Israel is a relatively young state, which, nevertheless, has a rather rich political history. Despite the fact that the president is the formal head of state in this country, the prime minister of Israel is vested with the greatest functions of governing the country. It is he who is the head of government and, in most cases, represents the state at the international level. Let's learn more about the history of the prime ministers of this Middle Eastern country in power.
List of Israeli Prime Ministers
So, who were the prime ministers of Israel? A list of them in chronological sequence is presented below:
- David Ben-Gurion (2 times).
- Moshe Sharet (1 time).
- Levi Eshkol (1 time).
- Yigal Alon (1 time).
- Golda Meir (1 time).
- Yitzhak Rabin (2 times).
- Menachem Begin (1 time).
- Yitzhak Shamir (2 times).
- Shimon Peres (2 times).
- Benjamin Netanyahu (2 times).
- Ehud Barak (1 time).
- Ariel Sharon (1 time).
- Ehud Olmert (1 time).
Each of them played a historical role in the life of Israel, which we will discuss below.
State formation
The first Prime Minister of Israel was appointed by the Israeli Knesset (Parliament) in 1948. It was David Ben-Gurion. It was this man who stood at the very origins of the latest Israeli statehood.
Probably not a single person has done so much for the revival of the Jewish state as Ben-Gurion, because he was precisely the leader of the world Zionist movement and the Mapai party. Therefore, it is quite natural that the post of prime minister was given to him.
The most difficult years of Israelās existence fell on Ben-Gurionās premiership, which not only had to form state institutions, but also repulse Arab aggression, striving to completely eliminate Israeli statehood. And, I must say, the Prime Minister of Israel coped brilliantly with his task.
But, of course, the solution of important state affairs in such an aggressive environment required considerable expenditures of energy and energy. This could not but affect the well-being of sixty-seven-year-old David Ben-Gurion, and in 1953 he resigned. Moshe Charet became his prime minister successor. But, seeing that the new leadership of the country could not cope with all internal and external problems, the next year Ben-Gurion was forced to return to politics, taking the chair of the Minister of Defense.
In 1955, he was re-elected by the Knesset as Prime Minister, and in 1959 re-elected. He held this high post until 1963. He was forced to resign to file political differences with his supporters.
Ben-Gurion ended his life a decade after retreating from public affairs.
Levi Eshkol
After the resignation of David Ben-Gurion, another prominent representative of the Mapay party, Levi Eshkol, was elected Prime Minister of the Knesset. He took office in 1963, and in 1966 he was re-elected for a second term. Under him, the Mapai party merged with the Ahud party. The new political force, led by Eshkol, began to be called Maarah. Levi Eshkol died in 1969, acting as Prime Minister.
After the death of Eshkol and. about. Head of government became Agal Alon. These responsibilities were assigned to him only a few weeks before the election of the new Prime Minister by the Knesset.
Woman at the Head of State
In early spring 1969, the next Prime Minister of Israel was elected. A woman had never held this post before. But Golda Meir became the first and so far the only representative of the fairer sex to take on the burden of governing the Israeli state. Moreover, she is almost one of the first women in the world, along with Indira Gandhi, who occupied the highest public office by election rather than inheritance. After them a whole galaxy of women politicians appeared who were leaders of their countries: Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Angela Merkel ...
Despite belonging to the weaker sex, the new Prime Minister of Israel showed the required rigidity in the war against a coalition of Arab states, which allowed to defend the integrity and independence of the state. True, the comparatively large losses of Israeli troops in this war led to the loss of Golda Meirās popularity, and despite the next victory of the Moarch party, which she represented in the elections, the female prime minister was forced to resign.
Change of political power in power
Thus, in 1974, Yitzhak Rabin became the Prime Minister of Israel. True, already in 1977, due to a financial scandal over the name of his wife and a conflict with the Minister of Defense, Shimon Peres, Rabin was forced to resign. But we will return to this outstanding politician when we talk about his second premiership.
The resignation of Yitzhak Rabin was a significant event for the political life of Israel, because the next Prime Minister did not choose the Knesset representative of the Moarch (Mapay) party, as always before, but the nominee from the Likud party - Menachem Begin. In 1983, in the prime ministerās chair, he was succeeded by his party member Yitzhak Shamir.
Then, in 1984, the Moarch party was briefly able to regain the primacy in the person of Prime Minister Shimon Peres. But he ruled the country for only two years, since in 1986 the representative of the Likud Yitzhak Shamir was again able to regain his prime minister's seat.
The Return of Yitzhak Rabin
After a long confrontation with Palestinian rebels, Israeli citizens began to strive for peace, so in 1992 the Knesset was not won by the Likud party, which had a tough stance on the occupied territories, but the Avod organization, which at one time was a branch of the Mapai party, which won the end of the war.
The head of government was the former Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin. From the very first days, Rabinās new premiership was marked by a course towards holding peace talks with Palestinian organizations. These negotiations brilliantly culminated in the signing in Oslo of a treaty with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1993. These agreements provided for the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
But the peaceful position of Yitzhak Rabin did not find support among all Israelis. Radically-minded citizens believed that he had betrayed the interests of Israel. One of their representatives in 1995 during the rally committed an attempt on Yitzhak Rabin. The wounds inflicted by an extremist from a firearm were fatal.
Next Prime Ministers
The next prime minister of Israel, Shimon Peres, who had already occupied the prime ministerās chair, ruled the country for less than a year. In 1996, for the first time in Israel, the election of the Prime Minister was conducted directly by the people, and not through the Knesset. The winner was a representative of the Likud Party Benjamin Netanyahu. He pursued a tougher policy towards the Palestinians than his predecessors. However, in 1999, the Likud party failed completely in the elections, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned.
Ehud Barak from the Avod party was elected the new Prime Minister of Israel.
New millennium
However, in 2001, the Likud regained its position. Ariel Sharon became the head of the cabinet, during which relations with the Palestinians again escalated. It was at this time that the Arab intifada erupted - armed clashes between Palestinians and Israelis.
In 2005, a split occurred in the Likud party. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon with his supporters left its composition and organized the party of Kadima. But in the same year, the head of government had serious health problems. He survived a stroke. In 2006, Sharon, while in a coma, was declared legally incompetent and removed from power. This was the first such case of deprivation of public office in Israel. Ariel Sharon died in 2014, never leaving a coma.
Another Israeli Prime Minister from the Kadima party, Ehud Olmert, ruled the country until 2009, when he was replaced by a representative of a rival political force Likud Benjamin Netanyahu, who had previously held this position. It is he who is the head of the cabinet of ministers of the country to date.
This is the brief history of the change of prime ministers in the state of Israel.