Ruth Schwartz (later Dayan) was born in Haifa during the end of the Ottoman Empire rule of the region, as the elder of the two daughters of Rachel (née Klimkar) and Tzvi Schwartz. Her parents were Russian Jewish immigrants who were part of the Second Aliyah. When Schwartz was two, the family relocated to England, where her parents completed their education. The family returned to Mandatory Palestine when she was 8. At this time, her mother, Rachel Schwartz was the first woman in Palestine to obtain a driver's license.
