Shamir, Yitzhak, << shah MEER, YIHTS zhahk >> (1915-2012), served as prime minister of Israel from October 1983 to September 1984, and from October 1986 to July 1992. As prime minister, Shamir continued most of Israel’s previously established foreign policies. For example, he supported Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip—territories that Israeli troops had occupied in 1967.
Shamir succeeded Menachem Begin as prime minister in 1983, after Begin had resigned. He also replaced Begin as head of the political party called the Likud bloc. Shamir had been foreign minister since 1980.
In July 1984, parliamentary elections were held in Israel. No party won a majority. In September, the Likud bloc and the Labor Party formed a unity government that lasted for 50 months. Under the unity government agreement, Shimon Peres, leader of the Labor Party, served as prime minister for 25 months. Shamir served as vice prime minister and foreign minister. Under the agreement, the roles of Peres and Shamir were reversed after 25 months—in October 1986. In the elections of November 1988, no party won a majority. In December, Likud and Labor formed a new coalition government. Shamir remained prime minister.
In 1988, protests by Palestinians in the occupied territories began erupting into violence. Several hundred Palestinians and a smaller number of Israelis were killed. In 1990, Shamir refused to compromise on peace plans for the territories. The Labor Party then left the coalition, and the government fell in March. In June 1990, Likud and small conservative parties formed a new coalition government in Israel with Shamir as prime minister. The Labor Party won control of the parliament in elections held in June 1992. In July, Labor Party leader Yitzhak Rabin replaced Shamir as prime minister. Shamir resigned as head of the Likud bloc in March 1993. In 1999, he quit the Likud Party and joined the right-wing Herut Party.
Shamir was born on Oct. 15, 1915, in the village of Ruzinoy, Poland (now Ruzhany, Belarus). His last name was Jazernicki. He later changed his name to Shamir, the Hebrew word for both thistle and flint. He studied law in Warsaw before moving to Palestine in 1935 to attend Hebrew University. He dropped out in 1937 and joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi, an underground Jewish militia that fought the British—who then ruled Palestine—and the Palestinian Arabs.
In 1940, Shamir joined the more radical Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Israel Freedom Fighters), or Stern Gang, militia. The nation of Israel was created in Palestine in 1948. From 1955 to 1965, Shamir worked for Mossad, Israel’s intelligence agency. He was first elected to the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in 1973. Shamir died on June 30, 2012.
