23 Facts About Yair Shamir

Yair Shamir is an Israeli politician, businessman and former military officer.

Yair Shamir served as a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu between 2013 and 2015, during which he held the post of Minister of Agriculture.

The son of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir and his wife Shulamit, Yair Shamir was born in Ramat Gan and raised in Tel Aviv.

Yair Shamir was named after Avraham "Yair" Stern, founder of Lehi, a Jewish underground movement that functioned in the years before the founding of the modern State of Israel.

When Yair was two years old, his mother was arrested as a Lehi activist.

Yair Shamir served in the Israeli Air Force from 1963 to 1988 as a pilot, engineer and commander.

In 1988 Yair Shamir was honorably discharged with the rank of colonel.

Yair Shamir served as the general manager of Scitex Israel and as corporate vice president of Scitex, CEO of Elite Food Industries, vice president of the Challenge Fund, an Israeli venture capital fund, president and CEO of VCON Telecommunications and as chairman and managing partner of Catalyst, a venture capital fund, chair of Yair Shamir Optical Industry Ltd.

Between 2004 and 2005, Yair Shamir served as chair of the board of directors of El Al, the flag-carrier of Israel.

Between 2005 and 2011, Yair Shamir served as the chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries, where he worked without pay.

Between 2005 and 2011, Chairman Yair Shamir oversaw the company's phenomenal recovery.

Yair Shamir is thought to have been the key person behind IAI's initial public offering.

In 2011, after six years at the IAI, Yair Shamir became the director of the National Roads Company of Israel.

Yair Shamir currently serves on the Board of Directors of several private companies as well as on several NASDAQ traded companies including: Commtouch, DSP Group, Cyalume and Selway.

Yair Shamir has several public roles and sits on the board of governors of the Technion and on the board of trustees of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Yair Shamir serves as chairman of the board of directors of the Shalem Center.

Yair Shamir is the chairman and co-founder of Gvahim, a non-profit organization that helps highly qualified new immigrants accomplish their professional goals in Israel.

Yair Shamir inspired and underwrote a series of Rohr Jewish Learning Institute classes commemorating the centennial of Prime Minister Yitzhak Yair Shamir's birth.

Yair Shamir was elected to the Knesset in the 2013 elections, and was appointed Minister of Agriculture.

In January 2015 Yair Shamir announced that he was leaving the party and would not contest the 2015 elections due to disagreements with Lieberman over foreign policy.

Yair Shamir said that then-US President George W Bush was better for Israel than then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Yair Shamir criticized Benjamin Netanyahu for caving in to pressure too easily, and believed that Israel should do what it thinks is right without regard to global opinion.

Yair Shamir was opposed to the Tannenbaum prisoner exchange with Hezbollah.