---
born: 1894-10-15
category: Intelligence & Government
died: 1965-07-07
location: Kherson, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
summary: Moshe Sharett was the second Prime Minister of Israel, serving from 1954
  to 1955.
tags:
- Person
- Israel
- Military
---

Moshe Sharett was the second Prime Minister of [Israel](/places/israel/), serving from 1954 to 1955. He differed significantly from [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/) in his approach to the Arab question, believing that peace with the Arab world was possible through military restraint and potential [United Nations](/organizations/united-nations/) intervention. As prime minister, he initiated secret peace negotiations with [Nasser](/people/gamal-abdel-nasser/).[^1]

Sharett's voluminous personal diaries indicate his ambition for [Israel](/places/israel/)'s nuclear program, referred to as the "Enterprise," though he lacked confidence in [Ernst David Bergmann](/people/ernst-david-bergmann/)'s administrative skills. He believed Bergmann's shortcomings would "limit and disrupt the horizons of the ‘Enterprise’ and sabotage its development."[^1]

His tenure was marked by tension with [Moshe Dayan](/people/moshe-dayan/) and [Shimon Peres](/people/shimon-peres/), who, in constant contact with [David Ben-Gurion](/people/david-ben-gurion/), sought to stifle Sharett's dovish policies. The [Lavon Affair](/events/lavon-affair/) in mid-1954, where an Israeli spy ring bombed American, British, and Egyptian targets, led to Sharett accepting [Pinhas Lavon](/people/pinhas-lavon/)'s resignation. Sharett, unaware of the operation, viewed the subsequent increase in Gaza Strip border clashes as an "inevitable consequence" of the retaliatory raid authorized by Ben-Gurion.[^1]

Sharett quietly resigned as foreign minister in the summer of 1956, after attempting to hold an open debate on [Israel](/places/israel/)'s foreign policy. His personal diaries, published in 1980, revealed the deep divisions within the Israeli government at the time.[^1]

[^1]: Hersh, Seymour M. *The Samson Option: Israel's Nuclear Arsenal and American Foreign Policy*. Random House, 1991. Chapter 3.