1933, Sharett was elected to replace him. As head of the Political De-
partment, Sharett conducted negotiations with the British authorities.
Among Sharett’s greatest accomplishments was the encouraging
of volunteers to join the British Army during World War II, which re-
sulted in the establishment of the Fighting Jewish Brigade. During
the war, Sharett coordinated the secret cooperation between the Jew-
ish settlements and the British Army. Within this framework, Ha-
ganah soldiers carried out secret military actions, including dropping
parachutists into Occupied Europe. After the war, when the struggle
between the Yishuv and the British rulers escalated, the British
searched for weapons and carried out mass arrests. On 29 June 1946,
known as Black Saturday, Sharett was the most senior among those
arrested (see TERRORISM).
After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Sharett was
appointed foreign minister. He was appointed prime minister on 26
January 1954, following the resignation of David Ben-Gurion at the
end of 1953; Sharett also continued to serve as minister of foreign af-
fairs. The Military Intelligencefailure known as the Bad Businessin
July 1954, which had been carried out without the knowledge of
Sharett, led to the dismissal of Minister of Defense Pinhas Lavonand
the return of Ben-Gurion to the ministry of defense. However, there
was a growing rift on various political-security matters between Prime
Minister Sharett, who supported a policy of restraint, and Minister of
Defense Ben-Gurion. This rift paved the way for Sharett’s resignation
from the prime ministry, though he continued to serve as minister of
foreign affairs. In 1955, Ben-Gurion was reelected prime minister.
The nationalization of the Suez Canal by Egyptian president
Gamal Abdel Nasser enabled military cooperation between France,
Great Britain, and Israel against Egypt. Fearing that Sharett would
object, Ben-Gurion decided to force Sharett to resign as minister of
foreign affairs. Sharett resigned on 18 June 1956, when he realized
that his party would back Ben-Gurion. In October 1956, with the
launch of the Sinai Campaign, Sharett concluded that his path back
to the political arena was blocked. In 1957, he assumed the role of di-
rector of Am Oved, the country’s largest publisher, and in 1961 he
was appointed as chairman of the Jewish Agency.SHAVIT, SHABTAI (1943– ).Shavit served for more than 32 years in
a variety of positions in the Mossadbefore being appointed its di-258 • SHAVIT, SHABTAI06-102 (04) Q-Z.qxd 3/24/06 7:26 AM Page 258