On his first known visit to Israel, Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, flew to Tel Aviv late tonight to pay a condolence call on Leah Rabin, the widow of Israel's slain Prime Minister.

Though other Palestinian leaders have been to Israel, a visit by Mr. Arafat has been seen as too politically sensitive, and he has not set foot in Israel since arriving in Gaza in July 1994.

Mr. Arafat was absent from Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's funeral on Monday, which was attended by the largest assembly of world leaders ever to converge on Israel, including the leaders of Jordan and Egypt. Israeli officials had asked the P.L.O. leader to stay away, telling him they feared for his safety.

"Although he was advised by the Israelis not to attend the funeral for security reasons, he insisted on personally paying his condolences to Mrs. Rabin," said an aide to Mr. Arafat, Khaled Salem.