October 3, 2013 – Israel Coins and Medals Corp. has issued a State Medal in gold and silver, in honor of Yitzhak Shamir, Israel’s seventh Prime Minister, who passed away on June 30, 2012, aged 97.
Right to left, Gilada Diament, daughter of Yitzhak Shamir, Yair Shamir, Minister of Agriculture, Aviv Katz, CEO, Israel Coins and Medals Corp.
The medal was presented to his son, Minister of Agriculture Yair Shamir, and daughter Gilada Diament, at a special ceremony held on Sunday, August 25, 2013.
Yitzhak Shamir, seventh in the ‘Prime Minister of Israel’ State Medal Series.
The gold medal version has been struck in Gold/585, with weight 10 grams, diameter 24mm, in a maximum mintage of 180, the silver version in Silver/925, weight 26 grams, diameter 37mm and limited mintage of 1,800.
Yitzhak Shamir, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, led four governments between 1983 and 1992. Shamir was first elected in 1983, following the retirement of Menachem Begin. He served as Vice-Premier to Shimon Peres in a national unity government from September 1984 to October 1986 as part of a “rotation agreement” between the Likud and the Labor Alignment (Ma’arach) parties. He then served as Prime Minister until December 1988, when he formed the second national unity government. Shamir later led his fourth government (without the Labor Alignment) from June 1990 to July 1992.
Yitzhak Shamir served in the Mossad from 1955-1965, establishing the organization’s operational infrastructure in Europe. He joined the Herut party in 1969, where he was elected Chairman of the Party Directorate and worked to help Soviet Jewry. Four years later he was elected to the Knesset as a member of the Likud. Following the elections in May 1977, Shamir became the Speaker of the Knesset, presiding over the historic speech by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat in 1979. In 1980 he was appointed as the Foreign Minister in the Begin government.
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger (right) greets Minister of Foreign Affairs Yitzhak Shamir of Israel in a Pentagon Conference Room, room 3E912. Photo: Frank Hall.
Shamir also served as the Foreign Minister, Minister of Defense, Minister of Labor and Welfare, Minister of Environmental Protection and Minister for Jerusalem Affairs in various governments.
Following the elections to the 13th Knesset in 1992, Shamir served as member of the Knesset opposition during the Rabin government, until he retired from political life in 1996. On Independence Day 2001, Yitzhak Shamir received the Israel Prize for his lifetime achievements and special contribution to society and to the State of Israel – “for his relentless fight for the establishment of the State of Israel and his prolonged activity, centering upon the State, its wellbeing, safety and wholeness, undertaken with interminable zeal, love and dedication for his people and his homeland”.
You can find this coin at the Israel Coins & Medals Corp website.
The Spielberg Jewish Film Archive has preserved a conversation with Yitzhak Shamir.