Former Israel PM Yitzhak Shamir dies at 96

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir passed away at the age of 96 yesterday in Tel Aviv after battling a long illness in a nursing home.

Shamir, Israel’s seventh prime minister, leaves behind two children and five grandchildren and will be buried in a state funeral in Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl Cemetery on Monday.

The public will be invited to pay its respects during the procession which will begin at the Knesset.

His wife, Shulamit, died last year at the age of 88.

The former prime minister had been admitted to a nursing home in 2004 due to poor health and Alzheimer’s disease.

Shamir served as prime minister from 1983 to 1984 and again for six years between 1986 to 1992 and was known for not making concessions despite international pressure.

However, he was also known for initiating a peace process in Madrid which resulted in his successors achieving many diplomatic covertures.