42 lines
No EOL
4.5 KiB
Markdown
42 lines
No EOL
4.5 KiB
Markdown
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category: "Key Figures"
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tags:
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- Person
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- CIA
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- Politician
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- Israel
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- Soviet
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summary: "Israeli Prime Minister and former LEHI member who authorized intelligence sharing with the Soviet Union and oversaw covert arms deals with Iran and the Iran-Israel Joint Committee."
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born: 1915-10-22
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died: 2012-06-30
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location: "Ruzhany, Belarus"
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---
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[[Yitzhak Shamir]] was a prominent [[Israel|Israeli]] politician who served as Prime Minister of [[Israel]]. He was a former member of [[LEHI]] (Stern Gang), a Jewish terrorist group, and later became a prominent figure in [[Mossad]], serving as operations chief for [[Europe]].[^1]
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### Anti-American Sentiments and Soviet Relations
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was known for his anti-[[United States|American]] sentiments, stemming from his belief that the [[United States|U.S.]] was partially responsible for the Holocaust. He sought to open lines of communication between [[Israel]] and the [[East Bloc]] countries, particularly after becoming prime minister in 1983. He authorized intelligence exchanges with the [[Soviet Union]], including sanitized [[United States|American]] intelligence reports about nuclear issues and evaluations of [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] nuclear technology.[^1]
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### Coalition Government and Arms Trading
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was a key figure in the [[Likud Party]]. He formed a bizarre coalition government with [[Shimon Peres]] of the [[Labor Party]] in 1984, sharing the roles of prime minister and foreign minister. [[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] had a close relationship with [[Rafi]], who served as his counterterrorism adviser and later ran the [[Iran-Israel Joint Committee]]. [[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was involved in the decision to supply [[Iran]] with arms in its war with [[Saddam Hussein|Saddam Hussein's]] [[Iraq]], believing it was in [[Israel|Israel's]] national security interest.[^1]
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### Pollard Espionage Case
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was also involved in the [[Jonathan Pollard]] espionage case, authorizing the transfer of [[Israel|Israeli]] intelligence gleaned from the [[United States|United States]] to the [[Soviet Union]]. During his tenure as prime minister (1984-1986), Shamir authorized some of the [[Jonathan Pollard|Pollard]] material to be sanitized, retyped, and turned over to Soviet intelligence officials as a gesture of Israeli goodwill. This decision was consistent with his personal and political beliefs, as he viscerally disliked the [[United States]] and was fascinated with strong regimes, viewing the U.S. as "soft, bourgeois, materialistic and effete." He believed that by relaying the Pollard information to the Soviets, he was demonstrating that [[Israel]] could be a much more dependable and important collaborator in the [[Middle East]] than the "fickle" Arabs. Shamir's actions, if exposed, would have meant the end of the increasingly shaky Likud coalition and put the overall Israeli–United States relationship at risk.[^1][^2]
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was furious when the [[Oliver North|North]] group leaked the [[Jonathan Pollard|Pollard]] story, and sought to nip the newcomers in the bud.[^1]
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### Palestinian and Regional Policy
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] opposed [[United States|U.S.]] peace initiatives that would involve giving up territory in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]], and believed that [[Jordan]] should be the Palestinian state. Despite this public stance, [[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] initiated secret attempts to negotiate a solution to the Palestinian situation with the [[Palestine Liberation Organization|PLO]], discussing a plan to unseat [[King Hussein of Jordan|King Hussein]] of [[Jordan]] and establish a Palestinian state there.[^1]
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### Nuclear and Chemical Weapons Programs
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[[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] authorized [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] to undertake a secret mission to [[Peru]] to acquire nuclear substances for [[Israel|Israel's]] tactical atom bomb program. [[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] was confronted by [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] regarding the chemical weapons trade to [[Iraq]] and the need to secure the release of [[Israel|Israeli]] soldiers held in [[Lebanon]]. He initially refused to release [[C-130]] aircraft to [[Iran]] until the [[Israel|Israeli]] soldiers were freed, but later changed his mind. He also intervened to put on hold the execution list of individuals deemed enemies of the state of [[Israel]].[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Ben-Menashe, Ari. _Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network_. TrineDay, 1992.
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[^2]: Hersh, Seymour M. _The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy_. Random House, 1991. Chapter 21. |