Editing Moshe Sharett

{{Short description|Prime Minister of Israel from 1954 to 1955}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Moshe Sharett
| native_name         = {{Nobold|{{Script/Hebrew|משה שרת}}}}
| native_name_lang    = he
| birthname           = Moshe Chertok
| image               = Moshe Sharett Portrait.jpg
| order               = 2nd
| office              = Prime Minister of Israel
| term_start          = 7 December 1953
| term_end            = 3 November 1955{{-}}{{small|Acting to 26 January 1954}}
| president           = [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]]
| predecessor         = [[David Ben-Gurion]]
| successor           = David Ben-Gurion
| office2             = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister2      = {{Plainlist|
* David Ben-Gurion
* ''Himself''
* David Ben-Gurion
}}
| term_start2         = 15 May 1948
| term_end2           = 18 June 1956
| predecessor2        = ''Office established''
| successor2          = [[Golda Meir]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1894|10|15}}
| birth_place         = [[Kherson]], Kherson Governorate<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] -->, Russian Empire<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] --> ({{small|now in}} Ukraine)
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1965|7|7|1894|10|15}}
| death_place         = [[Jerusalem]], Israel
| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Tzippora Sharett|Tzipora Meirov]]|1922}}
| children            = 3
| nationality         = {{Plainlist|
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Russia.svg}} [[Russian Empire]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the Ottoman Empire (1844–1922).svg}} [[Ottoman Empire]]
* {{flagicon image|Flag of the United Kingdom (1-2).svg}} United Kingdom
* {{flagicon image|Flag of Israel.svg}} Israel
}}
| alma_mater          = {{plainlist|
* [[Istanbul University]]
* [[London School of Economics]]
}}
| signature           = Moshe_Sharett_Signature_from_the_Goldman_Collection.png
| party               = [[Mapai]]
| allegiance          = {{flag|Ottoman Empire|name=Ottoman Empire}}
| branch              = [[Ottoman Army]]
| rank                = [[File:Ottoman-Army-OF-1b.svg|62x62px]]  [[First lieutenant]]
| battles             = [[World War I]]<br />[[Jewish insurgency in Palestine]]<br />[[1948 Palestine War]]<br /> [[Reprisal operations]]
| caption             = Sharett in 1952
}}

'''Moshe Sharett''' ({{langx|he|משה שרת}}; born '''Moshe Chertok''' ({{Lang|he|משה שרתוק}}); 15 October 1894 – 7 July 1965) was the second [[prime minister of Israel]] and the country’s first [[foreign minister]]. He signed the [[Israeli Declaration of Independence]] and was a principal negotiator in the cease-fire agreements that concluded the [[1948 Palestine war|Israeli War of Independence]]. Beginning in 1933, he headed the political department of the [[Jewish Agency]]. He also founded the [[Jewish Brigade]], which fought with the [[British Army]] during [[World War II]].

A member of [[Mapai]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rulers.org/indexs3.html|title=Index Sh-Sl|website=www.rulers.org}}</ref> Sharett's term was both preceded and succeeded by the premiership of [[David Ben-Gurion]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Academic American Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T5gJAAAAIAAJ&q=moshe+sharett+15+oct+1894|publisher=Aretê Publishing Company|date=7 January 1980|isbn=9780933880009|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=672|title=Knesset Member, Moshe Sharett|work=knesset.gov.il|access-date=9 September 2016}}</ref>

==Biography==
Moshe Sharett was born in [[Kherson]] in the [[Russian Empire]] (today in [[Ukraine]]) to the family of {{ill|Yaakov Chertok|he|יעקב שרתוק}} and Fanya née Lev ({{lang|he|לב}}).  In 1906 the {{ill|Chertok family|he|משפחת שרתוק}}  [[Aliyah|immigrated to Ottoman Palestine]]. For two years, 1906–1907, the family lived in a rented house in the village of [[Ein Siniya|Ein-Sinya]], north of [[Ramallah]].<ref>{{cite web |title='We are living by the sword': The regrets of an Israel founder's son |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/yaakov-sharett-zionism-israel-palestinians-nakba-negev |website=[[Middle East Eye]]}}</ref> In 1910 his family moved to [[Jaffa]], then became one of the founding families of [[Tel Aviv]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}
[[File:תמונה_קבוצתית_במדים_-_תלמידי_גימנסיה_הרצליה_Gymnasium_students_in_uniform_-_Shar-1300.jpeg|thumb|260x260px|Moshe Sharett (sitting in the middle), a first lieutenant in the [[Ottoman Army (1861–1922)|Ottoman Army]], with other Jewish officers in the army (1916)]]
He graduated from the first class of the [[Herzliya Hebrew High School]], even studying music at the [[Shulamit Conservatory]]. He then went to [[Constantinople]] to study law at [[Istanbul University]], the same university at which [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] and [[David Ben-Gurion]] studied. However, his time there was cut short due to the outbreak of [[World War I]]. He served a commission as First Lieutenant in the [[Military of the Ottoman Empire|Ottoman Army]], working as an interpreter.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moshe Sharett |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sharett.html |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref>

In 1922, Sharett married [[Tzippora Sharett|Tzippora Meirov]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://billiongraves.com/grave/%D7%A6%D7%A4%D7%95%D7%A8%D7%94-%D7%A9%D7%A8%D7%AA-%D7%9E%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%91/12786611|title=צפורה שרת (מאירוב) 12 August 1896 - 30 September 1973 in BillionGraves GPS Headstones &#124; BillionGraves|website=billiongraves.com}}</ref> with whom he had two sons, Ya'akov and Haim, and a daughter, Yael.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gov.il/en/departments/people/moshe_saret|title=Moshe Sharett|website=GOV.IL}}</ref>

==Political career==
[[File:Chaim Arlosoroff.jpg|thumb|Moshe Shertok (Sharett) (standing, right) at a meeting with Arab leaders at the [[King David Hotel]], Jerusalem, 1933. Also pictured are [[Haim Arlosoroff]] (sitting, center) with [[Chaim Weizmann]] (to his right), and [[Yitzhak Ben-Zvi]] (standing, to Shertok's right)]]
After the war, he worked as an Arab affairs and land purchase agent for the [[Assembly of Representatives (Mandate Palestine)|Assembly of Representatives]] of the [[Yishuv]]. He also became a member of [[Ahdut Ha'Avoda]], and later of [[Mapai]].<ref name=":0">[http://www.sharett.org.il/info/books/statesman_assessed.pdf Profile], sharett.org. Accessed 6 November 2022.</ref>

In 1922, he attended the [[London School of Economics]], and worked for the [[Poale Zion (Great Britain)|British Poale Zion]] and actively edited the ''Workers of Zion''. One of the people he met while in London was [[Chaim Weizmann]].<ref>C. Shindler, A History of Modern Israel, pp. 98–99</ref> He then worked on the ''[[Davar]]'' newspaper from 1925 until 1931.<ref name=":0" />

In 1931, after returning to [[Mandatory Palestine]], he became the secretary of the [[Jewish Agency]]'s political department.<ref>{{Cite web|title=⁨בתכנית הפיתוח ⁩ {{!}} ⁨דבר⁩ {{!}} 14 אוקטובר 1931 {{!}} אוסף העיתונות {{!}} הספרייה הלאומית|url=https://www.nli.org.il/he/newspapers/dav/1931/10/14/01/article/16|access-date=26 March 2021|website=nli.org.il|language=he}}</ref> After the assassination of [[Haim Arlosoroff]] in 1933 he became its head.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kessler |first=Oren |title=Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict |date=2023 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-4880-8 |location=Lanham MD |pages=xiv, 4, 38-39}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], via his wife Zipporah, Sharett became embroiled in the question of [[Emigration of Jews from Nazi Germany and German-occupied Europe|emigration of refugee Jews stranded in Europe and the East]]. Some Polish refugees, children with and without parents, were deported to [[Tehran]] with [[Government of the Soviet Union|Soviet]] agreement.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Saul Jay |title=The "Tehran Children" Affair |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-tehran-children-affair/2021/12/22/ |access-date=22 June 2023 |date=22 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The "Tehran Children" arrive in Eretz Israel, February 1943 |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/this-month/february/1943-2.html |website=yadvashem.org |access-date=22 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The team of counselors who accompanied the "Tehran children" on their journey to Palestine. |url=https://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/notebook_ext.asp?book=60155&lang=eng&site=gfh |access-date=22 June 2023}}</ref>

The success of these negotiations and others was a hallmark of Sharett's more cerebral approach to practical problems. He met with Tel Aviv-bound Hungarian Jewish refugee representative [[Joel Brand]], fresh off the plane from [[Budapest]]. Yishuv leadership mistrusted Brand, and the British thought him a criminal.

Sharett's response was to hand the self-appointed liberator over to the British authorities, who drove Brand to prison in Egypt. Sharett's [[General Zionists|General Zionism]] was deeply concerned in making Palestine a commercially viable home land; secondary was the deep emotional concerns of the murder in the [[Jewish diaspora|Diaspora]], which, by 1942, was [[German-occupied Europe|in German hands]].

Like Weizmann, whom he admired, Sharett was a principled [[Zionism|Zionist]], an implacable opponent of [[fascism]], and a practical realist, prepared to co-operate fully with the Mandate authorities.<ref>''Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Holocaust'', vol. 4, pp. 1654–55</ref>

Sharett, as Ben-Gurion's ally, denounced [[Irgun]]'s assassination squads on 13 December 1947, accusing them of playing to public feelings. Sharett held the foreign policy post under the Jewish Agency until the [[establishment of Israel]] in 1948.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewish Zionist Education |url=http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/sharett.html |url-status=dead |publisher=Jafi.org.il |date=15 May 2005 |access-date=21 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222155721/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/sharett.html |archive-date=22 December 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Latrun detention camp.jpg|thumb|[[Zionist]] leaders, arrested in [[Operation Agatha]], in detention in [[Latrun]] (L-R): [[David Remez]], Moshe Sharett, [[Yitzhak Gruenbaum]], [[Dov Yosef]], Mr Shenkarsky, [[David Hacohen]], and [[Isser Harel]] (1946)]]

==Independence==
Sharett was one of the signatories of Israel's [[Declaration of Independence (Israel)|Declaration of Independence]]. Sharett was elected to the [[Knesset]] in the [[1949 Israeli legislative election|first Israeli election]] in 1949, and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]. On 10 March he was made part of the [[First government of Israel|first cabinet]].<ref name=gov.il>{{cite web |title=Moshe Sharett |url=https://www.gov.il/en/departments/people/moshe_sharet |website=GOV.IL |access-date=22 June 2023 |language=en}}</ref> An [[1949 Armistice Agreements#With Lebanon|armistice]] was signed with Lebanon that led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon on 23 March. International negotiations hosted by Britain took place on the Greek island of [[Rhodes]] at Suneh, [[Abdullah I of Jordan|King Abdullah]]'s residence when Israel's emissaries, [[Yigael Yadin]] and [[Walter Eytan]] signed with [[Transjordan (region)|Transjordan]]. Knowing the Jordanian position on the [[Hebron Hills]], Yadin told Sharett that surrounded by hostile Arab states, Israel had to sign the Transjordan over to Iraq. American [[Ralph Bunche|Dr. Ralph Bunche]], who drafted the [[United Nations]] (UN) treaty for Sharett's office, received the [[Nobel Peace Prize]]. The [[1949 Armistice Agreements#With Jordan|final agreement]] was signed at the "Grande Albergo delle Rose" in [[Rhodes]] (now the Casino Rodos) on 3 April 1949.

Ominous violence lay ahead for the new state, warned Sharett during a debate on 15 June, in which he reminded the Jewish people of their vital interests. A [[1949 Armistice Agreements#With Syria|fourth and final agreement]] was signed with Syria on 17 July; the [[1947–1949 Palestine war]] had lasted one year and seven months. In the [[1951 Israeli legislative election|elections]] that followed, [[Mapai]] formed a [[Second government of Israel|coalition]], deliberately excluding [[Herut]] and the [[Israeli Communist Party|Communists]] at Ben-Gurion's behest.<ref>M Gilbert, Israel, pp. 260–265</ref> 

As Foreign Minister, Sharett established diplomatic relations with many nations, and helped to bring about Israel's admission to the UN.<ref>{{cite web|title=משה שרת|url=https://www.gov.il/he/departments/people/moshe_sharet|access-date=14 May 2021|website=GOV.IL|language=he}}</ref> He continuously held this role until he retired in June 1956, including during his tenure as Prime Minister.<ref>{{cite web|title=משה שרת (שרתוק)|url=https://main.knesset.gov.il/mk/Pages/MKGovRoles.aspx?MKID=672|access-date=14 May 2021|website=main.knesset.gov.il|language=he}}</ref>

Sharett met with [[Pius XII]] in 1952 in an attempt to improve relations with the [[Holy See]], although this was to no avail.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/PopeinIsrael/Israel-Vatican/Israel-Vatican_Diplomatic_Relations.htm |title=Israel-Vatican Diplomatic Relations |publisher=Mfa.gov.il |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref>

==Prime minister==
David Ben-Gurion withdrew from politics in 1953, and Sharett was chosen by the party to take his place.<ref name=gov.il/> During his time as Prime Minister (the [[Fifth government of Israel|fifth]] and [[Sixth government of Israel|sixth governments of Israel]]), the Arab-Israeli conflict intensified, particularly with [[Nasser]]'s Egypt. The [[Lavon Affair]], which resulted in the resignation of [[Pinhas Lavon]], the [[Defense Minister of Israel|Defense Minister]], and brought down the [[Fifth government of Israel|government]]. When Ben-Gurion returned to the cabinet, Lavon was a civilian adviser to Prime Minister Sharett. But when he returned from the war, he was presented with a ''fait accompli''; it had been the convention, but no longer for a career diplomat, to be chosen to become a Minister of Defense, a portfolio once controlled by the Prime Minister's office, now taken by Ben-Gurion.<ref name=gov.il/>

=== Lavon Affair ===
{{main|Lavon Affair}}
In 1954, three cells of local Jews living in Egypt and one from Israel proper were activated as terror groups to sabotage in [[Alexandria]] and [[Cairo]] on the orders of a secretive Unit 131 of [[Military Intelligence Directorate (Israel)|Israeli Intelligence]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} The Israelis welcomed the British presence in Nasser's Egypt.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Israel had formed an alliance with the European powers Britain and France. Britain had helped found the State of Israel, encouraged socialism, and fostered a sense of accountable democracy. Israel viewed Britain's historic role in Cairo as a convenient buffer against potential threatening incursions into Israel's borders.{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

A group of Israeli youths were ardent Zionist military trainees, but had little real experience of war.{{Clarify|date=October 2022}} They were influenced by their charismatic leader and handler, Avri Elad. In July 1954 they threw [[incendiary device|firebomb]]s into the American libraries of Cairo and Alexandria, with little damage, and cinemas in Cairo. But 13 youths were arrested, and then tortured by the Egyptians. Two of the prisoners, including the Israeli agent [[Meir Max Bineth]], committed suicide, and three were sent to prison. Sharett soon discovered that operations were being prepared for execution in other Arab capitals. When the news broke over [[Cairo Radio]] in summer 1954, Sharett turned to Minister for Labour [[Golda Meir]] for help. The Minister of Defense, Pinchas Lavon, and his Head of Military Intelligence, [[Binyamin Gibli|Benjamin Gibli]], both declared each other as the responsible party. The real orders were transmitted in code over the radio in the form of housewives cookery recipes.<ref>Gilbert, Israel, pp. 296–297</ref>

Mapai was split over the crisis. Sharett called for a Public Inquiry led by a Judge of the Supreme Court, [[Yitzhak Olshan]], and a former Chief of Staff, [[Ya'akov Dori]]. Sharett had wanted to appoint [[Moshe Dayan]] as Minister of Defense but was aware that he was a controversial figure. There were those who defended his stubbornness as a military genius, and those who saw him as divisive. But criticism of Lavon was mounting. Mapai demanded the resignation of Dayan, Gibli and Lavon. Sharett appealed to a sense of fairness from Colonel Nasser, but to no avail. A guilty verdict was entered over the heads of the prisoners in Cairo. On 31 January 1955 two of the defendants, [[Moshe Marzouk]] and {{ill|Shmuel Azar|he|שמואל עזר}} were hanged, found guilty of spying.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-20 |title=Six Israelis Sentenced As Spies in Egypt 15 Years Ago Living in Israel |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/six-israelis-sentenced-as-spies-in-egypt-15-years-ago-living-in-israel |access-date=2024-01-03 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US |archive-date=3 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240103024352/https://www.jta.org/archive/six-israelis-sentenced-as-spies-in-egypt-15-years-ago-living-in-israel |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lavon offered to resign from the Defense Ministry on 2 February 1955, the same day Sharett and Golda Meir traveled to [[Sde Boker]] to see Ben-Gurion. Lavon's resignation was accepted on 18 February. Ben-Gurion agreed to come out of retirement to fill the defense portfolio, and four months later he replaced Sharett as PM, while Sharett stayed as Foreign Minister.<ref>Gilbert, p. 255</ref> Olshan-Dori's final judicial report exposed the difficulty of political management in the Defense Ministry with the cabinet conflicts emerging from Ben-Gurion's stewardship.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_762509986/moshe_sharett.html |title=Moshe Sharett - MSN Encarta |access-date=23 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080529052008/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_762509986/Moshe_Sharett.html |archive-date=29 May 2008}}</ref>

Sharett's efforts to unblock the diplomatic impasse had failed. Nasser still prevented access to the Suez Canal. Israeli shipments of arms to defend the state dried up at a time when Arab belligerency was rising. Sharett might have learned from Weizmann's experience at befriending the consummate politician Ben-Gurion; Sharett also believed he could install him as his subordinate. Ben-Gurion had been out of office for a year, but returned to demand that Dayan be reappointed. Ben-Gurion spoke regularly with socialist leaders Dayan and [[Shimon Peres]]. A few weeks later an Israeli was murdered by infiltrators near the border. Ben-Gurion and Dayan immediately demanded approval of the planned [[Operation Black Arrow]], which involved attacking Gaza. Sharett had attempted to be pacifistic and restrained during his premiership, but was overtaken by the vocal elements in Mapai and their growing electoral support in the run-up to a General election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moshe Sharett The Second Prime Minister |url=http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/History/FormerPrimeMinister/MosheSharett.htm |website=Pmo.gov.il |access-date=8 March 2012}}</ref>

After the military disaster at [[Qibya massacre|Qibya]], in which Dayan had caused civilians to be killed, he was forced to change [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF) policy towards targeting military installations on 28 February 1955. Sharett was concerned that casualties should be kept to an absolute minimum; 8 Israelis and 37 Egyptians<ref>Gilbert calls the number 38 Egyptians and 2 local Arabs, p.297</ref> died in an operation that was the most bloody since the armistice of 1949. An adjutant at the ministry, Nehemia Argov, wrote to Foreign Minister and PM Sharett to report the Gaza Raid as 8 dead and 8 wounded. The wounded were sent to Kaplan Hospital.<ref>{{cite web |title=Moshe Sharett |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts+About+Israel/State/Moshe+Sharett.htm |website=Mfa.gov.il |date=2 March 2003 |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref>

=== Principles of moderation===
Sharett's diary included passages in which he bewailed the senseless denigration of duty lacking credibility. He harked back to the days of ''[[Havlagah]]'' when in the 1930s both he, Sharett and Ben-Gurion had pursued a policy of self-restraint in matters military. Sharett abhorred vengeful killing, he regarded these acts as emotional over-wrought responses in which involuntary killing was devoid of moral sentiment. A policy of reprisal merely sought to justify the excessive use of force.<ref>Sharett, Yoman Ishi, 13 March 1995, p. 840; Shindler, p. 114</ref> Sharett's pacific doctrine was diluted by both Ben-Gurion and Minister of Defense Dayan, and Operational commander of the Paratroop Brigade, Sharon. Sharett opposed any move that would attract moral outcry of European powers and an arms trade embargo.<ref>[[Erskine B. Childers]], ''The Road to Suez- A study in Western-Arab relations''. Macgibbon & Kee, Bristol. 1962. page 184</ref>

== Last months as foreign minister==
At the next elections in November 1955, Ben-Gurion replaced Sharett as head of the list and became prime minister again. Sharett retained his role as Foreign Minister under the new government of Ben-Gurion.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=672 |title=Knesset Member, Moshe Sharett |publisher=Knesset.gov.il |access-date=8 March 2012}}</ref> Ben-Gurion justified much of his policy on the siege mentality of a minority of Jews living within 57 times as many Arabs living in 215 times the land area. Sharett came to see Nasser as "suffering from delusions of grandeur" with an almost Hitlerite ambition to export revolution abroad.<ref>Sharett, Yoman Ishi, 30 oct 1956, p. 1806 in The 1956 Sinai Campaign Viewed from Asia: Selections from Moshe Sharett's Diaries, Neil Caplan (ed.), Israel Studies vol.7 no.1, p. 89; Shindler, 115</ref>

Shimon Peres was sent to London and Paris to drum up arms. He made a significant deal with France for jets and artillery. Peres, later a Prime Minister of Israel, was praised from the Knesset for handling the complexities of the 4th Republic.<ref>Gilbert, Israel, p. 300</ref> The uneasy diplomatic language between Nasser and Israel that had characterised the post-1949 period turned into open hostility. Nasser ended even secretive clandestine contacts. Within days of the [[Gaza Raid]] Iraq aligned in a Baghdad Pact with Turkey.<ref>Gilbert, p. 305</ref>

Ben-Gurion decided to replace Sharett as Foreign Minister with someone more sympathetic to his views, Golda Meir. The cabinet voted 35 to 7 in favour of resignation, but 75 members of the Central Committee abstained.<ref>Shindler, p. 120</ref> The British and French would provide a shield for Israel against sanctions. Nasser proclaimed a determination to set the Palestinians free. The Egyptian army was very certain of success; the Syrians announced a "war against imperialism, Zionism and Israel". According to Ben-Gurion, the Soviet Encyclopaedia now declared the Arab-Israeli War of Independence in 1948 "was caused by American Imperialism".{{Citation needed|date=October 2018}}

==Retirement==
After stepping down as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 18 June 1956, in protest at the new government's bellicose policy which he thought dangerously precipitate, Sharett decided to retire. During his retirement he became chairman of [[Am Oved]] publishing house, Chairman of [[Beit Berl]] College, and Chairman of the [[World Zionist Organization]] and the Jewish Agency. He died in Jerusalem in 1965, and was buried in Tel Aviv's [[Trumpeldor Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Where did Moshe Sharett die? |url=http://www.britannica.com/facts/4/101125/Where-did-Moshe-Sharett-die |encyclopedia=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |date=7 July 1965 |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref>

== Commemoration ==
[[File:20 NIS Bill (polypropylene and paper) Obverse.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A portrait of Moshe Sharett on the 20 [[Israeli new shekel|New sheqalim]] banknote issued by the Bank of Israel]]
Sharett's personal diaries, first published by his son Yaakov in 1978, have proved to be an important source for Israeli history.<ref name=Segev1>{{cite news |last=Segev |first=Tom |title=Unpublished Sharett diaries dig deeper into defense minister Lavon |url=http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/unpublished-sharett-diaries-dig-deeper-into-defense-minister-lavon-1.228032 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=23 August 2007}}</ref> In 2007, the Moshe Sharett Heritage Society, the foundation that Yaakov established to care for Sharett's legacy, discovered a file of thousands of passages that had been omitted from the published edition.<ref name=Segev1/> They included "shocking revelations" about defense minister [[Pinhas Lavon]].<ref name=Segev2/> A new edition published was complete, apart from a few words still classified.<ref name=Segev2>{{cite news |last=Segev |first=Tom |title=Up to no good |url=http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/up-to-no-good-1.227980 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=23 August 2007}}</ref>

Many cities have named streets, schools, or other landmarks in his honor, including streets in [[Tel Aviv]], [[Bat Yam]], [[Ramat Gan]], [[Rishon LeZion]], [[Herzliya]], [[Holon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharet · Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharet,+Tel+Aviv-Jaffa,+Israel/@32.0876306,34.7895626,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x151d4b9490b5a175:0xe745eb2560df60e6!8m2!3d32.0876306!4d34.7921429!16s%2Fg%2F1ymw793xm?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharet · Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharett · Rishon LeTsiyon, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharett,+Rishon+LeTsiyon,+Israel/@31.9939206,34.7511626,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x1502b398c407a0bf:0x8d34f927d4f8950d!8m2!3d31.9939206!4d34.7537429!16s%2Fg%2F1ymtlbt3b?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharett · Rishon LeTsiyon, Israel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharet · Herzliya, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharet,+Hertsliya,+Israel/@32.1854285,34.8078011,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x151d4629225bcb37:0xd90baf80cff06d75!8m2!3d32.1854285!4d34.8103814!16s%2Fg%2F1ymvq7gzc?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharet · Herzliya, Israel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharet · Holon, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharet,+Holon,+Israel/@32.0072769,34.7895469,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x1502b49589c68b15:0x93de8b0c8a9790d8!8m2!3d32.0072769!4d34.7921272!16s%2Fg%2F1ymyzn9sw?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharet · Holon, Israel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharet · Bat Yam, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharet,+Bat+Yam,+Israel/@32.017558,34.7499587,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x1502b36b2a5f4839:0x850980332601d213!8m2!3d32.017558!4d34.752539!16s%2Fg%2F1ymvpydnp?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharet · Bat Yam, Israel |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moshe Sharet · Ramat Gan, Israel |url=https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moshe+Sharet,+Ramat+Gan,+Israel/@32.0849176,34.815322,18z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0x151d4bcc961a490b:0xf9b9890d1820ee8c!8m2!3d32.0849176!4d34.8166148!16s%2Fg%2F1ymvds3yr?entry=tts |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=Moshe Sharet · Ramat Gan, Israel |language=en}}</ref>

From 1988 to 2017, Sharett appeared on the 20 [[Israeli new sheqel|NIS]] bills. The bill first featured Sharett, with the names of his books in small print, and with a small image of him presenting the Israeli flag to the United Nations in 1949. On the back of the bill, there was an image of the [[Herzliya Hebrew High School]], from which he graduated.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boi.org.il/en/Currency/PastNotesAndCoinsSeries/Pages/Default.aspx |title=Past Notes & Coin Series |website=Bank of Israel |access-date=2018-10-14}}</ref> In 1998, the bill went through a graphic revision, with the list of Sharett's books on the front side being replaced by part of his 1949 speech to the UN. The back side then featured an image of [[Jewish Brigade]] volunteers, part of a speech by Sharett on the radio after visiting the Brigade in Italy, and the list of his books in small print.<ref>{{cite web |title=Current Notes & Coins |url=https://www.boi.org.il/en/Currency/CurrentCurrencySeries/Pages/Default.aspx |publisher=Bank of Israel |access-date=14 October 2018}}</ref> In November 2017, Sharett's portrait was replaced with that of [[Rachel Bluwstein]].<ref>{{cite web |title=New Israeli currency features notable Jewish figures from Ukraine |url=https://ukrainianjewishencounter.org/en/news/new-israeli-currency-features-notable-jewish-figures-ukraine/ |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=UJE - Ukrainian Jewish Encounter |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:מר שרת בחברת אחותו רבקה במדי הצבא הטורקי-JNF035781.jpeg|Sharett in [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] uniform with sister, Rebecca, 1917
File:מר שרת בחברת רעיתו ודב הז-JNF035756.jpeg|Sharett with [[Dov Hoz]], 1930, Sharett's wife on left
File:Moshe Sharett, 1936.jpg|Moshe Sharett, 1936
File:Chaim Weizmann - Seyfullah Esin - Moshe Sharett 1950.jpg|Israeli President [[Chaim Weizmann]] (left) with first Turkish ambassador to Israel, Seyfullah Esin (c), and Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett, 1950
File:Moshe Sharett - Amin Gargurah.jpg|[[Amin-Salim Jarjora|Amin Gargurah]] (left), the Mayor of [[Nazareth]], and Moshe Sharett, 1955
File:U Nu and Moshe Shareet.jpg|Moshe Sharett, [[U Nu]], and [[Moshe Dayan]] at the [[Lod Airport]] in 1955. 
</gallery>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography
* {{cite book|first=Uri|last= Bialer|title=Between East and West: Israel's Foreign Policy Orientation, 1948-1956|location=London|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1990}}
* {{cite book|first=Israel|last=Cohen|title=The Zionist Movement|publisher=Frederick Muller|place=London|year=1945}}
* {{cite book|editor=Louise Fischer|title=Moshe Sharett: The Second Prime Minister, Selected Documents (1894–1965)|publisher=Israel State Archives|place= Jerusalem|year=2009|isbn=978-965-279-035-4}}
* {{cite book|first=Bertrand|last= Russell|title=Zionism and the Peace Settlement in Palestine: A Jewish Commonwealth in Our Time|place=Washington|year= 1941}}
* {{cite book|first=Moshe|last=Sharett|title=Yoman Ishi|place=Tel Aviv|year=1978}}
* {{cite book|first=Gabriel|last= Sheffer|title=Moshe Sharett: Biography of a Political Moderate|place=London and New York|publisher=Clarendon Press of Oxford University Press|year= 1996|isbn=0-19-827994-9}}
* {{cite book|first=David M.|last= Zohar|title= Political Parties in Israel: The Evolution of Israel's Democracy|place= New York|year= 1974}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.sharett.org.il Moshe Sharett Heritage Society], official website
*[https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/sharett.html "Moshe Sharett"] at Jewish Virtual Library
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091222155721/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/people/BIOS/sharett.html "Moshe Sharett"] at Jewish Agency for Israel
*The [[Central Zionist Archives]] in Jerusalem [https://web.archive.org/web/20120728191249/http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/ site]: The Office of Moshe Sharett (S65), Personal papers (A245).
*Livia Rokach: [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-former-pm-s-son-israel-was-born-in-sin-i-m-collaborating-with-a-criminal-country-1.10220502 ''Israel's Sacred Terrorism: A Study Based on Moshe Sharett's Personal Diary and Other Documents''], foreword by [[Noam Chomsky]], 1980.
*[http://www.sharett.org.il Yaakov Sharet's fall from Zionism and the Sharett family saga] in Haaretz, 19 Sep 2021 (registration needed).

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{{s-bef|before=[[David Ben-Gurion]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Prime Minister of Israel]]|years=1954–1955}}
{{s-aft|after=[[David Ben-Gurion]]}}
{{s-ppo}}
{{succession box | before = [[David Ben-Gurion]]| title = Leader of [[Mapai]]|years=1954–1955| after = [[David Ben-Gurion]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{IsraelPMS}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharett, Moshe}}
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