Yitzhak Shamir

Trivia

• Shamir joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization "Etzel") and, in 1940, followed Avraham Stern into Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Freedom Fighters of Israel "Fighters"). The following year he was imprisoned by the British authorities.
• In 1943, Shamir escaped from detention camp and became one of the Lehi's principal leaders.
• Shamir served as Lehi's principal director of operations until 1946, when he was detained again by the British and exiled to a British­run prison camp in Eritrea.
• In 1947, Shamir escaped from the camp, made his way to the neighboring French colony of Djibouti, and later granted political asylum in France.
• Upon his return to Israel, he resumed command of the Lehi until it disbanded in 1949.
• After managing several commercial enterprises, Shamir joined Israel's security services in the mid­1950's.
• Shamir returned to private commercial activity in the mid­1960's, when he became active in the campaign to free Soviet Jewry and joined Menachem Begin's Herut movement, which evolved into the Likud Party.
• Elected to the Knesset in 1973 as a member of the Likud, Shamir served on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the State Comptroller's Committee.
• Upon reelection to the Knesset in 1977, he became Speaker, in which capacity he presided over the historic visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and the debate over the peace treaty with Egypt.
• Following the resignation of Moshe Dayan, Shamir joined the Begin Cabinet as Foreign Minister in March 1980, and continued in this position after the 1981 elections.

Quotes

• “We must never bend too much.”
• “I believe that the will of the people is resolved by a strong leadership. Even in a democratic society, events depend on a strong leadership with a strong power of persuasion, and not on the opinion of the masses.”
• “We have said that Israel has had a very bad history with the United Nations, and whoever cares for himself in Israel distances himself from that Organization.”
• “All of the land of Israel is ours.”
• “Israel's capital will never again be a divided city, a city with a wall at its center, a city in which two flags fly. This city, will, in its entirety, absorb immigrants, welcome pilgrims and be the eternal capital of Israel forever.”
• “In this part of the world, Jews and Arabs will live together forever.”