Moshe Sharett Biography Quotes 27 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Moshe Sharett, born Moshe Shertok in 1894 in the Russian Empire, grew up in a family that joined the early waves of Jewish immigration to Ottoman Palestine. The move in the first decade of the 20th century immersed him in a society animated by the revival of Hebrew culture and the practical work of settlement. He attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in the Jaffa-Tel Aviv area, one of the crucibles of the emerging Yishuv leadership, where he acquired languages and a disciplined approach to study that later shaped his public service. On the eve of World War I he enrolled in legal studies in Istanbul, the imperial capital, gaining first-hand insight into the Ottoman system and regional politics. During the war he served in the Ottoman army, an experience that sharpened his understanding of state power, bureaucracy, and the intersection of national aspirations with imperial realities.

After the war, Sharett broadened his horizons in London, studying at the London School of Economics. Exposure to British political thought and administration, and to debates about national minorities and decolonization, complemented his facility with Arabic and Turkish and reinforced an analytical, moderate temperament. The combination of linguistic skill, legal training, and sober political judgment would become his trademark as a diplomat and statesman.

Political Apprenticeship and Journalism
Returning to Palestine in the 1920s, Sharett gravitated to the labor movement and the circle of Berl Katznelson. He worked with the new daily newspaper Davar, honing an ability to explain complex issues and to speak across ideological lines inside the Yishuv. His writing reflected a precise, pragmatic outlook and a commitment to building institutions. At the same time, he engaged with figures such as Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion, navigating the tensions between diplomatic persuasion and activist mobilization. Sharett's inclination was toward persuasion, legal argument, and negotiation, and he invested deeply in learning Arab society and politics, convinced that the Yishuv needed both strength and channels for dialogue.

Jewish Agency Leadership and Mandate Diplomacy
The turning point came in 1933, when Chaim Arlosoroff, head of the Jewish Agency's Political Department, was assassinated. Sharett was chosen to help fill the vacuum and soon became the department's director. In that capacity he represented the Yishuv before the British Mandatory government and international forums, prepared memoranda, and appeared before commissions of inquiry during the tumultuous late 1930s. He worked closely with Weizmann and Ben-Gurion to articulate Zionist aims while seeking to limit bloodshed as the Arab Revolt unfolded. He maintained discreet contacts with Arab interlocutors and kept channels open even as violence hardened positions.

During World War II, Sharett pressed for maximum Yishuv participation in the Allied war effort and for immigration openings for Jewish refugees, constantly negotiating with British officials. In June 1946, in the British crackdown known as Operation Agatha, he was among the Jewish Agency leaders arrested and held at Latrun, an episode that underscored his stature and the high stakes of the struggle with the Mandate authorities. Upon release he reengaged in diplomacy just as the international arena moved center stage.

Road to Statehood and Foreign Minister
In 1947, 1948 Sharett was central to the Jewish Agency's case at the United Nations and in Washington, complementing the efforts of Weizmann and the eloquence of rising diplomats like Abba Eban. He also coordinated with Nahum Goldmann on transatlantic advocacy. When independence was declared in May 1948, Sharett was a signatory of the Declaration and was appointed Israel's first full-term foreign minister. In that role he navigated the fragile birth of the state during war, while managing ties with the administration of President Harry Truman and with the United Nations.

Sharett directed Israeli diplomacy in the 1949 armistice process on Rhodes under UN mediation led by Ralph Bunche. Working with professional colleagues such as Walter Eytan, he balanced military facts with legal and political goals, helping to secure agreements with Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria that ended the first Arab-Israeli war. He then set about building Israel's foreign service, cultivating relationships in Washington, London, and Paris, and opening doors in newly independent states. He pursued pragmatic arrangements on refugees and borders and laid the groundwork for economic and cultural ties.

A hallmark of his tenure was the 1952 reparations agreement with the Federal Republic of Germany. Despite fierce domestic controversy, Sharett worked with Ben-Gurion, Goldmann, and Israeli financial leaders like Levi Eshkol to reach a settlement with Chancellor Konrad Adenauer's government. The agreement provided vital resources for immigrant absorption and signaled Israel's entry into complex postwar European diplomacy.

Border Warfare, Restraint, and International Standing
The early 1950s also brought persistent border hostilities. Sharett believed that diplomacy and international legitimacy were strategic assets and that armed reprisals should be used sparingly. This put him at odds with influential security figures, including Chief of Staff Moshe Dayan and rising Defense Ministry officials like Shimon Peres, who favored bold retaliatory actions to reestablish deterrence. The 1953 Qibya operation, carried out by an IDF commando unit later associated with Ariel Sharon, drew international condemnation; as foreign minister, Sharett bore the brunt of defending Israel abroad while issuing internal warnings about political costs. He cultivated ties with U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and Britain's Anthony Eden, arguing Israel's case in crises while seeking arms and security guarantees.

Prime Minister, 1954–1955
When Ben-Gurion temporarily stepped down in 1953 and moved to the Negev, Sharett became prime minister in early 1954 while retaining the foreign affairs portfolio for much of his tenure. His government faced grave challenges. The Lavon Affair erupted after a covert Israeli network in Egypt was exposed in 1954; the political and moral fallout from the failed operation, and disputes over responsibility, engulfed Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon and reverberated through Mapai's leadership. At the same time, skirmishes intensified with Egypt under Gamal Abdel Nasser. Sharett resisted pressure for large-scale reprisals, preferring restraint and diplomatic engagement with Washington and London. The fatal Gaza raid of February 1955, although intended to restore deterrence, widened his breach with Dayan and strengthened arguments for Ben-Gurion's return. By late 1955, Ben-Gurion had resumed the premiership, backed by party organizers such as Levi Eshkol and a security elite impatient with Sharett's cautious doctrine.

Return to the Foreign Ministry and Departure
Sharett stayed on as foreign minister in Ben-Gurion's new government for several months, continuing to consolidate Israel's diplomatic presence and to explore openings in Asia and Africa. But policy disagreements and the gathering storm that would culminate in the 1956 Sinai campaign made his position untenable. In mid-1956 Ben-Gurion replaced him with Golda Meir, closing a chapter in which Sharett had defined the tone and institutions of Israeli diplomacy even as strategic debates shifted toward preemptive military action and alliance politics.

Jewish Agency Leadership, Writings, and Mentorship
After leaving cabinet office, Sharett turned back to the Zionist movement's institutions. He later served as chairman of the Jewish Agency and the World Zionist Organization, roles in which his administrative skill and international contacts were invaluable for immigration, settlement, and education. He mentored a generation of diplomats and civil servants, among them Abba Eban and Walter Eytan, emphasizing professionalism, languages, and the careful use of public rhetoric. He was also a meticulous diarist. His journals, published after his death, offer a granular record of cabinet battles, encounters with foreign statesmen, and his reflections on Ben-Gurion, Weizmann, Golda Meir, Levi Eshkol, Nahum Goldmann, and many others. They reveal a principled belief that Israel's security would be best served not only by strength but also by legal clarity, international backing, and a sober reading of regional realities, including the need for channels to Arab leaders such as King Abdullah of Jordan in earlier years.

Personality, Ideas, and Legacy
Sharett's temperament was cautious without being timid, legalistic without being pedantic. Fluent in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and Turkish, he moved comfortably between village meetings, cabinet rooms, and foreign ministries. His colleagues often contrasted his measured method with Ben-Gurion's thunderous will. Yet the contrast could be productive: while Ben-Gurion pushed for decisive moves, Sharett worked to secure the diplomatic scaffolding to sustain them. Even those who opposed his restraint acknowledged his integrity and mastery of detail. He shaped the ethos of Israel's foreign service, gave it a professional spine, and championed the view that international legitimacy and patient diplomacy were strategic assets, not mere ornaments.

Moshe Sharett died in 1965. He was widely mourned as a founding statesman and the architect of Israel's foreign policy in its formative years. Buried among the nation's leaders, he left behind institutions he had built, agreements he had negotiated, and a record of public service that highlighted the power of words, law, and careful statecraft alongside military prowess. His legacy endures in Israel's diplomatic culture and in the generation of leaders and officials who learned from his example that persuasion, restraint, and strategic patience can be instruments of national strength.

Our collection contains 27 quotes who is written by Moshe, under the main topics: Leadership - Equality - Peace - Resilience - Human Rights.