Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies At 96

	Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies At 96 Yitzhak Shamir, who served as Israel's prime minister from 1986 to 1992, has died at the age of 96. Shamir had been living in a nursing home in Tel Aviv and had Alzheimer's disease for several years. He died Saturday. "Yitzhak Shamir belonged to the generation of giants that established the State of Israel and fought for the freedom of the Jewish people in its land," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement. "Shamir personified loyalty to the Land of Israel and the eternal values of the Jewish people." Shamir was born Yizhak Yzernitzky in Ruzinoy, Poland, in 1915. In 1935 he left Warsaw, where he was studying law, moved to Palestine and enrolled at the Hebrew University. He joined Etzel, the Revisionist underground organization, in 1937, and in 1940 became a member of Avraham Stern's Lehi, a more militant organization, where he became part of the leadership troika. Shamir was arrested twice by the British during and immediately after World War II. Granted political asylum in France in 1947 after escaping from a British prison camp, he returned to Palestine in 1948 and resumed command of the Lehi until it was disbanded following the establishment of the State of Israel. Shamir joined Israel's security services in the mid-1950s and held senior positions in the Mossad, Israeli's intelligence agency. He joined Menachem Begin's opposition Herut party in 1970 and became a member of its executive. In 1973 he was elected a member of Knesset from the Likud party -- a <b>...</b>	From: liya28a Views: 1 0 ratings
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