Yitzhak Shamir

Yitzhak Shamir was an Israeli politician and the seventh <a href="/facts/Prime_minister_of_Israel/NcrzDyr9">prime minister of Israel</a>, serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992). Before the <a href="/facts/Establishment_of_the_State_of_Israel/vUVGogEm">establishment of the State of Israel</a>, Shamir was a leader of the <a href="/facts/Zionist_militant/8jHuocE9">Zionist militant</a> group <a href="/facts/Lehi_(militant_group)/7qNbwRWu">Lehi</a>, also known as the Stern Gang.
Yitzhak Shamir grew up in <a href="/facts/Interwar_period/EWLuS41R">interwar</a> <a href="/facts/Poland/eXJ7fd0D">Poland</a>. Shamir joined <a href="/facts/Betar/JK0vVNgW">Betar</a>, the paramilitary wing of <a href="/facts/Revisionist_Zionism/sjRjUfPY">Revisionist Zionist</a> <a href="/facts/Ze%2527ev_Jabotinsky/nAXPrh1p">Ze'ev Jabotinsky</a>'s <a href="/facts/Hatzohar/n5NPknDd">Hatzohar</a> <a href="/facts/Political_party/IAKw7oEK">political party</a>. In 1935, Shamir <a href="/facts/Aliyah/jEbdJ56U">emigrated from</a> <a href="/facts/Bia%25C5%2582ystok/lQD7k12Q">Białystok</a> to <a href="/facts/Mandatory_Palestine/mv0NGUBy">British Palestine</a>, where he worked in an accountant's office. Shamir joined the Revisionist Zionist <a href="/facts/Irgun/sC2jPoV1">Irgun</a> paramilitary group led by <a href="/facts/Menachem_Begin/FG6tSzs3">Menachem Begin</a>. During <a href="/facts/World_War_II/2efV5L1U">World War II</a> the Irgun split over the question of whether to support the <a href="/facts/Axis_Powers/Q3z1D8R9">Axis Powers</a> against the <a href="/facts/British_Empire/hrsz0j7A">British Empire</a>. <a href="/facts/Avraham_Stern/CkNDFndE">Avraham Stern</a> and Shamir sought an alliance with <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Italy/X5hxYBvF">Fascist Italy</a> and <a href="/facts/Nazi_Germany/8kRbqRpo">Nazi Germany</a> and formed the breakaway militia group Lehi. Lehi was unable to persuade the Axis powers to lend it support. Shamir led Lehi after Stern's assassination in 1942. In 1944 Shamir married Lehi member <a href="/facts/Shulamit_Shamir/eIlqylxK">Shulamit Levy</a>. During the <a href="/facts/1948_Palestine_war/lGFHlU7R">1948 Palestine war</a>, Lehi and the Irgun committed the <a href="/facts/Deir_Yassin_massacre/NIn2YB4L">Deir Yassin massacre</a> of over 100 <a href="/facts/Palestinians/DBnkAQ5l">Palestinians</a>.
After the establishment of the Israeli state Shamir served in <a href="/facts/Mossad/nerqo6nJ">Mossad</a> between 1955 and 1965. Shamir directed <a href="/facts/Operation_Damocles/oYNXDUA9">Operation Damocles</a> and resigned from Mossad after Prime Minister <a href="/facts/David_Ben-Gurion/QVytuG6W">David Ben-Gurion</a> ordered an end to the program. In 1969 Shamir joined Menachem Begin's <a href="/facts/Herut/5WjXCyhE">Herut</a> Party. Shamir was <a href="/facts/1973_Israeli_legislative_election/eDyFBrIh">first elected to the Knesset in 1973</a> as a member of the <a href="/facts/Likud/sXEchBMf">Likud</a> alliance of parties. Shamir served as <a href="/facts/List_of_Knesset_speakers/3jyrRG04">Speaker of the</a> <a href="/facts/Knesset/vNAUyDAu">Knesset</a> after Likud became the first right-wing Israeli government after winning the <a href="/facts/1977_Israeli_legislative_election/8pS6RslH">1977 Israeli legislative election</a> against Prime Minister <a href="/facts/Shimon_Peres/76kA3azd">Shimon Peres</a>' <a href="/facts/Alignment_(Israel)/wanf3eGP">Alignment</a>. Shamir was named <a href="/facts/Foreign_Affairs_Minister_of_Israel/JoJPDt9d">Foreign Minister</a> by Prime Minister Begin in 1980 and would serve in this post until 1986. Shamir was Foreign Minister during <a href="/facts/1982_Lebanon_War/72BQ3nuC">the 1982 Israel invasion of Lebanon.</a> 
Shamir won the <a href="/facts/1983_Herut_leadership_election/lYawEfea">1983 Herut leadership election</a> to succeed Begin as party leader, which made him Prime Minister and leader of the Likud. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir lost the <a href="/facts/1984_Israeli_legislative_election/TSngJchn">1984 election</a> to Peres. Peres and Shamir entered into a <a href="/facts/Grand_coalition/XmuhW2E2">grand coalition</a> deal where Peres became prime minister while Shamir remained foreign minister until 1986, when Peres and Shamir traded jobs. The <a href="/facts/First_Intifada/pBcf45xY">First Intifada</a> began in 1987 and Shamir resisted a <a href="/facts/Two-state_solution/qVur4GnX">two-state solution</a> to the <a href="/facts/Israeli%25E2%2580%2593Palestinian_conflict/JU7ynqCl">Israeli–Palestinian conflict</a>. Shamir unified the Likud alliance into one party in 1988. Shamir reluctantly restarted the <a href="/facts/Israeli%25E2%2580%2593Palestinian_peace_process/bu9PhcfW">Israeli–Palestinian peace process</a> at the behest of the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> and <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a> which culminated in the <a href="/facts/Madrid_Conference_of_1991/sjAGTGTq">Madrid Conference of 1991</a>. Shamir lost the <a href="/facts/1992_Israeli_legislative_election/ubhd5fWp">1992 Israeli legislative election</a> to <a href="/facts/Yitzhak_Rabin/Wvd6myha">Yitzhak Rabin</a> and in 1993 <a href="/facts/Benjamin_Netanyahu/581DW7MB">Benjamin Netanyahu</a> replaced him as Likud leader.

Yitzhak Shamir open-in-new

Yitzhak Shamir