Moshe Sharett

Moshe Sharet משה שרת
2nd Prime Minister of Israel
In office 26 January 1954 – 3 November 1955
Preceded by	David Ben-Gurion
Succeeded by	David Ben-Gurion
Personal details
Born	15 October 1894(1894-10-15) Kherson, Russian Empire
Died	7 July 1965(1965-07-07) (aged 70) Jerusalem, Israel
Political party	Mapai
Spouse(s)	Tzipora Meirov
Children	3
Religion	Judaism
Signature

Moshe Sharett (Hebrew: משה שרת‎, born Moshe Shertok (Hebrew: משה שרתוק) on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel (1953–55), serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.

Biography

Early life

Born in Kherson in the Russian Empire (today in Ukraine), Sharett emigrated to Ottoman-controlled Palestine in 1906. In 1910 his family moved to Jaffa, and they became one of the founding families of Tel Aviv.

He graduated from the first class of the Herzliya Hebrew High School, even studying music at the Shulamit Conservatory. He then went off to Istanbul to study law at the University of Kushta (now Istanbul University), the same university yjsy Yitzhak Ben-Zvi and David Ben Gurion studied at. However, his time there was cut short due to the outbreak of World War I. He subsequently served as a 1st Lt., interpreter in the Turkish army.^[1]

Post-World War I

Moshe Shertok (Sharett) (standing, right) at a meeting with Arab leaders at the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, 1933. Also pictured are Haim Arlosoroff (sitting, center) with Chaim Weizmann (to his right), and Yitzhak Ben-Zvi (standing, to Shertok's right).

Moshe Sharett, 1936

Zionist leaders, arrested in Operation Agatha, in detention in Latrun (l-r): David Remez, Moshe Sharett, Yitzhak Gruenbaum, Dov Yosef, Mr. Shenkarsky, David Hacohen, and Mr. Halperin (Isser Harel) (1946)

After the war, he worked as an Arab affairs and land purchase agent for the Assembly of Representatives of the Yishuv. He also became a member of Ahdut Ha'Avoda, and later of Mapai.

In 1922 he went to the London School of Economics, and while there he actively edited the Workers of Zion. He then edited the Davar newspaper from 1925 until 1931.

In 1931, after returning to Palestine, he became the secretary of the Jewish Agency's political department. In 1933 he became its head, and he held that position until the formation of Israel in 1948.^[2]

Israeli independence

Israeli President Chaim Weizmann (left) with first Turkish ambassador to Israel, Seyfullah Esin (c), and Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, 1950

Amin Gargurah (left), the Mayor of Nazareth, and Moshe Sharett, 1955

Sharett was one of the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Independence. He was first elected to the Knesset in 1949, and served as Israel's first Minister of Foreign Affairs. In this role he established diplomatic relations with dozens of nations, and got Israel into the UN. He held this role until 1956.

In the debate on how to deal with the increasing infiltration of fedayeen across the borders in the years leading to the 1956 Suez Crisis, Sharett was skeptical of retaliatory operations.

Sharrett met with Pius XII in 1952 in an attempt to improve relations with the Holy See, although this was to no avail.^[3]

In December 1953 David Ben-Gurion retired from politics (temporarily as it turned out), and Sharett was elected to take his place. During his time as prime minister the Palestinian-Israeli conflict intensified and the Lavon Affair occurred. As a result David Ben-Gurion returned to the government as Defense Minister. At the next elections Ben Gurion replaced Sharett as head of the list and became prime minister.^[4][5][6][7]

Retirement

After stepping down as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sharett retired. During his retirement he became chairman of Am Oved publishing house, Chairman of Beit Berl College, and Chairman of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency. He died in 1965 in Jerusalem and was buried in Tel Aviv's Trumpeldor Cemetery. ^{[8] [9]}

Legacy

Moshe Sharett on 20 NIS banknote

Sharett wrote personal diaries, which were published posthumously. His son Yaakov founded an Institute for his heritage.^[10] Many cities have streets and neighborhoods named after him.

Since 1987, Sharett has appeared on the 20 NIS bills. The bill first featured Sharett, with the names of his books in small print, and with a small image of him presenting the Israeli flag to the United Nations in 1949. On the back of the bill, there was an image of the Herzliya Hebrew High School, from which he graduated.

In 1998 the bill went through a graphic revision, the list of Sharett's books on the front side was replaced by part of Sharett's 1949 speech in the UN. The back side now features an image of Jewish Brigade volunteers, part of a speech by Sharett on the radio after visiting the Brigade in Italy, and the list of his books in small print.

In 2005, he was voted the 150th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[11]

Bibliography

• Livia Rokach: Israel's Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary and Other Documents (Belmont, Massachusetts: Association of Arab American University Graduates, 1980; Third Edition 1986), ISBN 0-937694-70-3. See External Links, below.
• Gabriel Sheffer: Moshe Sharett: Biography of a Political Moderate. (New York: Clarendon Press of Oxford University Press, 1996), ISBN 0-19-827994-9.

Louise Fischer (ed.), Moshe Sharett: The Second Prime Minister, Selected Documents (1894–1965, (Israel State Archives, Jerusalem, 2009) ISBN 978-965-279-035-4

References

1. ^ Moshe Sharett Jewish Virtual Library
2. ^ Sharett, Moshe (Shertok; 1894–1965) Jewish Agency for Israel
3. ^ Israel-Vatican Diplomatic Relations
4. ^ Moshe Sharett MSN Encarta. Archived 1 November 2009.
5. ^ Moshe Sharett Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs
6. ^ Knesset Member, Moshe Sharett Knesset website
7. ^ Erskine B. Childers, 'The Road to Suez- A study in Western-Arab relations'. Macgibbon & Kee, Bristol. 1962. page 184: Suggests Sharett's resignation as Foreign Minister on 18 June 1956 was due to his opposition to plans for military action against Egypt.
8. ^ [1]
9. ^ Moshe Sharett The Second Prime Minister Prime Minister's Office
10. ^ Moshe Sharett Heritage Society
11. ^ גיא בניוביץ' (20 June 1995). "הישראלי מספר 1: יצחק רבין – תרבות ובידור". Ynet. http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3083171,00.html. Retrieved 10 July 2011. 

External links

• Moshe Sharett Jewish Virtual Library
• Moshe Sharett Jewish Agency for Israel
• The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem site: The Office of Moshe Sharett (S65), Personal papers (A245).
• Livia Rokach: A study based on Moshe Sharett's diary, Foreword by Noam Chomsky, 1980.

Political offices
Preceded by David Ben Gurion	Prime Minister of Israel 1953–55	Succeeded by David Ben Gurion
Party political offices
Preceded by David Ben-Gurion	Leader of Mapai 1954–55	Succeeded by David Ben-Gurion

Persondata
Name	Sharett, Moshe
Alternative names	Shertok, Moshe
Short description	second Prime Minister of Israel
Date of birth	15 October 1894
Place of birth	Kherson, Ukraine
Date of death	7 July 1965
Place of death	Israel