he was accused of supporting Nixon at a time when the Jewish vote in the United States was receiving extensive attention in the media. However, the incident quieted down after Mrs. Meir declared in Jerusalem that Israeli officials abroad are forbidden to take sides in politics in the countries to which they are accredited.

Rabin’s future in Israel has not been made known but it is expected that he will be in the Foreign Ministry pending, his decisions on a future course, which is understood to be in Israeli polities.