Shlomo Shamir
Encyclopedia
Shlomo Shamir was the third Commander of the Israeli Navy (1949–1950), and the first Israeli Navy Commander to receive the rank of Aluf
Aluf
Aluf is the term used for General and Admiral in the Israel Defense Forces . In addition to the Aluf rank itself, there are four other ranks which are derivatives of the word...

. He was the third Commander of the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...

 (1950–1951).

Biography

Shlomo Shamir was born Shlomo Rabinowitch, in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

. He made aliyah
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...

 to the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...

 in 1925. In 1929 he joined the Haganah
Haganah
Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...

 and was instrumental in smuggling weapons and illegal Jewish immigrants into pre-state Israel during the time of the British Mandate and the White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...

. In 1940 he received his pilot license, and in the same year he joined the RAF in order to fight the Nazis and gain experience in warfare. In 1946 he was discharged from the British military with the rank of major.

In 1948 he was ordered by Prime Minister Ben-Gurion to lead the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade in the fight to conquer Latrun
Latrun
Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley in Israel overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.-Etymology:...

. He was also instrumental in creating the Burma Road
Burma Road (Israel)
The Israeli "Burma Road" was a makeshift bypass road between the general vicinity of kibbutz Hulda and Jerusalem. It was built by Israeli forces headed by general Mickey Marcus during the 1948 Siege of Jerusalem...

. At the end of the Israeli War of Independence he was offered the job of Chief of the General Staff, but he refused. Instead he served other capacities, eventually becoming the third Commander of the Israeli Navy in May 1949. He helped build the small Israeli Navy by purchasing a new corvette
Corvette
A corvette is a small, maneuverable, lightly armed warship, originally smaller than a frigate and larger than a coastal patrol craft or fast attack craft , although many recent designs resemble frigates in size and role...

 and advanced torpedo boats. In 1950, he was replaced as Commander of the Israeli Navy by Mordechai Limon
Mordechai Limon
Mordechai Limon was the fourth commander of the Israeli navy, serving from December 14, 1950 until July 1, 1954.Limon was born in Baranovichi and made aliyah to Palestine in 1932...

 and became the Commander of the Israeli Air Force
Israeli Air Force
The Israeli Air Force is the air force of the State of Israel and the aerial arm of the Israel Defense Forces. It was founded on May 28, 1948, shortly after the Israeli Declaration of Independence...

. Under his leadership, the Israeli Air Defense Network
Israeli Air Defense Network
The Israeli Air Defense Command is the Israel Defense Forces unit responsible for the surface front of Israel's air defense, complementing the air defense provided by Israeli Air Force squadrons...

 was created, and the Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base
Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base
Hatzor Israeli Air Force Base , also titled Kanaf 4 is an Israeli Air Force military air base, located in central Israel, near kibbutz Hatzor after which it is named...

 built. In August 1951, he handed command of the Air Force over to Haim Laskov and retired from the Israel Defense Force.

In civilian life, Shamir became a successful businessman, creating many companies. He received a masters degree in Social Sciences from Tel-Aviv University and a masters degree in administration from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

.

On May 19, 2009 Shamir died, leaving his daughter Yael, two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
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