railroad in the south of Palestine on 2 April 1948. In the 1948–1949
War of Independence, Lapidot was stationed in Jerusalem and fought
in battles as an infantry commander. He commanded Irgun troops in
the Kedem operation, an unsuccessful attempt to breach the Old City
walls; for this, he was awarded a medal of valor. After the war, he stud-
ied biochemistry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and obtained his
doctorate in 1960. In 1973 he was appointed a professor at Hebrew
University. Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, a friend of Lapi-
dot since the Irgun days, appointed Lapidot director of Nativin 1980.
He served in this position until 1985. Since his retirement, he has been
engaged in research on Jewish underground militias during the British
Mandate period.LAVI.See MISGERET.LAVON, PINHAS (1904–1976).Born in East Galicia, Lavon immi-
grated to Palestine in 1929. He served in the Knesset periodically
from 1948 to 1961. In 1949 Lavon assumed the position of general
secretary of the Histadrut (the Israeli labor federation). His appoint-
ment as defense minister in 1953 ended in disgrace, when he was
forced to resign as the result of the Bad Businessin 1955. The ensu-
ing scandal came to be known as the Lavon Affair. Despite his resig-
nation from the government, he was continually reelected as His-
tadrut general secretary until his removal in 1961 as a result of
renewed repercussions from the Lavon Affair.LAVON AFFAIR.See BAD BUSINESS; LAVON, PINHAS.LEVAKOV, HAIM (1916–1998).Born in Merhavia, Israel, Levakov
was a member of the Haganah underground militia prior to the estab-
lishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and a member of the Palmah’s
Arab Platoon. In 1941 he was dispatched on a mission of intelligence
gathering and sabotage in Syria. After the establishment of the state,
Levakov joined Military Intelligence(MI) of the Israel Defense
Forces. In 1956 he initiated the idea of a covert action to kill Egyptian
army officers in the Gaza Strip responsible for sending terroristsinto
Israel on a series of deadly raids. In the 1960s, Levakov took part in
fostering the Israeli relations with the Kurdish minority under the Pe-
riphery Doctrine. See also HAFEZ, MUSTAFA ASSASSINATION.156 • LAVI06-102 (03) H-P.qxd 3/24/06 7:24 AM Page 156