1977 Israeli legislative election election saw the beginning of a period lasting almost two decades where the left- and right-wing blocs held roughly equal numbers of seats in the Knesset. Voter turnout was 79.2%. The Alignment was re-elected in December 1973, following the Yom Kippur War, but continued in-fighting and investigation into Israel's preparedness led to the resignations of Prime Minister Golda Meir and Minister of Defense, Moshe Dayan the following April. This led to a power struggle between former Chief of Staff and Ambassador to the United States Yitzhak Rabin and Transportation minister Shimon Peres. Rabin was elected by the party by a
Yitzhak Rabin at Kfar Giladi. He trained his men in modern tactics and how to conduct lightning attacks. After the end of the war the relationship between the Palmach and the British authorities became strained, especially with respect to the treatment of Jewish immigration. In October 1945 Rabin was in charge of planning and later executing an operation for the release of interned immigrants from the Atlit detainee camp for Jewish illegal immigrants. In the Black Shabbat, a massive British operation against the leaders of the Jewish Establishment in the British Mandate of Palestine, Rabin was arrested and detained for five months.