Former Israeli PM Shamir dies
Yitzhak Shamir, the hawkish former Israeli prime minister, has died.
The country's second-longest serving leader, Shamir succumbed Saturday to a long ilness.
He was 96.
Born in Poland, he moved to what was then British-controlled Palestine before the Holocaust.
He would eventually rise through the ranks of Israel's spy service and in 1982 became Prime Minister.
As head of the right-wing Likud party, he bristled at making peace with Palestinians - and championed the expansion of Jewish settlements.
He would lose the premiership in 1992, but his influence would live on.
Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who once served under Shamir - called him a "giant" and a pivotal player in Israel's creation.
Andrew Raven, Reuters
The country's second-longest serving leader, Shamir succumbed Saturday to a long ilness.
He was 96.
Born in Poland, he moved to what was then British-controlled Palestine before the Holocaust.
He would eventually rise through the ranks of Israel's spy service and in 1982 became Prime Minister.
As head of the right-wing Likud party, he bristled at making peace with Palestinians - and championed the expansion of Jewish settlements.
He would lose the premiership in 1992, but his influence would live on.
Current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - who once served under Shamir - called him a "giant" and a pivotal player in Israel's creation.
Andrew Raven, Reuters