Moshe Sharett became a prominent Zionist and was among the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His image is found today on Israeli 20 new shekel banknotes.
On July 7, 1965, the Jewish politician Moshe Sharett, who was the second prime minister in the history of the state of Israel after its independence in 1948, died (the first prime minister was the famous David Ben-Gurion). It is interesting that Moshe Sharett was born in the area of today’s Ukraine, in the city of Kherson near the mouth of the Dnieper River into the Black Sea. A considerable Jewish community lived there, and in 1894, when Sharett was born, the area belonged to the Russian Empire. Originally in the Russian Empire, Sharett’s last name was Chertok (sometimes spelled as Shertok). Let us mention that in 1879 a Jew named Leo Davidovich Bronstein (better known as Leo Trotsky) was born in the area of today’s Ukraine.
Moshe Sharett moved as early as 1906 to Palestine, which at the time was still under the Ottoman Empire. He became a prominent Zionist and was among the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. Moshe Sharett was also Israel’s first foreign minister, and he held that position for a full 8 years, even at the time he was Israel’s prime minister. He was succeeded as Minister of Foreign Affairs by the famous Golda Meir. She was born in Kiev (today the capital of Ukraine) and later was also the Israeli Prime Minister.
Sharett’s painting is now on Israeli banknotes, those of 20 new shekels. Moshe Sharett died in Jerusalem at the age of 71 and was buried in Tel Aviv.
