Past Leaders

Zev Jabotinsky

Born in Russia in 1880, Jabotinsky learned law and later became one of the most prominent writers in the Russian language. The ensuing pogroms of 1903 motivated his Zionism, and he organized self-defense units and fought for the rights of the Russian Jewish minority.

After serving as a delegate to the 6th Zionist Congress, Jabotinsky, alongside Joseph Trumpeldor organized the first Jewish Legion during World War I.

Under the British mandate, Jabotinsky stood at the head of Jerusalem's Haganah (defense) against the Arab riots of 1920, for which he was incarcerated. After his release in 1925 he established the Revisionist Zionist alliance (Hatzohar), which called for the immediate establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel.

In 1937 the national military organization in Israel became the military arm of Jabotinsky's movement and he became its commander. He also stood at the head of the New Zionist Union, The Beitar Youth Movement; these three bodies were three extensions of the same movement.

During WWII Jabotinsky was active in Britain and the United States in the hope of establishing a Jewish army to fight side by side with the Allies against Nazi Germany.

He died in 1940, with his will commanding that his remains be interred only in Eretz Israel by the future Hebrew Government, which was fulfilled later in 1964 when his and his wife's remains were reinterred on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem.

Menahem Begin

Menachem Begin was born in Brest­Litovsk in 1913, and was forced to flee with his family to escape the violence of WWI. He joined Jabotinsky's Betar youth movement in his teens, rising quickly to important administrative and leadership positions. He led Betar Czechoslovakia and Betar Poland by 1939, which engaged in weapons training to defend Polish Jewry, preparation and transport of "illegal" immigrants to Israel, agricultural training, and communications.

Contacting the dormant Jewish underground, Irgun Tzavi Leumi, Begin set about planning a Jewish uprising against the British authorities, which intensified immediately after World War II and continued until late 1947. Following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Begin disbanded the Irgun (organization).

From 1948 to 1977, Menachem Begin was the leader of Israel's opposition. In the 1950's, he led the movement against accepting German reparations for the Nazi Holocaust. In 1965, Begin merged his Herut Party with the Liberals to form Gahal, which later served as the foundation of the Likud Party. This merge saw the establishment of a National Unity Government, which finally brought Begin and other Gahal leaders to the Cabinet table. The National Unity Government continued until 1970, when Begin insisted that Israel condition Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's extension of the cease-fire across the Suez Canal on the signing of a peace treaty recognizing Israel.

In 1977, Begin was elected Prime Minister. As such, he helped initiate the peace process with Egypt, which resulted in the Camp David Accords and the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.

In 1981, Begin ordered the Israeli Air Force to bomb the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq, where the Iraqi regime was developing nuclear weapons. Despite international backlash at the time, it became apparent during the 1991 Gulf Warthat Israel's action had succeeded in hampering Baghdad's drive to acquire nuclear weapons.

 In 1982, after repeated acts of PLO terror, Israel launched Operation Peace for Galilee to remove the terrorist threat from Israel's northern border.

Begin's decision to encourage Ethiopian Jews to immigrate to Israel later culminated in Operation Moses, which brought thousands en masse to Israel in the early 1980's.

He died March 9, 1992, and was buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem.

Yitzhak Shamir

Born in Ruzinoy, Poland in 1915, Yitzhak Shamir was an active member of Jabotinsky's Betar Zionist youth movement. At the age of 20 he enrolled at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Soon after, he joined the Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization "Etzel") and, in 1940 joined Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Freedom Fighters of Israel "Fighters"). The following year he was imprisoned by the British authorities. In 1943, he escaped from detention camp and became one of the Lehi's principal leaders, where he 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, he escaped from the camp and was 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. He 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. He guided negotiations on the post­-treaty "normalization" process with Egypt, and initiated diplomatic contacts with numerous African countries which had severed relations with Jerusalem during the Yom Kippur War. Following Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982, Shamir directed negotiations with Lebanon which led to the 1983 peace agreement (never ratified by the Lebanese government).

In October 1983, Shamir succeeded Menachem Begin as Prime Minister. Following the 1984 election, he became Vice­Premier and Foreign Ministry in the Government of National Unity.

Together with Defense Minister Moshe Arens, Shamir worked with President Ronald Reagan and Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger to create a framework for U.S.­Israel strategic cooperation and the U.S.­Israel Free Trade Agreement. In midterm, Shamir returned to the premiership, rotating positions with Labor leader Shimon Peres.

Following the 1988 elections, Shamir again created a National Unity Government with Labor, but without the "rotation" element of its predecessor.

In May 1991, Shamir ordered the airlift rescue of thousands of Ethiopian Jews, codenamed "Operation Solomon." In September 1991, he represented Israel at the Madrid Peace Conference which brought about direct negotiations with Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinians.

Shamir stepped down from the party leadership in 1992 and retired from the Knesset in 1996.

 

Ariel Sharon

Ariel Sharon was born at Kfar Malal on February 27, 1928. He served in the IDF for more than 25 years, retiring with the rank of Major-General. He holds an LL.B in Law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1962).

He joined the Haganah at the age of 14 in 1942. During the 1948 War of Independence, he commanded an infantry company in the Alexandroni Brigade. In 1953, he founded and led the "101" special commando unit which carried out retaliatory operations against Palestinian fedayeen. Sharon was appointed commander of a Paratroop Corps in 1956 and fought in the Sinai Campaign. In 1957, he attended the Camberley Staff College in Great Britain.

During 1958-62, Sharon served as Infantry Brigade Commander and then Infantry School Commander, and attended Law School at Tel Aviv University. He was appointed Head of the Northern Command Staff in 1964 and Head of the Army Training Department in 1966. He participated in the 1967 Six Day War as commander of an armored division. In 1969 he was appointed Head of the Southern Command Staff.

Sharon resigned from the army in June 1972, but was recalled to active military service in the 1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. He led the crossing of the Suez Canal which helped secure an Israeli victory in the war and eventual peace with Egypt.

Ariel Sharon was elected to the Knesset in December 1973, but resigned a year later, serving as Security Adviser to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (1975). He was elected to the Knesset in 1977 on the Shlomzion ticket. Following the elections, he joined the Herut party and was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Menachem Begin's first government (1977-81). One of his priorities was to pursue agricultural cooperation with Egypt.

In 1981, Ariel Sharon was appointed Defense Minister, serving in this post during the Lebanon War, which brought about the destruction of the PLO terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon. In the realm of international relations, he was instrumental in renewing diplomatic relations with the African nations which had broken off ties with Israel during the Yom Kippur War. In November 1981, he brought about the first strategic cooperation agreement with the U.S. and widened defense ties between Israel and many nations. He also helped bring thousands of Jews from Ethiopia through Sudan.

In 1983, Sharon resigned as Defense Minister. He then served as Minister of Industry and Trade from 1984-90. In this capacity, he concluded the Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. in 1985.

From 1990-1992, he served as Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. Following the fall of the Soviet Union and the waves of immigration from Russia, he initiated and carried out a program to absorb the immigrants throughout the country, including the construction of 144,000 apartments.

From 1992-1996, he served as a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

In 1996, Ariel Sharon was appointed Minister of National Infrastructure and was involved in fostering joint ventures with Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians. He also served as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Bedouin advancement.

In 1998, Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister and headed the permanent status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

While serving as Foreign Minister, Sharon met with U.S., European, Palestinian and Arab leaders to advance the peace process. He worked mostly to create and advance projects such as the Flagship Water Project funded by the international community to find a long-term solution to the region's water crisis and a basis to peaceful relations between Israel, Jordan, the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries.

Following the election of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in May 1999, Ariel Sharon was called upon to become interim Likud party leader following the resignation of Benjamin Netanyahu. In September 1999, he was elected Chairman of the Likud. He also served as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Knesset.

On September 28, 2000, Sharon made a visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the holiest place in Judaism to emphasize Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Temple Mount. Palestinians maintained that Sharon came with "thousands of Israeli soldiers" and defiled a Muslim holy place, when in fact, Israel's Internal Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami permitted Sharon to visit the Temple Mount only after calling Palestinian security chief Jabril Rajoub and receiving his assurance that if Sharon did not enter the mosques, no problems would arise. Sharon did not attempt to enter any mosques and his 34 minute visit was conducted during normal hours when the area is open to tourists. Palestinian youths - eventually numbering around 1,500 - shouted slogans in an attempt to inflame the situation. Some 1,500 Israeli police were present at the scene to forestall violence.

Following Sharon's Temple Mount visit, the Palestinians, under the direction of Yasser Arafat, launched an unprecedented wave of violence and terror against Israelis, dubbed the "al-Aksa Intifada" by the Palestinians for its association with the al-Aksa Mosque located on the Temple Mount. Palestinian leaders claim that Sharon's visit sparked the violence, but on November 7, 2000, an investigatory committee led by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell was established to determine the causes of the violence and to make recommendations for calming the situation. The Mitchell Report issued in April 30, 2001, concluded "the Sharon visit did not cause the "al-Aksa intifada."

In a special election held February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister. He presented his government to the Knesset on March 7, 2001. After calling early elections to the 16th Knesset, which were held on January 28, 2003, Ariel Sharon was charged by the president with the task of forming a government and presented his new government to the Knesset on February 27, 2003.

In February 2005, Sharon left the Likud party and established the Kadima party.

In January 4, 2006, Sharon was hospitalized after a serious stroke and suffered a massive brain hemorrhage. Sharon remains hospitalized and is not expected to recover from his illness. Sharon is widowed and has two sons, Omri and Gilad.

 

Benjamin Netanyahu

Born in Tel­ Aviv in 1949, Benjamin Netanyahu grew up in Jerusalem. He spent his high school years in the United States, where his father, the historian Professor Benzion Netanyahu, taught history. Returning to Israel in 1967, Mr. Netanyahu enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces and served in an elite commando unit.

Before entering political life, Mr. Netanyahu served as a soldier and officer in an elite anti­-terror unit in the Israel Defense Forces (1967­72). Mr. Netanyahu participated in various missions during the War of Attrition, including the Beirut Airport operation. He took part in the rescue of the hijacked Sabena Airlines hostages at Ben Gurion Airport, in which he was wounded. He was also cited for outstanding operational leadership by O.C. Northern Command, the late Maj. Gen. Motta Gur. He was discharged from the I.D.F. in 1972 and reached the rank of captain following the Yom Kippur War.

Mr. Netanyahu received a B.Sc. in Architecture and an M.Sc. in Management Studies from MIT. He also studied political science at MIT and Harvard University.

After completing his studies he was employed by the Boston Consulting Group, an international business consulting firm. He later joined the senior management of Rim Industries in Jerusalem.

In 1979 he initiated and organized an international conference against terrorism, under the auspices of the Jonathan Institute ­ a private foundation dedicated to the study of terrorism, which was named after his brother Jonathan who fell while leading the rescue party at Entebbe.

World leaders, including former U.S. President George Bush and former Secretary of State George Shultz, participated in this conference and a subsequent one in 1984. Mr. Netanyahu has been credited by Mr. Shultz for his central role in effecting a change in American policies on international terrorism.

 In 1982, at the request of then ­Ambassador Moshe Arens, Mr. Netanyahu assumed the position of Deputy Chief of Mission in the Israeli Embassy in Washington. He was a member of the first delegation to the talks on strategic cooperation between Israel and the United States. Two years later he was appointed Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations and served there for four years. As U.N. ambassador, Mr. Netanyahu led the effort that opened the U.N. Nazi War Crimes Archives in 1987.

Returning to Israel in 1988, Mr. Netanyahu was elected to the 12th Knesset as a Likud member and was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister.

During the Gulf War he served as Israel's principal representative in the international arena. In October 1991, he was a senior member of the Israeli delegation to the Madrid Peace Conference, which initiated the first direct negotiations between Israel and Syria, Lebanon, and a joint Jordanian-­Palestinian delegation.

On March 25, 1993, he was elected Likud Party Chairman and the party's candidate for Prime Minister.

As Chairman of the Likud Party since 1993, Benjamin Netanyahu was elected Prime Minister of Israel in May 1996 in the first direct election of prime minister in Israel, serving in this position until July 1999.

In November 2002 Benjamin Netanyahu was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Netanyahu is the author and editor of several books:

Self Portrait of a Hero: From the Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu 1963-1976 (Edited 1978)

International Terrorism: Challenge and Response (Edited 1979)

Terrorism: How the West Can Win. (Edited 1986)

A Place Among Nations: Israel and the World (1992)

Fighting Terrorism: How Democracies Can Defeat Domestic and International Terrorists (1995)

Mr. Netanyahu is married to Sara, and is the father of Noa, Yair and Avner.