Opinions about the late prime minister of Israel, Yitzhak Shamir, were polar opposites. One thought he was the best, or one thought he was the worst. Either way, however, he had one characteristic that all agreed on: consistency. He was not a crowd pleaser, not an orator, not a person whom one “loved” or “hated,” but only agreed with or disagreed with — because he never changed.
He was the ultimate intelligence operative. The best proof of this was not even his consistency, but the fact that Menachem Begin chose Shamir to succeed him at all. “Shamir? Who’s Shamir?” This pre-state, ex-underground operative and ex-Mossad chief did not, in the slightest, try to make a name for himself after he retired from his intelligence responsibilities. Shamir who? The total surprise at his selection by Begin was confirmed by Yitzhak Shamir’s entire tenure as prime minister, and his entire retirement afterward. He was Mr. Silent, the ultimate operative.
His sentences were short. He did not elaborate. He did not justify. He was not photogenic, not a celebrity, not “cool.” He was a journalist’s nightmare. No one paid him any attention, only his policies. That is just the way he wanted it.
There are two “takes” on Shamir’s legacy. Some see him as a disastrous leader. He simply would not bend on the Palestinian issue. All of the “peace processes” with the Palestinians that began with the Declaration of Principles — the “handshake” on the White House lawn, Sept. 13, 1993 — began after he left office. Some say that the subsequent intifadas and terrorism could have been avoided had he been more forthcoming at the Madrid peace conference of 1991, which did occur on his watch. Some say that earlier, in the 1980s, when Jordan was willing to play a role on the West Bank, and when Shamir said no, that, too, made the first intifada (beginning in 1987) inevitable. Others say just the opposite: If Israel had hung tough on the Palestinian issue, as Shamir did with ironclad consistency — if Israel had stuck to its plan for Palestinian autonomy, not Palestinian independence — then all the subsequent bus bombings, suicide bombings and murders would not have occurred, as, indeed they did not often occur on Shamir’s watch.
This issue of Shamir’s legacy will not likely ever be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. There are, though, parts of his legacy that should earn universal assent and gratitude:
• Shamir’s insistence that no peace plan ever include Israel’s return of the Golan Heights to Syria. Look at Syria now — imagine how easily this violence could spill over into Israel, if Syria had regained the Heights; not to mention, imagine how the current Syria regime, whose brutality is on display for all the world to see, would have kept any agreement not to attack Israel from the Heights. Whatever the final Israel-Palestinian outcome in the West Bank, there should be total agreement that, for the sake of peace, the Golan Heights will never leave Israeli control.
• Shamir facilitated the immigration of tens of thousands of Ethiopian and hundreds of thousands of Russian Jews to Israel. He didn’t talk much about it — he didn’t talk much about anything — but he made it happen.
• Shamir told President George H. W. Bush that Israel would not retaliate against missile attacks by Sadaam Hussein during the first Gulf War in 1991. Shamir guaranteed the stability of Bush’s coalition, shrewdly handing the American president just what he needed and thereby rendering his (Shamir’s) policies on the rest of the Arab-Israeli conflict impervious to American pressure.
• Shamir convinced the US to direct Soviet Jews to Israel, rather than the Diaspora.
What else might Shamir have done to bolster Israeli security? We shall never know. Here was a man who had no need to boast. If nothing else, that quality in an Israeli prime minister will surely be missed.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
