Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett, a major leader of the Yishuv in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel, was Israel's first Foreign Minister (1948-1956) and second Prime Minister (1955-1956). Moshe Sharett was an advocate of moderation vis-à-vis Israel's neighboring Arab states. He opposed the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict by acts such as military reprisals and the opting for a preventive war against Nasser's Egypt in 1956 (the Sinai Campaign). In view of his principles, he was ousted from the Israeli Cabinet by his great rival, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, in June 1956. Almost sixty years later, it is clearly evident that Moshe Sharett was right in his moderate attitude: the conflict can only be solved politically, not militarily, as he always contended.