Philip Rubenstein
Israel’s Prime Ministers, Part 6: Not One Inch

Yitzhak Shamir (1915–2012) was a man much maligned and misunderstood. A former underground leader and later operative in the Mossad, he rose quietly to become Israel’s seventh prime minister. He was known above all for his reputation as a “hardliner”—one former Mossad chief noting that “a backbone as short as his can’t be bent.” Yet this lecture explores the paradox behind that image. Shamir was unyielding on what he saw as existential, but elsewhere, he believed deeply in dialogue, patience, and the value of negotiation. He mastered coalition politics with understated skill, holding together fragile governments while maintaining a steady and successful course. His role in the 1991 Madrid Conference reflects a leader willing to engage without conceding. This is the story of a man who knew where he could bend—and where he would not.