View source for Yitzhak Shamir

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Israel (1983–1984; 1986–1992)}}
{{For|the Israeli jurist|Yitzhak Zamir}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| birthname           = Icchak Jaziernicki
| image               = Yitzhak Shamir 1992 Dan Hadani Archive.jpg
| imagesize           = 
| caption             = Shamir in 1992
| office              = [[Prime Minister of Israel]]
| term_start          = October 20, 1986
| term_end            = July 13, 1992
| president           = [[Chaim Herzog]]
| predecessor         = [[Shimon Peres]]
| successor           = [[Yitzhak Rabin]]
| term_start2         = October 10, 1983
| term_end2           = September 13, 1984
| president2          = Chaim Herzog
| predecessor2        = [[Menachem Begin]]
| successor2          = Shimon Peres
| order3              = 6th
| office3             = Speaker of the Knesset
| term_start3         = June 13, 1977
| term_end3           = March 10, 1980
| predecessor3        = [[Yisrael Yeshayahu]]
| successor3          = [[Yitzhak Berman]]
| office4             = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| term_start4         = March 10, 1980
| term_end4           = October 20, 1986
| primeminister4      = {{plainlist|
* Menachem Begin
* Himself
* Shimon Peres
}}
| predecessor4        = Menachem Begin
| successor4          = Shimon Peres
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1915|10|22|mf=yes}}
| birth_place         = Ruzhinoy, [[Bialystok-Grodno District]], [[Ober Ost]] {{awrap|(now [[Ruzhany]], Brest Oblast, Belarus)}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2012|6|30|1915|10|15}}
| death_place         = [[Tel Aviv]], Israel
| spouse              = {{Marriage|[[Shulamit Shamir|Shulamit Levy]]|1944|2011|end=died}}
| children            = 2
| party               = [[Likud]] (1970{{nbnd}}1998, 2003{{nbnd}}2011)
| otherparty          = {{Plainlist|
* [[Fighters' List]] (1948–1959)
* [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] (1999–2003){{citation needed|date=July 2024}}
}}
| nationality         = Israeli
| signature           = Yitzhak Shamir signature.svg
| native_name_lang    = he
| native_name         = {{nobold|יצחק שמיר}}
}}

'''Yitzhak Shamir''' ({{langx|he|יצחק שמיר}}, <small>{{Audio|He-Yitzhak_Shamir.ogg|listen}}</small>; born '''Yitzhak Yezernitsky'''; October 22, 1915 – June 30, 2012) was an Israeli politician who served as the seventh [[prime minister of Israel]], serving two terms (1983–1984, 1986–1992).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=175|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102048/https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=175|url-status=dead|title=Knesset Member, Yitzhak Shamir|archivedate=March 4, 2016}}</ref> Before the [[establishment of the State of Israel]], Shamir was a leader of the [[Zionist militant]] group [[Lehi (militant group)|Lehi]], also known as the Stern Gang.

Yitzhak Shamir grew up in [[interwar period|interwar]] [[Poland]]. Shamir joined [[Betar]], the paramilitary wing of [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist Zionist]] [[Ze'ev Jabotinsky]]'s [[Hatzohar]] [[political party]]. In 1935, Shamir [[Aliyah|emigrated from]] [[Białystok]] to [[Mandatory Palestine|British Palestine]], where he worked in an accountant's office. Shamir joined the Revisionist Zionist [[Irgun]] paramilitary group led by [[Menachem Begin]]. During [[World War II]] the Irgun split over the question of whether to support the [[Axis powers]] against the [[British Empire]]. [[Avraham Stern]]  and Shamir sought an alliance with [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]] 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 [[Shulamit Shamir|Shulamit Levy]]. During the [[1948 Palestine war]], Lehi and the Irgun committed the [[Deir Yassin massacre]] of over 100 [[Palestinians]].

After the establishment of the Israeli state Shamir served in [[Mossad]] between 1955 and 1965. Shamir directed [[Operation Damocles]] and resigned from Mossad after Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]] ordered an end to the program. In 1969 Shamir joined Menachem Begin's [[Herut]] Party. Shamir was [[1973 Israeli legislative election|first elected to the Knesset in 1973]] as a member of the [[Likud]] alliance of parties. Shamir served as [[List of Knesset speakers|Speaker of the]] [[Knesset]] after Likud became the first right-wing Israeli government after winning the [[1977 Israeli legislative election]] against Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]]' [[Alignment (Israel)|Alignment]]. Shamir was named [[Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel|Foreign Minister]] by Prime Minister Begin in 1980 and would serve in this post until 1986. Shamir was Foreign Minister during [[1982 Lebanon War|the 1982 Israel invasion of Lebanon.]]

Shamir won the [[1983 Herut leadership election]] to succeed Begin as party leader, which made him Prime Minister and leader of the Likud after a merger. Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir lost the [[1984 Israeli legislative election|1984 election]] to Peres. Peres and Shamir entered into a [[grand coalition]] deal where Peres became prime minister while Shamir remained foreign minister until 1986, when Peres and Shamir traded jobs. The [[First Intifada]] began in 1987 and Shamir resisted a [[two-state solution]] to the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]. Shamir unified the Likud alliance into one party in 1988. Shamir reluctantly restarted the [[Israeli–Palestinian peace process]] at the behest of the [[United States]] and [[Soviet Union]] which culminated in the [[Madrid Conference of 1991]]. Shamir lost the [[1992 Israeli legislative election]] to [[Yitzhak Rabin]] and in 1993 [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] replaced him as Likud leader.

==Early life==
Yitzhak Yezernitsky was born in the predominantly Jewish village of [[Ruzhany]],<ref>{{citation |publisher=Rambler Media Group |title=Died former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir}}.</ref> [[Bialystok-Grodno District]] of [[Ober Ost]], shortly thereafter incorporated into the [[Kingdom of Poland (1917–1918)|Kingdom of Poland]] (now in Belarus), as the son of Perla and Shlomo, owner of a leather factory.<ref>{{citation |last=Wilson |first=H.W. |editor=Graham, Judith |display-editors=et al. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ybp2xI8NXPUC&q=perla+Shlomo+shamir |title=Current Biography Yearbook, 1996 |publisher=H. W. Wilson Company |year=1996 |isbn=9780824209087}}.</ref> Shamir later moved to [[Białystok]] and studied at a Hebrew high school network.<ref name="Joffe">{{citation |last=Joffe |first=Emmanuel |title=The Man from Ruzhany, Belarus, Served In The Mossad And Was The Prime Minister of Israel |url=http://sources.ruzhany.info/007.html |publisher=Vecherny Minsk October 17, 2005 (Monday). № 235 (10911)}}</ref> As a youth, Yezernitsky joined [[Betar (youth movement)|Betar]], the [[Revisionist Zionism|Revisionist Zionist]] youth movement. Yezernitsky studied law at the [[University of Warsaw]], but cut his studies short in order to emigrate to what was then [[Mandatory Palestine]] in 1935. Shamir was the surname Yitzhak Yezernitsky used on a forged underground identity card.{{sfn|Golan|2011|p=143}} Once in [[British Palestine]], Yitzhak Yezernitsky changed his surname to Shamir. He later said ''Shamir'' means a thorn that stabs and a rock that can cut steel. Shamir initially worked in an accountant's office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18661360|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064043/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18661360|url-status=dead|title=Obituary: former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir|date=June 30, 2012|archivedate=March 4, 2016|publisher=BBC}}</ref><ref name="haaretz">{{Cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2012-06-30/ty-article/yitzhak-shamir-1915-2012/0000017f-e153-d9aa-afff-f95bfe5a0000|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429182518/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/former-israeli-prime-minister-yitzhak-shamir-dies-at-96-1.447882|url-status=dead|title=Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir Dies at 96|archivedate=April 29, 2015|via=Haaretz}}</ref>

==Lehi leadership==
[[File:AJI view 7.jpg|left|thumb|Wanted poster of the [[Palestine Police Force]] for Irgun members, showing Menachem Begin (top row, far left) and Yitzhak Shamir (bottom row, far right)]]
[[File:Palestine Police Force Wanted List (Lehi).jpg|thumb|left|Wanted poster of the [[Palestine Police Force]] offering rewards for the capture of Lehi members: Yaakov Levstein (Eliav), left, Yitzhak Yezernitzky (Shamir), center, and Natan Friedman-Yelin (Yellin-Mor), right]]
Shamir joined the [[Irgun|Irgun Zvai Leumi]], a [[Zionist]] paramilitary group that opposed British control of Palestine.<ref>{{citation |first1 = John J |last1 = Mearsheimer |first2 = Stephen M |last2 = Walt |title = The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy |page = 102 |publisher = Farrar, Straus & Giroux |year = 2007}}.</ref> During [[World War II]] the Irgun split over the question of whether to support the [[Axis powers]] against the [[British Empire]]. [[Avraham Stern]] and Shamir sought an alliance with [[Kingdom of Italy#Fascist regime (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] and [[Nazi Germany]] and formed the more militant breakaway militia group Lehi.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Lehi was unable to persuade the Axis powers to lend it support and became widely known as the ''Stern Gang''.<ref>{{citation |contribution = Stern Gang |title = A Dictionary of World History |publisher = Oxford University Press |year = 2000 |series = Oxford Reference Online |url = http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-SternGang.html}}.</ref> Yitzhak Shamir was imprisoned by British authorities in 1941.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Yitzhak-Shamir |title=Yitzḥak Shamir |encyclopedia=Britannica|date=26 June 2023 }}</ref><ref name=TOI-obit>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/yitzhak-shamir-former-prime-minister-dies-at-96/ |title=Yitzhak Shamir, Israel's modest, hardline ex-PM, dies at 96 |work=The Times of Israel}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/books/review/Segev-t.html |title=Courting Hitler |work=The New York Times|date=26 September 2008 |last1=Segev |first1=Tom }}</ref> A few months after Stern was killed by the British in 1942, Shamir and [[Eliyahu Giladi]] hid under a stack of mattresses in a warehouse of the detention camp at [[Mazra'a]], and at night escaped through the barbed wire fences of the camp.<ref>{{citation |first = Nechemia |last = Ben-Tor |title = The Lehi Lexicon |page = 61 |language = he}}.</ref>{{sfn |Golan |2011 |p = 94}} Shamir became the leader of the Stern Gang,<ref name=TOI-obit/> and, together with Giladi, Anshell Shpillman and [[Yehoshua Cohen]], reorganized the movement into cells and trained its members. In his memoirs, Shamir admitted in 1994 what had long been suspected: that the killing of Giladi in 1943 was ordered by Shamir himself, allegedly due to Giladi advocating the assassination of [[David Ben-Gurion]], and arguing for other violence deemed too extremist by fellow Stern members.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/15/world/shamir-memoirs-say-he-ordered-killing-in-1943.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160308003628/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/15/world/shamir-memoirs-say-he-ordered-killing-in-1943.html|url-status=dead|title=Shamir Memoirs Say He Ordered Killing in 1943|first=Clyde|last=Haberman|date=January 15, 1994|archivedate=March 8, 2016|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-01-16-9401160444-story.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304120118/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-01-16/news/9401160444_1_prime-minister-yitzhak-shamir-stern-gang-british-police|url-status=dead|title=IN MEMOIRS, SHAMIR ADMITS '43 KILLING|archivedate=March 4, 2016|website=Chicago Tribune}}</ref>

Lehi leadership consisted of a [[triumvirate|troika]] of Yitzhak Shamir, [[Nathan Yellin-Mor]] and [[Israel Eldad]]. Shamir sought to emulate the anti-British struggle of the [[Irish Republicans]] and took the nickname "Michael" after Irish Republican leader [[Michael Collins (Irish leader)|Michael Collins]].<ref>{{citation |first = Colin |last = Shindler | title = The Land Beyond Promise: Israel, Likud and the Zionist Dream |publisher = IB Tauris |year = 2001 |page = 177}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |author-link = Joseph O'Neill (writer, born 1964) |first = Joseph |last = O'Neill |title = Blood-Dark Track: A Family History |publisher = Harper Perennial |year = 2009 |page = 216}}.</ref> Shamir plotted the 1944 assassination of [[Walter Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne|Lord Moyne]], British Minister for Middle East Affairs,<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jul/01/yitzhak-shamir |location=London |work=The Guardian |first=Lawrence |last=Joffe |title=Yitzhak Shamir obituary |date=July 1, 2012}}</ref> and personally selected [[Eliyahu Hakim]] and [[Eliyahu Bet-Zuri]] to carry it out. Moyne had been targeted due to his perceived role as an architect of British restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine, and in particular, the [[Patria disaster|''Patria'' disaster]], which was blamed on him.<ref>{{cite web|title= Yitzhak Shamir: Why we killed Lord Moyne|url= https://www.timesofisrael.com/yitzhak-shamir-why-we-killed-lord-moyne/amp/|website=Times of Israel|access-date=5 July 2012}}</ref>
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Shamir.jpg|thumb|180px|Shamir in the 1940s]] -->

In 1944 Shamir married fellow Lehi member [[Shulamit Shamir|Shulamit]],<ref>{{citation |url = http://heritagefl.com/2011/08/15/the-eulogizer-shamir-abutbul-sundlun-pearle/ |title = Heritage FL |date = 2011-08-15 |contribution = The eulogizer: Shamir Abutbul Sundlun Pearle |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120330205748/http://heritagefl.com/2011/08/15/the-eulogizer-shamir-abutbul-sundlun-pearle/ |archive-date = 2012-03-30 }}.</ref> Shamir had first met Shulamit in a [[detention camp]] where she was incarcerated after the ship on which she sailed to Mandate Palestine from [[Kingdom of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]] in 1941 was declared illegal. They would have two children, [[Yair Shamir|Yair]] and Gilada.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.jewishpost.com/archives/news/yitzhak-shamir-celebrated-his-85th-birthday.html |newspaper = Jewish post |title = Yitzhak Shamir celebrated his 85th birthday}}</ref>

Shamir's parents and two sisters were murdered in [[the Holocaust]]. Shamir claimed his father was killed just outside his birthplace in Ruzhany by villagers who had been his childhood friends after he had escaped from a German train transporting Jews to the death camps,<ref name=landau/> though this was never confirmed.<ref>One author suggests the location for Shamir's story was Derechin, Belarusian S.S.R., but misspelt the name as "Derecyn" and ignored the 1939 border change from Poland (the Polish was "Dereczyn") to the Soviet Union. (See Kati Marton, ''A death in Jerusalem'', Random House, 1994 p.102)</ref> His mother and a sister were murdered in the concentration camps, and another sister was shot dead.<ref name=landau>{{cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/when-shamir-revealed-how-his-parents-and-sisters-were-killed-in-the-holocaust/ |title=When Shamir revealed how his parents and sisters were killed in the Holocaust |work=[[The Times of Israel]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304040823/http://www.timesofisrael.com/when-shamir-revealed-how-his-parents-and-sisters-were-killed-in-the-holocaust/ |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=live |date=30 June 2012 |first=David |last=Landau |access-date=11 December 2021 }}</ref> Shamir once told [[Ehud Olmert]] that when his father, living under Nazi occupation, had been informed that the extermination of the Jews was imminent, his father had replied that "I have a son in the Land of Israel, and he will exact my revenge on them".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249840,00.html |title=Man made of steel |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=July 2012 |department=Israel Opinion |access-date=2012-08-09 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221607/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0%2C7340%2CL-4249840%2C00.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016|last1=Olmert |first1=Ehud }}</ref>

In July 1946, Shamir was arrested. He had been walking in public in disguise and a British police sergeant, T.G. Martin, recognized him by his bushy eyebrows. Arrested, he was exiled to Africa, and [[Irgun and Lehi internment in Africa|interned in Eritrea]] by British Mandatory authorities. Lehi members subsequently tracked down and killed Martin in September 1946.<ref>Marton, Kati: ''A Death in Jerusalem''</ref><ref>Martin, Gus: ''The SAGE Encyclopedia of Terrorism, Second Edition''</ref> On January 14, 1947, Shamir and four Irgun members escaped the Sembel Prison (a British Detention Camp) through a tunnel they had dug, 200 feet in length, and Mayer Malka of Khartoum subsequently arranged for them to be hidden in an oil truck for three days as it was driven over the border to [[French Somaliland]]. They were re-arrested by the French authorities, but Shamir with Malka's assistance was eventually allowed passage to France and granted political asylum. Lehi sent him a forged passport, with which he entered Israel after the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]] in 1948.<ref>{{citation |editor-first = Shlomo |editor-last = Okun |title = The Kenyan Exiles |language = he | pages = XXI–XXIV}}.</ref>{{sfn |Golan |2011 |pp = 122, 144–45}}<ref>{{citation |first = David |last = Shomron |chapter = We Saw Him As the Head of Lehi |language = he |title = Ahimeir, Itzhak Shamir: As Solid As a Rock |publisher = Yediot Aharonot and the Jabotinsky Institute |year = 2008 |page = 103}}.</ref>

===1948 Deir Yassin massacre===
During the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]], Lehi became most famous for the [[Deir Yassin massacre]]. From April 9 to 11, 1948 around 130 fighters from Irgun and Lehi violated a peace deal with the village of Deir Yassin and killed at least 107 [[Palestinian people|Palestinian Arab]] villagers, nearly all civilians.{{sfn|Morris|1987|p=126-128}}<ref name=Morris2008p126>Morris 2008, pp. 126–128.</ref><ref name=pamphlet>{{cite journal | author = Benny Morris | title = The Historiography of Deir Yassin | journal = The Journal of Israeli History | volume = 24 | issue = 1 | year = 2005 | pages = 79–107 | doi=10.1080/13531040500040305| s2cid = 159894369  |issn=1353-1042}}</ref> Some villagers who had hidden or pretended to be dead were killed by Lehi men on April 10 or 11.<ref name="Morris 2004, p. 238">[https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA238 Morris 2004, p. 238].</ref> News of the killings sparked terror among Palestinians across the country, frightening them [[1948 Palestinian exodus|to flee]] their homes in the face of Jewish troop advances and it strengthened the resolve of Arab governments to intervene, which they did five weeks later.<ref name=Morris2008p126 />

Lehi met fierce resistance from the [[Labor Zionism|Labor Zionist]] establishment in Israel as well as the broader [[Jewish diaspora]] for emulating [[European fascism]]. When Menachim Begin visited [[New York City]] in December 1948 over twenty prominent Jewish intellectuals condemned the Irgun and Lehi for their part in the [[Deir Yassin massacre]] in an [[wikisource:New Palestine Party; Visit of Menachen Begin and Aims of Political Movement Discussed|open letter]] to ''[[The New York Times]]''. The letter was signed by over twenty prominent Jewish intellectuals, including [[Albert Einstein]], [[Hannah Arendt]], [[Zellig Harris]], and [[Sidney Hook]]. 
[[File:Albert Einstein and others letter.jpg|thumb|right|[[wikisource:New Palestine Party; Visit of Menachen Begin and Aims of Political Movement Discussed|An open letter]] to ''[[The New York Times]]'' describing the [[Deir Yassin massacre]] was signed by over twenty prominent Jewish intellectuals, including [[Albert Einstein]], [[Hannah Arendt]], [[Zellig Harris]], and [[Sidney Hook]].]]
<blockquote>
A shocking example was their behavior in the Arab village of Deir Yassin. This village, off the main roads and surrounded by Jewish lands, had taken no part in the war, and had even fought off Arab bands who wanted to use the village as their base. On April 9 (THE NEW YORK TIMES), terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants (240 men, women, and children) and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem. Most of the Jewish community was horrified at the deed, and the Jewish Agency sent a telegram of apology to King Abdullah of Trans-Jordan. But the terrorists, far from being ashamed of their act, were proud of this massacre, publicized it widely, and invited all the foreign correspondents present in the country to view the heaped corpses and the general havoc at Deir Yassin. ...

During the last years of sporadic anti-British violence, the IZL and Stern groups inaugurated a reign of terror in the Palestine Jewish community. Teachers were beaten up for speaking against them, adults were shot for not letting their children join them. By gangster methods, beatings, window-smashing, and wide-spread robberies, the terrorists intimidated the population and exacted a heavy tribute. ... Within the Jewish community they have preached an admixture of [[ultranationalism]], religious mysticism, and [[racial superiority]].<ref name=Oppose>{{cite news |author= Isidore Abramowitz |author2=Hannah Arendt |author3=Abraham Brick |author4=Rabbi Jeshurun Cardozo |author5=Albert Einstein |author6=Herman Eisen; Hayim Fineman; M. Gallen; H.H. Harris; Zelig S. Harris; Sidney Hook; Fred Karush; Bruria Kaufman; Irma L. Lindheim; Nachman Maisel; Seymour Melman; Myder D. Mendelson; Harry M. Oslinsky; Samuel Pitlick; Fritz Rohrlich; Louis P. Rocker; Ruth Sagis; Itzhak Sankowsky; I.J. Shoenberg; Samuel Shuman; M. Singer; Irma Wolfe; Stefan Wolfe|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1948/12/04/96605844.pdf |newspaper=The New York Times |title=Letters to The Times: New Palestine Party: Visit of Menachem Begin and Aim of Political Movement Discussed |date=4 December 1948 |access-date=3 August 2011}}</ref></blockquote>

After the backlash to the massacre, the Lehi [[Triumvirate|troika]] of Shamir, Eldad, and Yellin-Mor formally disbanded most of the organization on May 29, 1948 but continued to lead a minority of the membership from Jerusalem. Lehi leadership continued to be outside of Israeli government control while most of its former membership joined the newly formed [[Israel Defense Forces]].<ref>{{citation |first = Nachman |last = Ben-Yehuda |title = The Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel |publisher = University of Wisconsin Press |year = 1995 |page = 324}}.</ref> During a UN-imposed truce, Shamir, Eldad, and Yellin-Mor authorized the assassination of the United Nations representative in the Middle East, Count [[Folke Bernadotte]], who was killed in September 1948, when Lehi gunmen ambushed his motorcade in Jerusalem. Lehi had feared that Israel would agree to Bernadotte's peace proposals, which they considered disastrous, unaware that the provisional Israeli government had already rejected a proposal by Bernadotte the day before. The Israeli provisional government drafted an ordinance for the prevention of terrorism and then invoked it to declare Lehi a terrorist organisation, consequently rounding up 200 of its members for "administrative detention" (prison). They were granted amnesty some months later and given a state pardon.<ref>{{citation |first1 = Ami |last1 = Pedahzur |first2 = Arie |last2 = Perliger |title = Jewish Terrorism in Israel |publisher = Columbia University Press |year = 2011 |page = 28}}.</ref>

==Mossad==
In the first years of Israel's independence, Shamir managed several commercial enterprises. In 1955, he joined [[Mossad]], serving until 1965. During his Mossad career, he directed [[Operation Damocles]], the assassinations of German rocket scientists working on the Egyptian missile programme.<ref>{{citation |url= https://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/targeted-killings-a-retro-fashion-very-much-in-vogue-1.117714 |title= Targeted killings: A retro fashion very much in vogue |newspaper= [[Haaretz]] |first = Yossi |last=Melman |date=March 24, 2004}}</ref>

He ran a unit that placed agents in hostile countries, created the Mossad's division for planning and served on its General Staff.{{sfn |Golan |2011 |p = 147}}{{dubious|date=July 2012}}

Shamir resigned from the Mossad in protest over the treatment of Mossad Director-General [[Isser Harel]], who had been compelled to resign after Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion ordered an end to [[Operation Damocles]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.haaretz.com/2004-03-24/ty-article/targeted-killings-a-retro-fashion-very-much-in-vogue/0000017f-e740-dc7e-adff-f7ed23970000|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303225533/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/features/targeted-killings-a-retro-fashion-very-much-in-vogue-1.117714|url-status=dead|title=Targeted Killings - a Retro Fashion Very Much in Vogue|archivedate=March 3, 2016|via=Haaretz}}</ref>

==Political career==
{{Conservatism in Israel|Politicians}}
<!-- His stance on the Egypt deal, leaving outposts/settlements/dispute with Netanyahu -->
[[File:Shamir Weinberger 1982.jpg|thumb|250px|Foreign Minister Shamir with US Secretary of Defense [[Caspar Weinberger]], 1982]]
[[File:President George H. W. Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir at the White House.jpg|thumb|Shamir meeting with US President [[George H. W. Bush]] at the White House in 1990]]
In 1969, Shamir joined the [[Herut]] party headed by [[Menachem Begin]] and was first elected to the [[Knesset]] in 1973 as a member of the [[Likud]].<ref>Woolf, Alex. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004. Print.</ref> He became [[List of Knesset speakers|Speaker of the Knesset]] in 1977, and [[Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel|Foreign Minister]] in 1980 which he remained until 1986, concurrently serving as prime minister from October 1983 to September 1984 after Begin's resignation.

Shamir had a reputation as a [[Likud]] hard-liner. In 1977 he presided at the [[Knesset]] visit of Egyptian President [[Anwar Sadat]]. He abstained in the Knesset votes to approve the [[Camp David Accords]] and the [[Egyptian–Israeli Peace Treaty|Peace Treaty with Egypt]]. In 1981 and 1982, as Foreign Minister, he guided negotiations with Egypt to normalize relations after the treaty. Following the [[1982 Lebanon War]] he directed negotiations which led to the [[May 17 Agreement|May 17, 1983 Agreement]] with Lebanon, which did not materialize.

===Prime minister===
Shamir won the [[1983 Herut leadership election]] against [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]] to succeed Begin as leader of Herut, the Likud, and Prime Minister of Israel. Shamir won reelection as party leader in the [[1984 Herut leadership election]], defeating a challenge from [[Ariel Sharon]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Max |first1=Arthur |title=Israel's ruling party in trouble as elections near |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/320486479/ |via=Newspapers.com |work=Tampa Bay Times  |agency=Associated Press |access-date=13 February 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=3 May 1984}}</ref> His failure to stabilize Israel's inflationary economy and to suggest a solution to the quagmire of Lebanon led to an [[1984 Israeli legislative election|indecisive election in 1984]]. Shamir lost the election but was able to retain his post as foreign minister in a [[national unity government]] between the [[Likud]] alliance and the [[Alignment (political party)|Alignment]] led by Prime Minister [[Shimon Peres]]. As part of the agreement, Peres held the post of Prime Minister until September 1986, when Shamir returned to the prime ministership and Peres became foreign minister.

As he prepared to reclaim the office of prime minister, Shamir's hard-line image appeared to moderate. However, Shamir remained reluctant to change the status quo in Israel's relations with its Arab neighbours and blocked Peres's initiative to promote a regional peace conference as agreed in 1987 with [[King Hussein of Jordan]] in what has become known as the [[Peres-Hussein London Agreement|London Agreement]]. [[1988 Israeli legislative election|Re-elected in 1988]], Shamir and Peres formed a new coalition government until "[[The dirty trick (Israel)|the dirty trick]]" of 1990, when the Alignment left the government, leaving Shamir with a narrow right-wing coalition. During this period the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip launched the [[first Intifada]], which was [[Break-their-bones policy|suppressed with force]] by the Israeli government.

Shamir urged the US government to stop granting refugee visas to Soviet Jews, persuading it that they were not refugees because they already had a homeland in Israel and were only moving to the United States for economic reasons. He also termed the emigration of Soviet Jews to the United States rather than to Israel "defection", and called the issuing of US refugee visas to Soviet Jews when Israel was already willing to take them in "an insult to Israel". In 1989, [[1990s Post-Soviet aliyah|a wave of Jewish emigration]] began from the Soviet Union after the Soviets allowed their Jewish population to emigrate freely. In October of that year, the US agreed to his requests and stopped issuing refugee visas to Soviet emigrants. Subsequently, Israel became the main destination of Soviet Jewish emigrants. Over one million Soviet immigrants would subsequently arrive in Israel, many of whom would have likely gone to the United States had Shamir not pressed the US government to change its policy.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/yitzhak-shamir-the-prime-minister-who-spied-on-me-1.448060 |title=Yitzhak Shamir, the prime minister who spied on me |newspaper=Haaretz |access-date=2012-08-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402232402/http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/yitzhak-shamir-the-prime-minister-who-spied-on-me-1.448060 |archive-date=2015-04-02 }}</ref>
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - PM Yitzhak Shamir Greets new immigrants from Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|240px|Shamir greets new [[Operation Solomon|immigrants from Ethiopia]], 1991]]

In September 1989, a journalist for ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' asked Shamir, "Doesn't it amaze you that in Poland, where hardly a Jew is left, there should still be a powerful anti-Semitic presence?" Shamir replied "They suck it in with their mother's milk! This is something that is deeply imbued in their tradition, their mentality."<ref name=JP1989>{{cite news| newspaper = Jerusalem Post | author = David Landau | title = We can't fight the whole world  | date = 8 September 1989 | page = 04}}</ref> The comment caused public and diplomatic controversy within [[Poland]] as being [[libel]]ous.<ref>{{cite web |title=Shamir's Remarks About Poland Held Up Diplomatic Relations | url=https://www.jta.org/archive/shamirs-remarks-about-poland-held-up-diplomatic-relations |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |date=8 December 1989}}</ref>{{sfn |Nowak-Jezioranski |2001 |p = 1 |ps =: 'To conclude from the 1941 pogroms that the Holocaust was the common work of Poles and Germans is a libel. All who feel themselves to be Polish have the responsibility to defend themselves against such slander. The majority of Polish society might be charged with having an attitude of indifference to the extermination of the Jews — if not for the fact that the entire civilized world reacted to the fact of genocide with indifference and passivity. The difference is that Poles were eyewitnesses, defenseless witnesses living in constant fear for their lives and the lives of their families.'}} [[Adam Michnik]] later addressed the comment by stating "the stubborn categorization of Poland as an anti-Semitic nation was used in Europe and America as an [[alibi]] for the [[Western betrayal|betrayal of Poland]] at [[Yalta Conference|Yalta]]. The nation so categorized was seen as unworthy of sympathy, or of help, or of compassion."<ref>Adam Michnik, editor-in-chief, ''Gazeta Wyborcza'', [http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/may/30/poland-and-the-jews/?pagination=false "Poland and the Jews", a speech at Central Synagogue in New York] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016230311/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/may/30/poland-and-the-jews/?pagination=false |date=October 16, 2015}}</ref>

In a 1996 interview with the Polish newspaper [[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|Rzeczpospolita]], Shamir said the controversy was based on a misunderstanding of what he said:

{{Blockquote|Once these words were published out of context, I did not find it necessary to straighten them out, because any reasonable person should understand that they should not be read literally. It is known that mother's food does not contain any ingredients that affect the formation of an infant's consciousness when it grows up and begins to think. These words were a metaphor to express the idea that anti-Semitic feelings or views, as well as many other positive and negative feelings and views, come from the family home.<ref>{{cite web |title=Icchak Szamir tłumaczył w "Rz": Nie oskarżałem całego narodu |url=https://www.rp.pl/historia/art1474431-icchak-szamir-tlumaczyl-w-rz-nie-oskarzalem-calego-narodu |publisher=[[Rzeczpospolita (newspaper)|Rzeczpospolita]]|access-date=4 December 2022}}</ref>}}

During the [[Gulf War]], [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] fired [[Scud]] missiles at Israel, many of which struck population centers. Iraq hoped to provoke Israeli retaliation and thus alienate Arab members of the United States-assembled coalition against Iraq. Shamir deployed [[Israeli Air Force]] jets to patrol the northern airspace with Iraq. However, after the United States and the Netherlands deployed Patriot antimissile batteries to protect Israel, and US and British special forces began hunting for Scuds, Shamir responded to American calls for restraint, recalled the jets, and agreed not to retaliate.

[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - P.M. Yitzhak Shamir.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir sniffs an [[ethrog]] during his visit to the Sukkot market in the Geula quarter in Jerusalem, 1988]]

During his term, Shamir reestablished diplomatic relations between Israel and several dozen African, Asian and other countries. In May 1991, as the [[People's Democratic Republic of Ethiopia|Ethiopian]] government of [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]] was collapsing, Shamir ordered the airlifting of 14,000 [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jews]], known as [[Operation Solomon]]. He continued his efforts, begun in the late 1960s, to bring Soviet Jewish refugees to Israel. Shamir restored diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Israel in October 1991, and following its dissolution, established relations between Israel and his native Belarus in May 1992.<ref>Joffe, Emmanuel, The Man from Ruzhany, Belarus, Served In The Mossad And Was The Prime Minister of Israel, Vecherny Minsk October 17, 2005 (Monday). № 235 (10911)</ref> Shamir was dedicated to bringing Jews from all over the world to Israel, and called on American Jews to emigrate to Israel in spite of a higher standard of living in the US, saying that he expected even American Jewish youth to realize that "man does not live by bread alone" but to "learn and understand Jewish history, the Bible... and reach the only conclusion: to come on aliya to Israel."{{Sfn | Golan | 2011 | pp = 219, 223}}

Relations with the US were strained in the period after the war over the [[Madrid Peace Conference of 1991|Madrid peace talks]], which Shamir opposed. As a result, US President [[George H. W. Bush]] was reluctant to approve loan guarantees to help absorb immigrants from the former Soviet Union. Finally, Shamir gave in and in October 1991 participated in the Madrid talks. His narrow, right-wing government collapsed, and new elections were necessarily called.

In a [[1992 Likud leadership election|February 1992 leadership election]], Shamir retained his leadership of Likud, defeating challenges from David Levy and Ariel Sharon.

One of Shamir's last acts as Prime Minister was to approve the 16 February 1992 assassination of the leader of [[Hizbullah]], Sheikh [[Abbas al-Musawi]].

===Electoral defeat and retirement===
[[File:Premier Lubbers ontvangt minister Shamir, Bestanddeelnr 933-2508.jpg|Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir with [[Ruud Lubbers]], 1985|thumb]]

Shamir was defeated by [[Yitzhak Rabin]]'s [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labour]] in the [[1992 Israeli legislative election|1992 election]]. He stepped down from the Likud leadership in March 1993 but remained a member of the Knesset until the 1996 election. For some time, Shamir was a critic of his Likud successor, [[Benjamin Netanyahu]], as being too indecisive in dealing with the Arabs. Shamir went so far as to resign from the Likud in 1998 and endorse [[Herut – The National Movement|Herut]], a right-wing splinter movement led by [[Benny Begin]], which later joined the [[National Union (Israel)|National Union]] during the 1999 election. After Netanyahu was defeated, Shamir returned to the Likud fold and supported [[Ariel Sharon]] in the 2001 election. He was placed honorary 120th last spot on the [[Likud]] list in the [[2003 Israeli legislative election]]. Subsequently, in his late eighties, Shamir ceased making public comments.

==Illness and death==
[[File:Shamir1803.JPG|thumb|Yitzhak Shamir's coffin [[lying in state]] in the [[Knesset]], July 2, 2012]]
In 2004, Shamir's health declined, with the progression of his [[Alzheimer's disease]], and he was moved to a nursing home. The government turned down a request by the family to finance his stay at the facility.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-2995233,00.html |title=מדוע לא תממן המדינה אשפוז סיעודי לשמיר? |work=Ynet | place=IL |language=he |trans-title=Why won't the state fund nursing care for Shamir? |date=26 October 2014|last1=מרסיאנו |first1=אילן }}.</ref>

Shulamit Shamir died on July 29, 2011.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146231 |title = Israel national news| date=30 July 2011 }}</ref> Less than a year later, Yitzhak Shamir died on the morning of June 30, 2012,<ref>{{Citation |title=Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli prime minister, dies at 96 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/yitzhak-shamir-former-israeli-prime-minister-dies-at-96/2012/06/30/gJQA1s68DW_story.html |access-date=17 March 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=30 June 2012}}</ref> at a nursing home in [[Tel Aviv]] where he had spent the last few years<ref name="YNETNEWS20120630">{{Citation |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249308,00.html |title=Former PM Yitzhak Shamir dies at 96|last=Somfalvi|first=Attila|newspaper=Ynetnews|date=30 June 2012|publisher=Ynet |access-date= 30 June 2012}}</ref> as a result of the Alzheimer's disease<ref name="ynet" /> he had suffered since the mid-1990s.<ref name="aljas" /> He was given a [[state funeral]], which took place on July 2 at [[Mount Herzl]], Jerusalem,<ref name="ynet" /> and was buried beside his wife, Shulamit,<ref name="aljas" /> who had died the previous year.<ref>{{Citation |title=Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies at 96 |author=Joel Brinkley |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/world/middleeast/yitzhak-shamir-former-prime-minister-of-israel-dies-at-96.html?pagewanted=all |date=June 30, 2012}}</ref> As his body was [[lying in state]] [[Speaker of the Knesset]] [[Reuven Rivlin]] laid a [[wreath]] on his coffin and said:<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=10532 |title=Knesset |place=IL |last=Rivlin |first=Reuven}}.</ref>
{{blockquote |You're cast stone, Isaac, unbreakable. Bearing on your shoulders the burden of this nation the past and the future. Remembering in your heart the ashes of the crematoria and the hope of redemption. Nothing could distract you out of your way. Iron tools and weapons of destruction could not touch you, could not threaten you. Flattery, bribery, and double talk—were never on your tongue, were not part of your language. Only one small weakness relentlessly gnawed at you. Only one small weakness managed to break through the solid rock to carve the stones, and build from them the foundations to establish the kingdom of Israel. It was love: Your love of this persecuted people; your love of the homeland of our fathers, of the land of eternity; your love of your children, your home; your love of your Shulamit. ... Sir, commander of Israel's Freedom Fighters, my man, Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, my honored Prime Minister of Israel and an eternal soldier. On my behalf, on behalf of your friends and subordinates; on behalf of the congregation of Israel, on behalf of anonymous soldiers, in the service of the country and in the underground; in the name of the State of Israel, we bow our heads to you. You were dedicated to the people all your life, and now 'from duty be released only by death.' In a few hours we'll say our goodbyes, when you'll be interred in the ground of Jerusalem, the ground of this good land, for which you have lived and fought.}}

Shamir was buried at [[Mount Herzl]].

===Commemoration===
Israeli President [[Shimon Peres]] said that "Yitzhak Shamir was a brave warrior for Israel, before and after its inception. He was a great patriot and his enormous contribution will be forever etched in our chronicles. He was loyal to his beliefs and he served his country with the utmost dedication for decades. May he rest in peace."<ref name="ynet" /> Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office issued a statement upon hearing of his death that read: "[Shamir] led Israel with a deep loyalty to the nation. [The Prime Minister] expresses his deep pain over the announcement of the departure of Yitzhak Shamir. He was part of a marvelous generation which created the state of Israel and struggled for the Jewish people." This was despite previous feuds between the two once-Likud members.<ref name="aljas">{{Citation |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/06/2012630182037576207.html |title=Middle east |date=2012-06-30 |publisher=Al Jazeera}}.</ref> He was also mourned in the Knesset.<ref>{{Citation |url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=10532 |title=Knesset |place=IL}}.</ref>

Foreign Minister [[Avigdor Lieberman]] added that Shamir "contributed greatly to the foundation of the state, which he served his entire life with loyalty and unwavering dedication. He set an example in each position that he held. I had the privilege to be personally acquainted with Shamir, and I will always remember him and his great contribution to the state;" while Defense Minister [[Ehud Barak]] said: "His whole life, Shamir was as stable as granite and maintained focus without compromises. He always strived to ensure Israel's freedom. His devotion knew no bounds [and he] always sought what's right for the people of Israel and for the country's security."

[[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Leader of the Opposition]] and [[Labor Party (Israel)|Labor Party]] head [[Shelly Yachimovich]] offered her condolences to Shamir's family saying that <blockquote>... he was a determined prime minister who dedicated his life to the state. He followed his ideological path honestly and humbly, as a leader should. The citizens of Israel will always remember the wisdom he demonstrated during the First Gulf War. He showed restraint and saved Israel from undue entanglement in the Iraq War. This decision proved to be a brave and wise act of leadership.
</blockquote>
His daughter Gilada Diamant said: <blockquote>[My father] belonged to a different generation of leaders, people with values and beliefs. I hope that we have more people like him in the future. His political doing has undoubtedly left its mark on the State of Israel. Dad was an amazing man, a family man in the fullest sense of the word, a man who dedicated himself to the State of Israel but never forgot his family, not even for a moment. He was a special man.<ref name="ynet">{{Citation |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4249308,00.html |title=Ynet News |newspaper=Ynetnews |date=30 June 2012 |place=IL|last1=Somfalvi |first1=Attila }}.</ref></blockquote>

==Awards and recognition==
In 2001, Shamir received the [[Israel Prize]], for his lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and the State of Israel.<ref>{{Citation | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb5092/is_200105/ai_n18522781 | last1 = Shamir | first1 = Eban | last2 = Ben-Porat | first2 = Garner | title = Israel Prize | journal = The Jewish Week |date=May 2001}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Israel Prize | language = he | contribution = Ytzchak Shamir | type = recipient's CV | publisher = Ministry of Education | place = IL | url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsa/YtzchakShamir/}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | title = Israel Prize | language = he | contribution = Judges' Rationale for Grant to Recipient | publisher = Ministry of Education | place = IL | url = http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/PrasIsrael/Tashsa/YtzchakShamir/NimokyHsoftim.htm}}.</ref>

==Published works==
He wrote ''Sikumo shel davar'', a book which was published in English by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, as ''Summing Up: An autobiography'' (1994).<ref>1994 {{ISBN|0-297-81337-4}}</ref>

==Overview of offices held==
Shamir twice served as prime minister (Israel's [[head of government]]). His first stint spanned from 10 October 1983 through 13 September 1984, leading the [[Twentieth government of Israel|20th government]] during the latter portion of the [[List of members of the tenth Knesset|10th Knesset]]. His second stint lasted from 20 October 1986 through 13 July 1992, leading the [[Twenty-second government of Israel|22nd government]] during the latter half of the [[List of members of the eleventh Knesset|11th Knesset]], and [[Twenty-third government of Israel|23rd]] and [[Twenty-fourth government of Israel|24th]] governments during the [[List of members of the twelfth Knesset|12th Knesset]].

Shamir was a member of the Knesset from after his [[1973 Israeli legislative election|1973]] election until 1996. During the first portion of the [[List of members of the thirteenth Knesset|13th Knesset]] Shamir served as the [[Leader of the Opposition (Israel)|Knesset's opposition leader]] (at the time an unofficial and honorary role) from July 1992 through March 1993.

Shamir became leader of [[Herut]] and [[Likud]] in 1983, leading Likud until 1993.

===Ministerial posts===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Ministerial posts
|-
! Ministerial post !! Tenure !! Prime Minister(s) !! Government(s) !! Predecessor !! Successor
|-
| [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]] || 10 March 1980 – 20 October 1986 || [[Menachem Begin]] {{Small|(until 10 October 1983)}}<br>''Yitzhak Shamir'' {{Small|(10 October 1983–13 September 1984)}}<br>[[Shimon Peres]] {{Small|(from 13 September 1984)}}|| [[Eighteenth government of Israel|18]], [[Nineteenth government of Israel|19]], [[Twentieth government of Israel|20]], [[Twenty-first government of Israel|21]] || [[Moshe Dayan]] || Shimon Peres
|-
| [[Deputy leaders of Israel#Designated Acting Prime Minister|Designated Acting Prime Minister]] || 13 September 1984 – 20 October 1986 || Shimon Peres || 21 || ''post established'' || Shimon Peres
|-
| [[Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services|Minister of Labour and Social Welfare]] (first tenure) || 22 December 1988 – 7 March 1990 || ''Yitzhak Shamir'' || [[Twenty-third government of Israel|23]]|| [[Moshe Katsav]] || [[Roni Milo]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Environmental Protection (Israel)|Minister of the Environment]] || 11 June 1990 – 13 July 1992 || ''Yitzhak Shamir'' || [[Twenty-fourth government of Israel|24]] || [[Rafael Edri]] || [[Ora Namir]]
|-
| [[Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage Minister of Israel|Minister of Jerusalem Affairs]] || 11 June 1990 – 13 July 1992 || ''Yitzhak Shamir'' || 24 || [[Avner Shaki]] || [[Yitzhak Rabin]]
|-
| [[Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs and Social Services|Minister of Labour and Social Welfare]] (second tenure) || 11 June 1990 – 13 July 1992 || ''Yitzhak Shamir'' || 24 || Roni Milo || Yitzhak Rabin
|}

==Electoral history==
===Party leadership elections===
{{Election box begin no party no change|title=[[1983 Herut leadership election]]<ref name="Kenig">{{cite journal |last1=Kenig |first1=Ofer |title=Democratizing Party Leadership Selection in Israel: A Balance Sheet |journal=Israel Studies Forum |year=2009 |volume=24 |issue=1 |pages=62–81 |jstor=41805011 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41805011 |access-date=25 January 2022 |issn=1557-2455}}</ref>}}
 {{Election box winning candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = Yitzhak Shamir
   |votes      = 436
   |percentage = 59.08
 }}
 {{Election box candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]]
   |votes      = 302
   |percentage = 40.92
 }}
{{Election box total no party no change
   |votes      = 738
   |percentage = 100
 }}
 {{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change|title=[[1984 Herut leadership election]]<ref name="BeatsStrongSharonBid">{{cite web |title=Shamir Beats Strong SharonBid To Win Party's Prime Minister Candidacy |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/368893498 |via=Newspapers.com |publisher=Hartford Courant |agency=United Press International |access-date=13 February 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=13 Apr 1984}}</ref>}}
 {{Election box winning candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = Yitzhak Shamir (incumbent)
   |votes      = 407
   |percentage = 56.45
 }}
 {{Election box candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = [[Ariel Sharon]]
   |votes      = 306
   |percentage = 42.44
 }}
 {{Election box candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = Aryeh Chertok
   |votes      = 8
   |percentage = 1.11
 }}
 {{Election box total no party no change
   |votes      = 721
   |percentage = 100
 }}
 {{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no party no change|title=[[1992 Likud leadership election]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Burston |first1=Bradley |title=Shamir retains leadership of Likud as election nears |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/175147988 |via=Newspapers.com |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |agency=[[Reuters]] |access-date=8 February 2022 |language=en |url-access=subscription |date=21 February 1992}}</ref>}}
 {{Election box winning candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = Yitzhak Shamir (incumbent)
   |votes      = 
   |percentage = 46.4
 }}
 {{Election box candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = [[David Levy (Israeli politician)|David Levy]]
   |votes      = 
   |percentage = 31.2
 }}
 {{Election box candidate no party no change
   |candidate  = [[Ariel Sharon]]
   |votes      = 
   |percentage = 22.3
 }}
 {{Election box end}}

==See also==
*[[List of Israel Prize recipients]]
*[[Not one inch]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite magazine|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/50599/meron-benvenisti/the-last-revisionist-zionist| title = The Last Revisionist Zionist | author-link = Meron Benvenisti | first = Meron | last = Benvenisti | magazine= [[Foreign Affairs (magazine)|Foreign Affairs]] |date=January–February 1995}}
* {{Cite news| last= Brinkley| first = Joel|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/magazine/the-stubborn-strength-of-yitzhak-shamir.html?pagewanted=all|title=The stubborn strength of Yitzhak Shamir|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=July 9, 2008|date=August 21, 1988}}
* {{Cite book| first = Zev | last = Golan | title = Stern: The Man and His Gang | publisher = Yair Publications | date = November 1, 2011 |isbn= 978-965-91724-0-5}}
* {{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Heller|title=The Stern Gang: Ideology, Politics and Terror, 1940–1949|publisher=Frank Cass|place=London|date=1995}}
* {{cite book |last1=Morris |first1=Benny |author-link1=Benny Morris |title=1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War |date=1 October 2008 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-14524-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CC7381HrLqcC |language=en }}
* {{cite journal | last=Morris | first=Benny | title=The Historiography of Deir Yassin | journal=Journal of Israeli History | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=24 | issue=1 | year=2005 | pages=79–107 | issn=1353-1042 | doi=10.1080/13531040500040305| s2cid=159894369 }}
*{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Benny|date=2004|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Benny|date=2001|title=Righteous Victims: A History of the Zionist-Arab Conflict, 1881–2001|publisher=Vintage Books}}
*{{cite book|last=Morris|first=Benny|date=1987|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949|url=https://archive.org/details/birthofpalestini00morr|url-access=registration|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521330282}}
* {{Cite journal | first = Jan | last = Nowak-Jezioranski | title = A Need for Compensation | journal = Rzeczpospolita | date = January 26, 2001 | url = http://wiez.free.ngo.pl/jedwabne/article/21.html | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120717102152/http://wiez.free.ngo.pl/jedwabne/article/21.html | archive-date = July 17, 2012 }}
* {{cite book|first=Shimon|last=Peres|title=Battling for Peace|url=https://archive.org/details/battlingforpeace00pere|url-access=registration|place=New York|date=1995|publisher=Random House|isbn=9780679436171}}
* {{cite book|first=Yitzhak|last=Shamir|title=Summing Up|url=https://archive.org/details/summingupautobio00sham|url-access=registration|place=London|date=1994|publisher=Little, Brown|isbn=9780316968256}}
* {{cite book|first=Colin|last=Shindler|title=Israel, Likud and the Zionist Dream: Power, Politics, and the Zionist dream from Begin to Netanyahu|place=London|date=1995}}
* {{cite book|first=Colin|last=Shindler|title=The Land Beyond Promise: Israel, Likud and the Zionist Dream|place=London|date=2002}}
* {{cite book|first=Benjamin|last=West|title=Jews Under Soviet Rule|place=Tel Aviv|date=1959}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{MKlink|id=175}}
*{{C-SPAN|1391}}
* {{Citation | url = https://www.archives.gov.il/NR/exeres/323559B4-27DF-4393-8C88-EAAB72EE83E6,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published | title = Yitzhak Shamir | place = Israel | publisher = State Archives | type = documents | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131005200343/http://www.archives.gov.il/NR/exeres/323559B4-27DF-4393-8C88-EAAB72EE83E6%2Cframeless.htm?NRMODE=Published | archive-date = 2013-10-05 }}

{{S-start}}
{{S-off}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Yisrael Yeshayahu]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Knesset speakers|Speaker of the Knesset]]|years=1977–1980}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yitzhak Berman]]}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Moshe Dayan]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]|years=1980–1986}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Shimon Peres]]|rows=2}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Menachem Begin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Israel]]|years=1983–1984}}
|-
{{s-bef|before=[[Shimon Peres]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Israel]]|years=1986–1992}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Yitzhak Rabin]]}}
{{S-ppo}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Menachem Begin]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Likud|Leader of the Likud Party]]|years=1983–1993}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Benjamin Netanyahu]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{IsraelPMS}}
{{IsraelDefenseMin}}
{{Israeli Environment Ministers}}
{{IsraelFinanceMin}}
{{IsraelForeignMin}}
{{Israeli Ministers of Interior}}
{{Israeli Welfare and Social Services Ministers}}
{{KnessetSpeakers}}
{{Refusenik movement and 1990s post-Soviet aliyah}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shamir, Yitzhak}}
[[Category:Yitzhak Shamir| ]]
[[Category:1915 births]]
[[Category:2012 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century prime ministers of Israel]]
[[Category:People from Pruzhany district]]
[[Category:People from Slonimsky Uyezd]]
[[Category:Belarusian Jews]]
[[Category:Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Herut politicians]]
[[Category:Irgun members]]
[[Category:Israel Prize for special contribution to society and the State recipients]]
[[Category:Israeli civil servants]]
[[Category:Israeli people of Belarusian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Jewish Israeli politicians]]
[[Category:Lehi members]]
[[Category:Likud leaders]]
[[Category:Leaders of the opposition (Israel)]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Knesset (1974–1977)]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Knesset (1977–1981)]]
[[Category:Members of the 10th Knesset (1981–1984)]]
[[Category:Members of the 11th Knesset (1984–1988)]]
[[Category:Members of the 12th Knesset (1988–1992)]]
[[Category:Members of the 13th Knesset (1992–1996)]]
[[Category:Speakers of the Knesset]]
[[Category:Prime ministers of Israel]]
[[Category:University of Warsaw alumni]]
[[Category:Ministers of environment of Israel]]
[[Category:Ministers of finance of Israel]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Israel]]
[[Category:Ministers of internal affairs of Israel]]
[[Category:Burials at Mount Herzl]]
[[Category:Deaths from Alzheimer's disease in Israel]]
[[Category:Betar members]]
[[Category:Israeli assassins]]
[[Category:Israeli escapees]]
[[Category:Escapees from British military detention]]
[[Category:Fighters' List politicians]]
[[Category:People of the Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine]]
[[Category:Immigrants of the Fifth Aliyah]]
[[Category:Zionist assassins]]