Story Highlights
- Historical event:
- 7 July 1965
- Moshe Sharett became a prominent Zionist and was among the signatories of Israel's Declaration of Independence. His image is on Israeli 20 shekel banknotes.
On this day the Jewish politician Moshe Sharett died. He was the second prime minister in the history of the State of Israel after its independence in 1948 (the first prime minister was the famous David Ben-Gurion).
It is interesting that Moshe Sharett was born in what is now Ukraine, in the city of Herson near the mouth of the Dnieper River to the Black Sea. A significant Jewish community lived there, and in 1894, when Sharett was born, that area belonged to the Russian Empire.
Originally, in the Russian Empire, Sharett’s surname was Shertok. Let us mention that Leo Davidovich Bronstein (aka Leon Trotsky) was also born in what is now Ukraine, in1879.
Moshe Sharett moved to Palestine already in 1906, which at that time was still under the Ottoman Empire. He became a prominent Zionist and was among the signatories of Israel’s Declaration of Independence.
Moshe Sharett was the first foreign minister of Israel, a function he held for 8 years, even while he was prime minister of Israel. He was succeeded at this position of Minister of Foreign Affairs by the famous Golda Meir. She was born in Kiev (now the capital of Ukraine) and later was also the Israeli prime minister.
Sharett’s image is today on Israeli banknotes, specifically on the 20 shekel bill. Moshe Sharett died in Jerusalem at the age of 70 and was buried in Tel Aviv.
