Prime Ministers of Israel: list. First Prime Minister of Israel

Israel is a relatively young state, which, nevertheless, has a rather rich political history. Despite the fact that the President is the formal head of state in this country, the Prime Minister of Israel is given the greatest functions in governing the country. He is the head of the government and, in most cases, represents the state at the international level. Let's learn more about the history of the prime ministers of this Middle Eastern country in power.

List of Prime Ministers of Israel

So, what were the prime ministers of Israel? The list of them in chronological order is presented below:

• David Ben-Gurion (2 times).
• Moshe Charret (1 time).
• Levi Eshkol (1 time).
• Yigal Alon (1 time).
• Golda Meir (1 time).
• Yitzhak Rabin (2 times).
• Menachem Begin (1 time).
• Yitzhak Shamir (2 times).
• Shimon Peres (2 times).
• Binyamin Netanyahu (2 times).
• Ehud Barak (1 time).
• Ariel Sharon (1 time).
• Ehud Olmert (1 time).

Each of them played its historical role in the life of Israel, which we will discuss below.

Formation of the state

The first prime minister of Israel was appointed by the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in 1948. They were David Ben-Gurion. It was this man who stood at the very roots of the newest Israeli statehood.

Probably, no one did so much for the revival of the Jewish state, as Ben-Gurion, since he was at the head of the world Zionist movement and the Mapai party. Therefore it is quite natural that the post of prime minister was given to him.

The premiership of Ben-Gurion fell through the most difficult years of Israel's existence, which not only had to form state institutions, but also reflected Arab aggression, which was trying to completely eliminate Israeli statehood. And, it must be said, the prime minister of Israel coped with his task brilliantly.

But, naturally, the decision of important state affairs in such an aggressive situation required considerable effort and energy. This could not but affect the health of the sixty-seven-year-old David Ben-Gurion, and in 1953 he resigned. His receiver at the premiership was Moshe Charet. But, seeing that the new leadership of the country can not cope with all internal and external problems, the following year Ben-Gurion was forced to return to politics, taking up the post of Minister of Defense.

In 1955 he was again elected Knesset prime minister, and in 1959 re-elected again. Occupied this high post until 1963. His resignation was forced to submit political differences with his supporters.

He graduated from his life path Ben-Gurion a decade after retiring from public affairs.

Levi Eshkol

After the resignation of David Ben-Gurion, another prominent representative of the Mapai-Levi Eshkol party was elected Prime Minister by the Knesset. In his post he joined in 1963, and in 1966 was re-elected for a second term. Under him, the Mapai party merged with the Akhud party. The new political force, headed by Eshkol, began to be called the Maarach. Levi Eshkol died in 1969, fulfilling his duties as prime minister.

After the death of Eshkol and. about. The head of the government became Agal Alon. These duties were imposed on him for only a few weeks, until the election of the new prime minister by the Knesset.

A woman at the head of the state

In early spring of 1969, the next Prime Minister of Israel was elected. A woman has never held this position before. But Golda Meir became the first and so far the only representative of the weaker sex who took over the burden of governing the Israeli state. Moreover, she is almost one of the first women in the world, along with Indira Gandhi, who took the highest state post by not inheriting, but electing. Already after them a whole galaxy of women politicians appeared who were the leaders of their countries: Margaret Thatcher, Benazir Bhutto, Angela Merkel ...

Despite belonging to the weaker sex, the new prime minister of Israel showed the required rigidity in the war against the coalition of Arab states, which allowed to defend the integrity and independence of the state. True, the relatively large losses of Israeli troops in this war led to the loss of popularity of Golda Meir, and despite the next victory of the Moarkh party, which she represented in the elections, the woman prime minister was forced to resign.

Change of political power in power

Thus, in 1974, Yitzhak Rabin became the Prime Minister of Israel. However, already in 1977 because of the financial scandal connected with the name of his wife, and the conflict with the Minister of Defense Shimon Peres, Rabin was forced to resign. But we will return to this outstanding political figure when we talk about his second premiership.

The resignation of Yitzhak Rabin was a landmark event for the political life of Israel, because the next prime minister, the Knesset, chose not the representative of the party Moarh (Mapai), as was always the case before, but the nominee from the Likud party - Menachem Begin. In 1983, he was replaced by a one-party Yitzhak Shamir on the premier's chair.

Then, in 1984, the Moarkh party briefly managed to regain the primacy in the person of Prime Minister Shimon Peres. But he ruled the country only two years, since in 1986 the representative of Likud Yitzhak Shamir was able to regain his prime minister's seat again.

Return of Yitzhak Rabin

After prolonged confrontation with the Palestinian insurgents, Israeli citizens began to strive for peace, so in 1992, not the Likud party, which adhered to the tough positions with regard to the occupied territories, won in the elections to the Knesset, but the propaganda organization Avod, which had at one time spun from the Mapai party.

The head of the government was former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The new premiership of Rabin from the very first days was marked by a course for holding peace negotiations with Palestinian organizations. These negotiations brilliantly resulted in the signing in Oslo of a treaty with PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1993. These agreements provided for the formation of the Palestinian Authority.

But the peace-loving position of Yitzhak Rabin was not supported by all Israelis. Radical-minded citizens believed that he betrayed the interests of Israel. One of their representatives in 1995 during the rally committed an attempt on Yitzhak Rabin. The wounds inflicted by an extremist from firearms were fatal.

The following prime ministers

Israel's next prime minister, Shimon Peres, who previously held a premier seat, ruled the country for less than a year. In 1996, for the first time in Israel, the election of the Prime Minister was conducted directly by the people, and not through the Knesset. The winner was a representative of the Likud party Binyamin Netanyahu. He pursued a tougher policy towards the Palestinians than his predecessors. However, in 1999, the Likud party suffered a complete fiasco in the elections, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resigned.

Ehud Barak from the Labor Party was elected as the new prime minister of Israel.

New millennium

However, already in 2001 Likud returned his positions. The head of the Cabinet of Ministers was Ariel Sharon, in which relations with the Palestinians again worsened. It was at this time that the Arab intifada broke out - armed clashes between Palestinians and Israelis.

In 2005, the Likud party split. Israeli Prime Minister Sharon came out with his supporters from its composition and organized the Kadima party. But in the same year, the head of government had serious health problems. He survived the stroke. In 2006 Sharon, being in a coma, was declared incompetent and removed from power. This was the first such case of deprivation of public office in Israel. Ariel Sharon died in 2014, never leaving the coma.

The next Prime Minister of Israel from the Kadima party, Ehud Olmert, ruled the country until 2009, when he was replaced by a representative of a competing political force Likud Binyamin Netanyahu, who had previously held this post. He is the head of the country's cabinet of Ministers for the present time.

This is a brief history of the change of prime ministers in the State of Israel.