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Former prime
ministers
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Ben Gurion (Green),
David (1886-1973). Born in Plonsk, Poland, and immigrated to Ottoman-controlled
Palestine in 1906. Labor and Zionist leader. Israel's first prime
minister on behalf of the Mapai Party (1948-1954 and 1955-63). |
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Sharett (Shertok),
Moshe (1894-1965). Born in Russia, and immigrated in 1906. Head
of the Jewish Agency Political Department 1933-48. Prime minister
(Mapai), 1954-55. |
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Eshkol, Levi (1895-1969)
Born in Ukraine; immigrated in 1913. Labor leader active in the economic
sphere. Minister of finance, 1952-63; prime minister (Mapai and the
Labor Alignment), 1963-69. |
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Meir (Meyerson) Golda
(1898-1978). Born in Russia, raised in the US, and immigrated to British
Mandatory Palestine in 1921. Active in the Histadrut; minister of
labor, 1949-56; foreign minister, 1956-66; prime minister (Labor Alignment),
1969-74. |
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Rabin, Yitzhak
(1922-1995) Born in Jerusalem. Served in the Haganah, then the IDF,
1941-68; chief of General Staff 1964-68. Prime minister (Labor Alignment)
1974-77 and (Labor Party) 1992-95; defense minister, 1984-90 and 1992-95.
Assassinated on November 4, 1995. |
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Begin, Menachem
(1913-1992). Born in Brest-Litovsk in Russia, and immigrated to Palestine
in 1942. Leader of the IZL underground movement, 1943-48. Leader of
the Herut Movement and the Likud, 1948-1983. Minister without portfolio,
1967-70. Prime minister (Likud) 1977-1983. |
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Shamir, Yitzhak
Born in Poland in 1915 and immigrated to Palestine in 1935. One of
the leaders of the Lehi underground movement, 1942-48. Served in the
Mossad, 1955-65. Foreign minister 1980-3; prime minister (Likud) 1983-84
and 1986-1992. |
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Peres, Shimon Born
in Poland in 1923 and immigrated to Palestine in 1934. Served under
Ben-Gurion and Eshkol in Defense Ministry. Minister of Immigration
and Absorption 1969-70; transportation, 1970-74; information, 1974;
defense, 1974-77 and 1995-96; foreign affairs 1986-88; finance, 1988-90;
prime minister (Labor Alignment) 1984-86 and (Labor Party) 1995-96. |
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Netanyahu, Binyamin
Born in Tel-Aviv on October 21, 1949. In 1979 he initiated and organised
the international conference against terrorism; 1982 - Deputy Chief
of Mission in the Israeli Embassy; 1984 - Israel ambassador to the
United Nations; 1988 - Deputy Foreign Minister in the 12th Knesset;
1992 - Following the Likud Party's defeat, Netanyahu decisively defeated
three other candidates for Likud Party head; 1996 - Ousted Shimon
Peres as Prime Minister in the election becoming the ninth and youngest
Prime Minister of Israel. |
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Barak, Ehud Born
in 1942 in Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon. He joined the Israel Defense
Forces in 1959, and served as a soldier and commander of an elite
unit. In April 1983, Maj.Gen. Barak was appointed Head of the Intelligence
Branch at the IDF General Headquarters. In April 1991, he assumed
the post of the 14th Chief of the General Staff and was promoted to
the rank of Lt. General, the highest in the Israeli military. He oversaw
the IDF's redeployment in the Gaza Strip and Jericho and played a
central role in finalizing the peace treaty with Jordan in 1994. He
was Interior Minister in 1995 and Foreign Minister in 1996. 1999 -
formed the One Israel Party from the Labor, Gesher and Meimad factions
and was elected Prime Minister. He completed his term on March 7,
2001, following his defeat by Ariel Sharon in the February special
election for prime minister. |
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Sharon, Ariel ('Arik')
Born in 1928 in Kfar Malal. He served in the IDF for more than 25
years, retiring with the rank of Major-General. Sharon joined the
Haganah at the age of 14. 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. In 1969 he was
appointed Head of the IDF Southern Command. Sharon resigned from the
army in 1973, but was recalled to active military service in the October
1973 Yom Kippur War to command an armored division. 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. From 1983-84, Sharon served as Minister
without Portfolio, and from 1984-1990 as Minister of Trade and Industry.
From 1990-1992, he was Minister of Construction and Housing and Chairman
of the Ministerial Committee on Immigration and Absorption. In 1998
Ariel Sharon was appointed Foreign Minister. Following the election
of Ehud Barak as Prime Minister in 1999, he was elected Chairman of
the Likud. On February 6, 2001, Ariel Sharon was elected Prime Minister.) |
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