Yitzhak Shamir: Five Facts About Israel's Seventh Prime Minister

On the occasion of Yitzhak Shamir's birthday, five key facts about his life and public service are highlighted. Shamir, who served as Israel's seventh Prime Minister, also held the positions of Foreign Minister and Knesset Speaker. Before entering politics, he was a commander in the Lehi underground organization and an operations officer in the Mossad.

Shamir was born Yitzhak Yzernitzky. During his time in the Lehi, he used various aliases and adopted the nom de guerre "Michael" after Irish leader Michael Collins. When he needed a forged identity document to evade British authorities, he chose "Shamir," a name from the Bible symbolizing a hard, sharp stone. He officially adopted Shamir as his surname after the establishment of the state, retaining it throughout his public career.

In August 1942, Shamir escaped from the Mizra detention camp with Eliyahu Giladi, a Lehi leader, after bribing an Arab guard and exploiting a breach in the fence. He met his future wife, Shulamit, also a Lehi detainee, at Mizra. In August 1946, he was arrested again and exiled to a British detention camp in Eritrea. In January 1947, he escaped from there through a tunnel dug by prisoners, with part of a cell key smuggled in a cooked chicken thigh and the other part in a loaf of bread. He reached French Djibouti, received political asylum in France, and returned to Israel after the state's founding.

Recruited to the Mossad in 1955 by Isser Harel, Shamir served for about a decade in senior operational roles, including commanding the special operations unit "Bayonet." In this capacity, he led Operation Damocles, a campaign against German scientists working in Egypt. The unit employed psychological warfare, sent letter bombs to the scientists, and conducted surveillance and threats, disrupting their development teams. To gather intelligence, the Mossad even recruited former SS commander Otto Skorzeny, who provided information on Egyptian facilities in exchange for removal from target lists. Shamir left the Mossad in 1965 due to disagreements with then-director Meir Amit and structural changes, moving into civilian and public life.

Shamir maintained a disciplined and ascetic lifestyle, largely abstaining from alcohol and smoking, adhering to strict self-discipline, simple nutrition, and a regular routine that included morning walks. These habits, dating back to his underground and intelligence service days, aided him in complex political discussions and contributed to his image of cool-headedness. He described this iron discipline and calculated lifestyle as essential tools for maintaining alertness and making critical decisions.

Shamir is the only person in Israeli history to have served as Knesset Speaker (1977-1980), Foreign Minister (1980-1986), and Prime Minister (1983-1984, 1986-1992). While Shamir uniquely completed this path, Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak are the only two individuals to have served as IDF Chief of Staff, Defense Minister, and Prime Minister. Shamir passed away in 2012 at the age of 96, leaving a legacy of decades of service in the underground, intelligence community, and the country's leadership, bridging the struggle for the state's establishment with its critical moments of leadership.